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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Parents who only put one school choice down

191 replies

womblesofwestminster · 25/01/2014 12:05

AIBU to wonder why some parents only put one school choice down when they fill in their primary school application for their child? I've heard several parents claiming to do this. Why put all your eggs in one basket?

Are they that confident their child will get it? Why risk it?

OP posts:
SarahBumBarer · 25/01/2014 12:45

We had a huge issue with this in our area a few years ago. Pig-headed parents determined their children would go to a particular school so only put down one choice. Exactly as Suke says, I think they felt they would be less likely to get refused if they had no back up.

Well refused they were and their kids allocated to schools well out of catchment instead of other perfectly good local schools.

Unfortunately it is an affluent area and sufficient whining (and an impending longer-term problem) persuaded the council to build a new classroom at the original school. Shame really - it would have served them right.

namechanger1979 · 25/01/2014 12:51

I only put down one choice. 2 older siblings there and we can see it from front door.
Its an ofsted good school but seriously undersubscribed due to an ageing population in this area.

I know some leas are stretched but outside of southeast there must be loads of areas like this in the rest of the country

JemimaPuddle · 25/01/2014 13:04

I've only put 1 option. It's the nearest catholic school and after thinking long and hard we decided we wouldn't send her to the other 2 local schools.
It was massively oversubscribed last year as is ofsted outstanding. I have no idea what I'd do if she doesn't get in - although she should do.
It is very important to me that she has a catholic education and there are no other catholic primary schools nearby.

SpocksThirdEar · 25/01/2014 13:10

I put down one choice too as siblings went there, and to the special school nearby which is why they were sent out of catchment. If he hadn't have got a place I would have home educated until a place came up.

Jojay · 25/01/2014 13:11

I only put down one school. We live in a rural village, the school isn't oversubscribed, and we live a few metres away - our postcode is the same as the school's.

Plenty of children from out of catchment get in, so I knew that living where we do, it was a sure thing. It was.

ItsATIARA · 25/01/2014 13:12

I only put down one for DS, because it's a large school and he had sibling priority - the chances of him not getting in were minuscule. People who have thought it through and are happy to HE if they don't get their first choice are also NBU.

But not putting down a second choice because you don't like the other realistic options is ridiculous - if you don't get your first choice then you may end up with a school that is just as crap as the one you rejected, but an hour and three buses away.

TheSmallPrint · 25/01/2014 13:15

I only put one but we are well within catchment and they always take out of catchment so was t even slightly concerned. If I was living somewhere else it may have been a different matter!

DanceWithAStranger · 25/01/2014 13:20

I only put 2. All schools within a reasonable distance of us are incredibly oversubscribed (so only really give places to people who put them first or second), and we've got a very good chance of getting into our first choice - denominational school and we are that denomination.

arselikekylie · 25/01/2014 13:22

I did for both primary and secondary. Here (medium town in North) people tend to put down nearest so it all balances out. We have two secondaries and if you live at the north end of town you go to one, if the south - the other. I think one is outstanding and one is good so not a problem getting a place in either. When I read about all the problems people have in over populated cities it makes me so glad we don't have any of that to deal with in our sleepy little town.

bebanjo · 25/01/2014 13:22

Is home schooling really that widespread?

Yes, and getting more popular all the time.
Almost every week we meet another family in our area.

With the new holiday rules and parents getting fined I would guess it will push a lot more family's to consider home ed.

JugglingFromHereToThere · 25/01/2014 13:23

Gosh it does seem quite a lot of people only put down one choice from this thread (but then I suppose that would be a reason to post)
One thing, which is quite a new innovation where we are, is that the schools don't get to see what you've put or what order you've placed the schools in. It's all co-ordinated by the LEA who ask the first school if they'll have you/your DC, then if not they ask the second school etc. but apparently the schools can't tell that you put them in second place, or indeed only put down their school for your DC.
I don't know if this system has been rolled out everywhere yet?

