Dispute with x over secondary school

[Clh1991]

Feeling extremely upset & anxious DD will be doing her Kent test in September if she does not pass she wishes to go to our local school 10 minutes away. However my x her dad wants her to go to another school that’s in the city over half an hour / hour in traffic away even if she doesn’t pass her Kent test. He is being completely dismissive of our wishes im so worried my daughter will end up going to a school she doesn’t want to go to that’s going to be a nightmare for us to get to.

Does anyone know what will happen if we do not agree on a school can I just apply for the one of our choice anyway? Just to add both schools have a good reputation but the school that’s in the city there will be more children she knows going there but at a downside she will be having to leave a lot earlier & coming home later , the one near our home because she currently goes to school near the city it’s unlikely any of the children from her current school will be there , I have made my daughter aware of this but she really wants to go to the closer one if she does not pass … sorry for long post im just so worried over what to do

Exactly what I was thinking too she has one close friend who will be going to the local school but we are joining the theatre group & go to an art activities centre I’m also thinking of enrolling my daughter back into the local dance group too so she can meet other local children.
I will also have a look for other places she can meet & socialise with other children before starting the school.

Would she even be offered a place at the school near him using your address? You could agree to include it on your application which might be enough to placate him. If she wouldn’t stand a cats chance in hell of being offered from his school you could even put it first, knowing that she’ll be offered your school.

Unfortunately, you're expected to come to an agreement, as you both have parental responsibility. School choice is one of the key areas where 1 parent cannot just decide and force it on the other.

If you can't agree, you need to go to court for a Specific Issue Order. Depending on timing of the test results, school acceptance and start of the school year, you may need to do that in a certain window of time and/or request it as an urgent hearing.

I definitely think you need the test results first, and the resulting offers or at least reasonable expectations of places. But you may want to start investigating and/or lining up solicitor for if you have to go to court.