If you are living near a 'good' school, how can you ensure your child gets in?

[shoobaloo]

We are thinking of moving and are wondering how we could ensure, if that is even possible, that DS would get into the nearest school, which is a good one, as the other schools nearby are not so great.

Read their admissions policy - many LEAs publish these online on the local council website.

You need to take into account the size of the intake and the size of the catchment area.We live in the catchment for a school with a small intake and it was by no means a done deal that ds2 would get in,even though ds1 was already there.The teachers go out with a pacing wheel and measure distances.

TBH, I don't think you can 100% ensure that your DS would get into a certain school, even if you live in the catchment area and submit your forms in plenty of time before the deadline. You certainly can't in my LEA, anyway.

CHeck the admissions policy and also phone the school secretary - they often know all about the recent intakes and can let you know in how many recent years your ds would have gained admission. If you visit the council offices they may have the "maps" for each year of admission so you can see the spread of applicants, where they live and who got in (in each round of appication).

In our LEA they say there are not such things as catchments areas any more, there are now called admissions areas and can vary from year to year depending on the number of people applying.

Contact the LEA , they may well be able to send you the admission maps for the last few years, that way you will be able to see where you have the best chance of being. Also have a look at the admission area of the other nearby schools.

You cannot apply ahead , so as to get on a waiting list, you will apply along with everyone else, so if DS is due to start school Sept 2007 you will be applying this Autumn.

Also bear in mind that LEA can change the crieria on submissions and if school is a few years away you may find that all this is worthless.

My tactic was to suck up on the admission form

Q- Why do you wish for your ds/dd to attend this school.

A- I have heard many good comments about .......... school, and believe it to be the best in the area, I wish for the best education for my sd/dd, and believe ..school can provide this.

Not sure if it had any effect, but ds was eccepted, even though there was another school pratically on my doorstep

mummydear, DD starts school this Sept ('06). Our admission forms weren't sent out until November '05, with a return deadline of late Jan '06. It varies from LEA to LEA.

Yes, you usually apply Autmn/winter before they start school, trying to say that you cannot jump ahead with any LEA and apply a couple of years before.

Call the school and check their admission criteria, intake size. Give them the roads you have in mind, and they will be able to tell you your chances based on previous years' intakes.

But bear in mind, nothing is guaranteed because it depends on how many children are applying in that year, where they live and how many of them already have siblings in that school (if the school has a sibling policy).

The good school near me has a small intake and sibling policy. In some years, all places are taken up by siblings even before they open up to other children within proximity of the school.

So just a roundabout way of saying not to put all your chickens in one basket.

catchmts do vary from yr to yr but not much, i think. lea should be able to give you current ones as a guide marked on map so you can see where is "safe" to live.