Have you applied for your year 6's secondary school?

[sarah8484]

Just that really, have you applied for you dc's secondary school places? This is literally the most daunting thing I think I have to do. My ds knows which school he wants to go to but a lady over the road from me said she applied for the same school my ds wants to go to and her ds never got a place and wasn't even offered any of his choices, apparently there was a baby boom in 2008 where I live. Id be devastated if my ds didn't get his choice of school. Theres only 2 schools I want to put, but its recommended I put 5! Any one only applied for 1/2 schools?

We had to put 3 choices, i put 1, its our catchment school and any other round here are rough as sh*t and if he didnt get our choice id home school him

OP, make use of the comments box. It’s there for a reason

It is there because the Admissions Code says it has to be. It serves no purpose other than that. Nothing you put in this box makes any difference. They use purely the published admissions criteria. They are not allowed, by law, to make subjective judgements based on your reasons for wanting a school.

Calm the fuck down. Going on like someone’s murdered your fucking cat.

I'm wondering if this is a SE-centric thread. I'm in Yorkshire, last year I only put down two choices for DS - both out of catchment. I got my first choice. I'll be doing the same for DD this year, and am totally confident of a place, as I can now get sibling priority. We're rural, the schools have places.

Questions if anyone can answer : I don't want my DT to go to the same school. Will they still get placed together even though its not in their best interest?
How far does it going being a previously lac child? We are a tiny bit further out that last years furthest child (meters) but it would be an excellent fit school for one child for his needs, do I still get points as he was previously lac to get him into the school?
I really don't want either child to go to the closet school for many reasons, they have an entry test so by not doing the entry test can they not be allocated a place there?
Getting this right is so important as I hated my school years and ruined my chances of a proper career, I've had to fight every step of the way. I want something better for them.

namechanged
You will fill out a separate application for each twin, so put different schools on the list.
Most or many schools have lac / previously lac as the top priority category, or a priority category above distance. You need to look carefully at the admissions policy for each school.

If it is a priority category then you will be ok.

The way to avoid getting a school you don’t want us to list another school that you are confident you will get a place at.

Name it really depends on where you are

In the SE at least people
Speak like we have choice and we really don’t! You get the one you are nearest to in most cases . So you need to look at the schools and make a very pragmatic sensible assessment using the available data as to the chance you have

In my borough you have no chance of getting two schools for one address

Just being honest !

Can anyone link me to where you find the data for how many applicants the school received last year and how many metres the furthest successful applicant lived?

Well this thread took a dramatic turn.

I'm wondering if this is a SE-centric thread. I'm in Yorkshire, last year I only put down two choices for DS - both out of catchment. I got my first choice.

Not particularly. 120 children didn't get a school place on initial offer at all in my area. A lot didn't put the local school down instead relying on an assumption that they would get a place.

Can anyone link me to where you find the data for how many applicants the school received last year and how many metres the furthest successful applicant lived?

Our lea publish these in the information booklet, so had many choices and how many places per over subscription criteria. (Not distances though)

Tida it’s all On your local authority website

Most have a booklet with a table containing every single school and all that data

It’s worth doing . I did a very detail led statistical analysis and we got 3rd choice but the one closest to me

Others didn’t , put in all the desirable
Ones . Didn’t put in a risk averse ‘near to me and decent’ and then got the worst one

I don’t know if you can generalise by region.

I’m in London and from our had an actual choice between 2 good comps, an addition 2 much less goody, a nearby ‘lottery’ based school to try for and we could have opted to try for a super selective.

I know people in Yorkshire who are in a Schools ‘Black hole’ and are very anxious about getting a place they are happy with.

Anyway, happy news for those who have no worries about getting a place. For everyone else it is as well they understand exactly how it works because every year people believe the myths or get it wrong and lose out on places as a result.

Honey it’s not only the SE! You might be lucky enough to not have this but it’s
All the UK

I envy my EU family as their town has ONE school and every fucker goes to it . Far
More levelling than the postcodes and religion shit
Here

This is where being children in care does actually work in my foster children’s favour - they are virtually guaranteed a place in any school I want for them! But round my way we have quite a lot of secondaries and most people get first choice. Even the ‘top’ school for exam results said at last year’s open evening that they’d been able to place every child that requested them that year. Generally speaking everyone at my local primary puts down, and gets into, the local secondary. We put down the next local one (only about an extra 5 minutes walk) and got that. There’s also another one an extra 10 minute walk and they’re all decent schools so we’re spoilt for choice. I have heard though that people on the other side of the city are starting to put down our local schools as the ones near them are shocking, so it might be harder for them to get their kids where they want them. It’s interesting because our primary is in the ‘rough’ bit of the city yet all the children can get into a decent secondary whereas the kids in the ‘nice’ bit might struggle as their secondary is apparently shocking. I wonder if it will affect where people want to live in the next few years?

In my area there is only one school that DD3 will get a place at. We live 1½ miles from the school (rural) and she has a sibling there. With a PAN of almost 300, she is guaranteed to get a place there. Last year they took children from a village 10 miles away and then accepted 37 children from that village who were on a waiting list.

I'm still putting her next nearest schools on the form, but she's guaranteed not to get a place in those schools as they're oversubscribed and we're out of catchment.

She'd be capable of a grammar school, but the nearest one is over 12 miles and I don't want her to have that travel. So our choice is made for us.

I'm wondering if this is a SE-centric thread. I'm in Yorkshire, last year I only put down two choices for DS - both out of catchment. I got my first choice

No, this isn't SE-centric. The rules are the same everywhere in England. You would have got your first choice even if you had named more preferences. In an area where schools generally have spare places using all choices is less important but it can still matter. Some people get caught out when they only name 1 or 2 schools that "always" have places only to find that the school gets more applicants than normal.

I don't want my DT to go to the same school. Will they still get placed together even though its not in their best interest?

If you put different preferences for them they will probably end up at different schools. The LA cannot decide to put them together just because they are twins.

How far does it going being a previously lac child

As a previously looked after child, your child is higher priority than anyone else apart from other looked after/previously looked after children. The only children admitted before LAC are those with an EHCP naming the school. The only exception to this is faith schools where some (Catholic schools in particular) only give top priority to LAC of the faith. Unless your first preference is one of those, your child is pretty much guaranteed a place. You can ignore distance. That will only come into play in the unlikely event that there are more LAC applying than places.

I really don't want either child to go to the closet school for many reasons, they have an entry test so by not doing the entry test can they not be allocated a place there

I presume your closest school is a grammar school. If the entry test has a pass mark your child cannot be allocated a place there if they don't sit the test. However, if it is simply used to determine priority with no specific pass mark your child could, in theory, be allocated a place, although it is unlikely. However, as you say your child is formerly looked after this is irrelevant. You will be offered your first preference.

Can anyone link me to where you find the data for how many applicants the school received last year and how many metres the furthest successful applicant lived

No-one can give you a link unless you say where you live. The information will be in the school admissions section of your local council's website.

Thanks I’ve found it now. I’ve searched the website many times as wanted to see how many metres ds missed out on his choices by. Really not many which leaves me hopeful he’ll eventually get a place.
Last year ds didn’t get any of his 3 choices, 2 which based on previous years he’d have been given a place. He was allocated a place at the closest - along with 120 other kids who didn’t put it as a preference.
Hoping this years allocations are kinder and dd gets one of her choices.
At what point would ds need to be in the preferred school for dd’s criteria to change? Application, so October 31st or if he were to move say in December, would dd change criteria then?