Frusso · 25/01/2014 13:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

lljkk · 25/01/2014 13:26

relatively few of our local schools are over-subscribed.

minouminou · 25/01/2014 13:27

We moved suddenly after applying for DS' school place (ideal house, knock-down price, two miles up the road). We moved from being just around the corner from school to being a good walk/ride away.
He got in, although I put two schools down on his form.
With DD, who'd two years younger, if was either go to the same school as DS, stay in nursery as long as legally possible, go to the private girls' school a minute away from DS' school or home ed.

We only put DS' school down, as it would have been straight to plans b, c, d or e if she hadn't got in.

We had no plans to appeal...we decided to move, albeit suddenly (we were in a little two-bed flat), so we decided to roll with the punches.

elliejjtiny · 25/01/2014 13:27

I only put down 1 choice for DS2. DS1 was already there and the 2 other schools in our town are better and always oversubscribed. One of the reasons we picked a school with "satisfactory" Ofsted was because there was more chance of getting all the DC's in. It's not our catchment school but the catchment school is further away (over 1.5 miles) along a busy road with no footpath and no buses.

DadOnIce · 25/01/2014 13:27

We only put one secondary choice down for DS. It's a popular school, but

a) his sister is already there and
b) we are in the catchment.

If he doesn't get in, neither will 20 other kids in his year group. It would just be unfathomable. No point putting any other school.

AntiJamDidi · 25/01/2014 13:33

I only put one choice down for dd2. We live in catchment, this is a low birth rate year here and the school recently was forced to increase their intake by 15 places. For the past 10 years anybody living in catchment has got a place, even if it meant going to appeal.

ShitOnAStick · 25/01/2014 13:33

I put one choice on the application because we are only in the catchment area of one school so unless other schools were undersubscribed there'd be no chance of getting in, also I don't drive and the next nearest schools are 3 or 4 miles away on tiny back roads with no footpath and no public transport. The school I applied for is a less than half a mile walk.
I am worried about it but I don't have any other option.

FamiliesShareGerms · 25/01/2014 13:34

I did for DD because she is a formerly Looked After Child (now adopted) so gets priority under the admissions code.

JugglingFromHereToThere · 25/01/2014 13:37

We were fairly confident DS would get in to first choice on sibling criteria - we'd had all the angst 3 years earlier with DD. He was really just following her up there which was great! But we still visited other schools and made our choice of 3, as I think it's quite a good process for them to think through - making options and choices based on experiences and preferences (especially when there's not too much anxiety attached)

WallyBantersJunkBox · 25/01/2014 13:38

I put one choice down as the other schools in the catchment were in special measures.

If I didn't get the school I was then able to apply in another county as we bordered it and the schools were just as convenient.

I ended up getting a place at the special measures school, but 7 weeks before the start of term a place came through on the waiting list for our first choice.

Hardly pig headed to try and take some control of your child's future is it? And not really a parents problem if a school is oversubscribed in their catchment area.

DragonMamma · 25/01/2014 13:39

For dc2 I've only put one down - my DD goes there already and it's 100yds from my house. It would be incomprehensible for him not to get in.

Secondary school is a different kettle of fish though, we are already out of catchment of our preferred school so hoping the local secondary will pick up in the few years before we need to apply.

minouminou · 25/01/2014 13:42

One of the reasons we didn't want to appeal is because we wanted to be in control and be able to use a back-up plan rather than hanging around nervously waiting for someone else to decide for us.

Another reason was that if she did get in (which she did), it was somewhat against the odds and this would have meant a place was available for her that wasn't at someone else's expense IYSWIM.

RaspberryLemonPavlova · 25/01/2014 13:47

To the poster who mentioned first and second choices only getting in, schools/LAs are not allowed to allocate places based on that. You can place a school as 3rd preference and still get a place over someone who put it first IF you you fit the criteria better.

Children are put in order for each school they apply for, then preferences are matched.

This is also why it doesn't work to only put down 1.

Scholes34 · 25/01/2014 13:50

One choice only for primary and secondary - both local, outstanding, undersubscribed. Once DD was there, no problem getting DS1 and DS2 in. Only with sixth form did we look at three choices.

This is the kind of circumstances you can find yourself in when you move out of London.