Parents who only put one school choice down

[womblesofwestminster]

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?

I've only ever put one choice down (primary and secondary) because I knew they would get in

tiggytape - I've clarified upthread.

Siblings in catchment come above children in catchment here
Someone was asking

I'll join in!

In my area it's:

Looked after and medical grounds children
Religious children (with proof).
Pupils in catchment with siblings
Catchment children.
Every other poor sod.

I think there are probably circumstances where it is fine to put down one choice and lots of those are mentioned on here: e.g. you live 2 yards from a consistently undersubscribed school and want your child to go there, you have an insurance place at a private school and are able to afford it, you are willing and able to home educate, you live in an area where everyone goes to their nearest school etc. The problem is when none of those pertain and parents living in areas with a shortage of school places and a very varied collection of primaries mistakenly think that if they only put one (lovely oversubscribed) school (that they live a bit too far away to get into) down the LA will have to offer them that school. It is a remarkably common misunderstanding, ime and leads to terrible upset when the child is then allocated no school or a school that is miles away and the parents think is crap.

I had an actual argument with one parent at a birthday party about this. She (tactlessly) professed that the primary I was sending my child to was crap and when I, in mild tones as I was amused rather than offended, said "Well, better a crap school down the road than a crap school 4 miles away." she was utterly flabbergasted and retorted "But why on earth would I send him to a crap school?" I realised that I was dealing with someone who had no experience of primary school applications in this area and just didn't understand that parental choice is pretty much an illusion round here, so asked if she was able to home educate or send him to private school. She was not able to do either and I gently entreated her to put down my child's "crap" school, (which 1 is not crap imo and 2 was her nearest realistic option), as an insurance policy to the one she had selected but had no chance whatsoever of getting into but she just did not understand. She genuinely believed that if she only put one down the LA would have to give her that one. She got really pissed off with me!

I can think of a very few situations where putting down more than one school. If there is only one school that caters for your child's disability but you put down another school too, the LEA can use that to argue that your child can't really be that disabled- they did that to us. It was much harder to argue in front of the panel that yes, actually these schools we put down would be absolutely impossible for dd but we felt under pressure to put down 3 names. I only managed it by convincing the panel that I was a complete idiot who couldn't fill in a form properly.

We were prepared to send our DS to one primary - so we put down one school but we also had a place for him at an independent. He got the place on 3rd September and we lost a term's fees. DD got in as a sibling.

When dd went to secondary there was only one school we were prepared to send her to although we had to put two to keep her in the running after the main allocation. She was offered two days after the main allocation and we lost a 500 deposit because we weren't prepared to send her to the 2nd choice. It was a disaster and we moved her after two years to an indy.

People do it when they have a clear cut case to or other options.

I think our 2nd choice is probably the better school now - it's near you OP!

Weddingcomingup - there's only one designated Welsh medium secondary in our county, so if you choose Welsh medium education, that's where you go! (Although our catchment school where dd goes does offer about 1/2 the subjects through the medium of Welsh at KS3.)

Dance - Ah, I see. Yes, people do get carried away with thinking you somehow need to 'hedge your bets' on preferences. As long as people list things in genuine preference order and are realistic about the schools they will get into then (barring those horrendous areas where you literally might not get a place- thinking particularly of some areas of London I know) they should be fine. it's generally overanalysing and thinking you can 'play' the system that gets people into difficulties!

It's so much harder now... When my DDs were small, the school we wanted for them was not filling its reception places, and neither was our second choice school, which would also have been perfectly acceptable. We still put both schools down though (only 2 in our town).

With middle schools, we chose the one we liked best, though it wasn't our catchment school and got in - again, neither middle school filling its places.

We're now 2-tier and only have one secondary so realistically we have no choice. Fortunately it is a good school and DD1 is happy there. We have still put down a second choice for DD2 although she will not need it - our local secondary is literally 100 metres from our front door.

I just wouldn't chance it.

There is only one school in our catchment. The next nearest in county is 8 miles away, the nearest out of county is 6 miles away. It's a no-brainer.

Really worries now, I only put one down because dd is in the attached nursery and they said she'd definitely get in because she has a sibling there at the school. We're not in catchment though and looking up there ^ some seem to be saying catchment cones before siblings???

Well unless they're prepared to home school or go private, if they're doing it in an effort to get into their first choice then th are a bit thick aren't they? Because it doesn't work like that.

No point worrying now Rosa, and hopefully the nursery had a good idea of the local situation (ie. sibs are generally getting a place ATM) when they said that to you. Otherwise possibly it could be something to use in an appeal? What do others think on that?

I live in a village, it would of have been a bit pointless to put anywhere else down.

Rosa it depends on the specific school's criteria. They should be viewable on the internet.

Depends entirely on the school Rosa, you need to check the specific criteria they apply - local authority website should have it.

X-post because there is only one right answer

Rosa The councils often publish info on what has happened in the past.

For example I found this for Warwickshire by googling "Warwickshire school admissions 2014" (I ldon't live in Warks but revealing my own area would be identifying.)

apps.warwickshire.gov.uk/api/documents/WCCC-699-51

We only put one.

The others were all equally as bad as each other, so no point putting down any of them.

Most of mine got into the school. One didnt and we had to appeal to get her in. No regrets.

"some seem to be saying catchment cones before siblings???"

This is true in some places. You need to check the admissions criteria for this school. It doesn't matter how other schools do it (as long as they meet legal requirements) you just need to find out about yours.