Moving to a new area

[JellyBellyBabies]

As a grown woman and mum of 4, I feel like I should really know the answer to this but what's the process to get your children into schools when you move to a new area? Do you contact the council or the schools directly and how much notice etc would you give? We've only ever moved in the same area and applied through the council. TIA

Look on the website for the council you are moving to for 'in-year school admissions' - you should be able to find information on the process in that area.

For example, this is the document for my borough - the council handles all in-year admissions except for one school, which does its own.
www.wokingham.gov.uk/_resources/assets/attachment/full/0/391150.pdf

Perfect, thank you Rusty!

In practice it means if you are moving to an area where all the schools are full then you may have to wait for a school you really like. You will get allocated a school but not all children will necessarily be in the same school, it may not be nearby and it may not have been one you'd have chosen. Check the over subscription criteria of the schools you like, if it is distance then being close to the school will mean you jump further up the waiting list. If there are sibling links then getting one child in means other children will jump to top of list but you may need to be prepared to have one in your preferred school whilst you wait for more places to come up in the other year groups. Good luck!