School admissions

[TiredMumToTwo]

Looking for a bit of advice. My son's Dad and I are having majorly opposing views about where to send my son to high school - he's in yr 6 so decision needs to be made relatively soon.

There is a really good local state school which is massively over subscribed which my son's primary school is a feeder school for but both my ex and I have moved out of the catchment area for the senior school in the last year.

From an admissions point of view, would it be kids from catchment area first or kids from feeder schools first?

I've looked everywhere on the council website and can't find out. Does anyone know of WIBU to ring the council with this specific question?

If I were you I'd contact the school direct. Many secondary schools have admissions officers or the school website should give you their admissions criteria

I would ring the council. I think feeder Primary is above priority admission area. Is there anything on the school website?

Also, in my experience (DS just started secondary) they go off catchment and definately not feeder schools but it's always worth checking with each school individually.

The school will have a list of criterion based on over subscription:

Faith (if applicable)/ Entrance Test (if applicable)
Similar Faith (if applicable)

Then:

Over subscription

In the event of over subscription places will be allocated according to the following criteria, listed inorder of priority:

Priority 1 Looked after children
Looked after children (in public care) or previously looked after children (children who have
ceased to be looked after as they have been adopted or a special guardianship order
applies
(Section 14A of the Children Act 1989)

Priority 2 Medical Grounds
This is where a child, sibling or parent has a medical condition which makes it essential on
medical grounds for the child to attend XYZ
Independent medical evidence
will be needed to support this request.
Note: If you wish to request this priority you must do so and provide any supporting evidence
at the time of application. Later requests will be considered only if the medical condition
occurs after the closing dat
e for applications. Medical conditions that are of a consequence of
a failure to obtain a preferred school (for example emotional distress, whether or not leading
to a recognised medical condition) will not fall within this priority. ‘Significant hardship’
will
be interpreted as being greater than inconvenience, financial disadvantage or emotional
upset.

Priority 3 Siblings
This is where siblings are in school at the time of proposed entry rather than where older
siblings started at the school I the sixth
form. Siblings refer to brother, sister, half -
brother or
sister, adopted brother or sister, step brother or sister, the child should be living in the same
family unit at the same address.

Priority 4 Distance

None of us are going to be able to tell you definitively without knowing the school. The school should have its admissions policy on it's website - if you want to PM me the school I can take a look.

Although we have a chain of academies that run both primary and secondary schools - these pupils take precence over all other application, the yar group runs at 180 pupil places, of whihc 150 are held back for their feeder primary children. This is not a faith school BTW

fencesitter our school doesn't have that order so I would be wary of advising it's a blanket policy.

as Fencesitter says, but that is just an example.

The school can have a catchment area, then it would be kids within catchment by distance, follwed by kids out of catchment by distance.

The school website should list their criteria under their admissions page. If you phone the school, make sure they give yo a link to an actual web page/council document which states the criteria, people on the phone can get it wrong.

By the way, I always say on these threads, put down the schools you wnat in strict order of YOUR PREFERENCE. If you put another school second, it does not reduce your chane of getting into that school.

I took it from our council site.

I didnt say it was a blanket policy.

Here is the current Government Schools Admission Code

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/389388/School_Admissions_Code_2014_-_19_Dec.pdf

For our secondary it is:
catchment
feeder
out of catchment
but you have to check for your school.

Here feeder takes priority over catchment. Or so I have been told.

and don't assume that your local council admissions criteria apply, if it is an academy, then they can have their own criteria.

Our school is part of a MAT and now we are a feeder school for a secondary on the other side of town, and kids from our school get priority.
Nice, but a bit odd considering the distance.

It does vary school by school, so you need to find out how this particular school (if Academy/faith) or LEA (if not) deals with it.

Also ask which was the lowest category from which they accepted a child last year and the distance (if distance was a criteria in that offer).

Ds1 has just started at a highly oversubscribed school from the lowest (no sib, out of catchment) category because we live close enough. For this school if you live out of catchment by less than 2.5 km you are in with a good chance.

In our area, it's feeder school for infant to senior school, but catchment for senior school to secondary (after siblings).

You could go to the Admissions section of the school website to look at the criteria or let us know which school it is so we can look it up for you.

No yanbu to ask the council. it varies in different areas/schools so best to ask them.

Thanks all, originally only looked on council website which was vague so will go visit school website now - don't know why this didn't occur to me but thanks.