AIBU to ask what you would do next year...secondary school nightmare admissions issue

[Postcardsfromstress]

Namechanged for this, for various reasons.

We've just learnt that 50 families a stone's throw from our two local schools didn't get secondary school places this year. The catchment is huge, not enough (good) schools. These two schools reneged on an extra bulge class, as they don't feel they have the communal facilities (toilets, corridors etc) to accommodate more children. They've said this is the case the coming academic year too - but hoping admission figures fall as of 23/24. Until then, there's every chance you'll be sent on a bus/es to not great schools quite far away.

This is going to affect us as we will apply to go for next September.

I feel like that's a lot of families locally who got affected, and there's every chance it could be us.

So, I need to be strategic and think about what we can do - if anything? Move? consider private? Sit back, let's see what's coming to us.

I guess my post is as much for thoughts about what other people would do...whilst I think on our strategy

I don't like the MC/WC comments - that isn't how I see it - I think the catchment areas need to be big to prevent ghettorisation of the city - but equally, I don't want to go to an underperforming school
This is presumably why they do a lottery rather than by distance, the downside of this is some kids have to go to the underperforming school, you can't have it both ways.

@bunnybigbears - absolutely. And despite knowing it could easily affect me/us, I believe it's the right and fair decision.

But it also means i need to think more broadly about what we do to counter issues

Distance is definitely relevant within catchment, councils use an ‘as the crow flies’ map usually to determine it.
Pre-secondary is a good time to move as children make new friends etc. Depending on how bad the other schools are, whether you can afford to go private or afford to move. These are all considerations.

@JustDanceAddict
Brighton is unusual, it uses a lottery rather than distance as its tie break.

@TeenMinusTests

I don't think it's just us - I'm sure there are some places in London where this is the case?

I actually think it should be a lottery

I have no idea who else uses a lottery, I am not an expert, but it is definitely unusual.

Unless you've seen a school with your own eyes in the last two years, or have close friends with kids there currently, don't write off 'underperforming' schools.

The ones with that reputation are often up and coming and even if high-performing kids are in a minority, the staff may well bust even more guts than teachers generally do, to ensure they do well.

@TeenMinusTests

I have no idea who else uses a lottery, I am not an expert, but it is definitely unusual.

Kingsdale in Dulwich uses a lottery system within bands.

We didn't get in despite it being our nearest school.

We moved out of London (although had been planning to anyway).

In your position, you should list Varndean and Stringer as your first and second choices in your own order of preference. For your 3rd choice do NOT put Blatchington as you have no chance as an out of catchment applicant. Do not put Cardinal Newman unless you are a Catholic and fulfil all the admissions criteria. You are best putting Patcham or Hove Park as your 3rd choice as you have a reasonable chance of getting one of those and that should prevent you getting a less desirable school miles away from where you live.

@CecilyP - there's absolutely no point putting Varndean or Stringer as second choice. The number of second choices they accepted this year was pitiful. I mean, pitiful.

Postcards order of preference usually only matters if a child qualifies for more than 1 school. So the fact they didn't accept many second choices either means there weren't many or most people got their first choice.

The lovely Teen has explained what I meant by a "banker", tho it sounds as tho there might not be one for you op, sorry.

If I were you I would put your two top lottery choices first, then whatever the nearest school is you stand a good chance of getting to.

Tho if you moved near the school that doesn't use the lottery, you would surely be a shoo in there, however many people put it first choice. Not much time to move tho.

[quote Postcardsfromstress]@CecilyP - there's absolutely no point putting Varndean or Stringer as second choice. The number of second choices they accepted this year was pitiful. I mean, pitiful.[/quote]
Putting a school second or third in no way reduces your chance of getting an offer. The equal preference system has been law across England for many years now. Each preference is in effect a separate application- the order only matters if you qualify for more than one school, in which case you will be given the highest preference that you qualify for. If, theoretically, we both live in catchment but you put Varndean third and I put it first, you would still get the place before me if you are picked out of the lottery first.

Yes they don't know you put them second choice. It's well worth putting two you would like in place 1 and 2; you have just as much chance of getting a place via second choice (unless you get your first choice, obviously!)

Despite how complicated people try to make it it is really a very simple process you put the schools on the preference form in order of preference. The main thing to make sure is that there is at least 1 school on there where they stand a fairly good chance.

Why not list Chailey as a backup which is a lovely school and not too much of a drive.

Yep, and definitely don't listen to people who insist that 'X school fills up with people who put it first' and similar myths. The schools don't know the order you put them in, and the process is explained in posts above. The Brighton secondary admissions booklet explains the process and has some examples as well.

As others have said, you should definitely list both Dorothy Stringer and Varndean in whichever order you prefer, and you aren't at a disadvantage with the school you put second.

Have a look at the other options. Often criticisms might not affect your DC. E.g if sporting facilities are bad but they're not interested in sports. If the top 30% get 8 grade 7 to 9 GCSEs and your DC is likely to be in that position, they'll likely do fine. No school is perfect, even the most sought after ones. But if you think it's dangerous, that would be an issue for me and I'd consider moving.

@CecilyP - there's absolutely no point putting Varndean or Stringer as second choice. The number of second choices they accepted this year was pitiful. I mean, pitiful.

There is every point! The fact that so few people got their 2nd choice, and only 50 in-catchment didn’t get a place, suggests that most in-catchment applicants got their 1st choice. In other years that has not been the case with one school being more popular and the other filling up with with 2nd choice applicants.

2nd choice doesn't matter in the slightest if preference order isn't in the admissions policy.

Example - you apply to schools 1 - 5. Somehow (pure luck) you 'win' a lottery place in every single one. You only receive an offer from the school you marked #1 because the others are automatically removed - because you got a place at #1.

Example 2 - you apply to schools 1- 5. You win a lottery place in #2, #4 and #5. You automatically receive an offer from #2 and the places for #4 and #5 are offered to other families - because you got a place at #2.

Most people who don't have a place at all only applied for #1 and #2. They fail to get a lottery place. They haven't put any other schools on the application. They then have to take what they're given out of all the other schools with spaces after all the acceptances are in. The leftovers, basically.

Not filling the applications fully out of a misguided idea that it's better to apply to just 2 in the belief that it matters to Admissions that you're prepared to risk having nowhere is the reason why there are kids without anywhere to go to at present.

It's like wanting to win a prize in a raffle. Five draws, one at £10, one at £100, one at £1000, one £1500, one £10,000 and one £20,000.

You don't have to forfeit the higher prize entries if you buy tickets for the others. But the rules are that you can only take one prize if you win more than one, which is the highest payout.

If you decide not to buy tickets for the draws with prizes of £1000, £100 and £10 because you'd far rather win £10,000 or £20,000 prizes (who wouldn't?), you aren't going to end up with anything if somebody else's ticket gets drawn in the two higher prize draws.

Apply for all five in preference, be ready to ask for a place on the waiting list and start the appeal on 2nd March/whenever the offer day is next year, go for entrance exams for private if that's something you can do and your DC can cope with, but it's far less likely you'll be left without anywhere at all and have to take a place at literally the one school that almost nobody wants to go to.

Tho if you moved near the school that doesn't use the lottery, you would surely be a shoo in there, however many people put it first choice. Not much time to move tho.

All schools in Brighton & Hove, apart from the 2 faith schools are part of the catchment/lottery system. OP would have to move near to a school out of the to get in somewhere on distance.

@NeverDropYourMoonCup Great post! Just wanted to add that preference order is not part of the admissions criteria for any school in England- all have to use the equal preference system you described.

[quote ChildOfFriday]@NeverDropYourMoonCup Great post! Just wanted to add that preference order is not part of the admissions criteria for any school in England- all have to use the equal preference system you described. [/quote]
Thank you. I came to the job fairly recently, compared to a lot of people on here, so wasn't sure when (or if) it had changed everywhere - I don't need to know the history, just what the procedures are now, IYSWIM.

[whispers] By the way, I know I messed up with the raffle example of six prizes. It's a rather busy time of year at work...

Haha, I wouldn't have noticed the raffle prizes! I don't work with school admissions, I'm just someone who has a bit of a strange obsession with them, so I'm very jealous of your job! I'm not sure exactly when the equal preference system became law across England (I think around 10 years ago, but one of the experts may well correct me on that), but in the LEA where I grew up in it came in when I was applying to secondary school in 2003, so it's been around for quite a while