Openings in secondary schools?

[Shrh4veus1]

Hi Everyone,

My daughter and myself will be relocating with my company to London from the US (Chicago). I've read many posts about how difficult it is to find a secondary school with an opening and that we can't put her name down for a school until we have a place to rent. We won't be moving until February more or less, but I'm trying to determine areas where we might want to live and have been warned that we're better off to find a school, then find a home. We spent a month in London over the summer but just as tourists and certainly weren't considering moving there at the time, but here we are.

I know Ofsted gives school ratings, but I don't see where it lists openings and know that many of the schools are oversubscribed.

How does one go about finding schools that are accepting students?

Thank you!

Each borough council will know which schools in their area have spaces
What year will your child be joining?
Where will you be working? You need to think about your commute too

At secondary in the UK the children travel solo on public transport

The situation will change between now and February so whatever information on vacancies the council gives now won't necessarily apply then, and you cannot secure a place in advance unless you go to a fee paying school. You need to determine an area and property first. Iirc you posted before and had lots of advice about your fairly specific requirements on location and activities for your dd. Do you have any better indication of budget now?

Move as close as possible to your preferred school and wait for a place to come up. In London people move in and out all the time, especially in areas where there are a lot of ex-pats (certainly true in Richmond Borough where I live). Even the most popular and oversubscribed schools will have places coming up fairly regularly, and if they have an admissions policy that is distance-based, you just need to minimise the distance to get to the top of the waiting list.

Ave - My child will be in year 7 based on her age. It's also the equivalent of where she is now so there's no problems there. My office is based near the Liverpool Street Station so that gives me a lot of options based on the tube and train lines. Thank you for the advice about the borough councils. This is exactly what I was looking for.

Lizs - Yes! You were very active on another thread of mine where I was looking for advice on where to live! I know things will change between then and now but I need to figure out a place to start and since so many people on the previous thread said finding a place in secondary was going to be such an issue, I decided we should start with that. We can find a football club anywhere I'm sure - and commute if need be. We travel 2.5 hours each direction for the Olympic Development Program so we can make it work. Thank you so much for all of your help!

Cosy - that's really great to hear! In the previous post LIZS was on, people were saying that it took months for their kids to get a spot!

In the previous post, there were a lot of recommendations for Islington and Isle of Dogs. Do you guys agree? What about Stratford or Woodford?

I wouldn’t recommend Stratford or Woodford. Islington it depends what end, Haringey or Camden? The middle hasn’t got great schools. Parliament Hill is a nice school with lots of Islington girls going but no uniforms so may not be the experience your daughter may be excited for. Highgate Wood is nice too, their intake has changed a lot to have lots of middle class crouch end kids of professionals. Alexandra park is very good although I’m not sure how you’d do with getting a space, they had nearly 1900 applicants for 243 spaces last year. But they’re in Bounds Green and the tube is just there, you often get a seat too. Most kids are from Muswell Hill though. Does your company have a private school fee scheme? It may be less stressful to go down that route. Channing is great for girls who are new and they have a fair amount of movement.
Bear in mind in year admissions have no catchment, you are just given a place when the school has one, regardless of your address. You can tell them your preference and they have to listen to it but will offer you the place that is available in the school that has one. You can refuse and wait for the next one.
I don’t know anything about south london sorry.

If you are going into Liverpool Street, lots of people commute from Essex: places such as Loughton. If you could afford private, you would then have a much better choice. You could look at the Essex and Hertfordshire Private schools.

malmontar and BubblesBuddy - thank you both so much for your recommendations! I will not be getting a budget for school expenses unfortunately so we'll do homeschooling until we find a place that is acceptable.

I honestly wouldn’t stress about it in that case. Until you actually get to your house and can apply through your council there’s little you can do. As I said before, in year applications are v diff to normal ones. You get given what’s available in your borough and can put yourself down for as many schools as you like and just get the spot when it’s available. There is more movement in london schools than those in the outskirts. Barnet, Haringey and Camden all have very good schools. You can even apply for a school in a different borough. I honestly wouldn’t stress, it’ll be a great experience for your daughter and going to a normal school she’ll have the proper experience of a British comp, I’m excited for her!
How long are you guys staying for? I’d interested to see how she gets on returning to the states, by the time she’s in year 9 she’ll be starting GCSEs so I’m sure that’s very different to the states. Either way, super excited for her, she’ll love it I’m sure.

Also don’t listen to people saying find a school than a Home. Find a borough you like, there is very few boroughs in london with bad schools. Councils do keep waiting lists for kids who didn’t get their 1st choice and want to wait, but they are waiting whilst going to their less favourite school. Your DD will have priority as a child with no school place.

No she would not get priority over another child on the waiting list who meets the entry criteria more closely, ie. Lives nearer where distance is the deciding factor or has a sibling attending if there is a link. The order is determined according to the original admissions criteria. The council is obliged to offer a space, but that may not be if the op's choosing or nearby, especially in London. If they turn it down to homeschool the council's obligation is fulfilled. Agree that it is better to focus on the address then school.

Even if you have no specific allowance for education your income may enable you to fund an independent school for your dd. Expect to pay £20k upwards for day fees in London/SE. She may even be eligible to apply for a sports scholarship if her football skills can be applied more widely to other team sports (hockey, netball and lacrosse for example). The issue would be that these are usually only available at main entry points, age 11 and sometimes 13/16, so you may have to wait a year or two for the next opportunity.

Sorry I did forget about the sibling. She would not get priority over sibling you’re right. I’m not sure what borough you’re talking about but I know 100% that other than sibling, social or ehcp she would have the priority over a school place even if someone new lives closer because in year admissions are not based on distance but school places available. This is the case in Haringey, Barnet, and from memory in hackney also.

Yes that’s a good point, if you tell the borough that you don’t like school x and want to wait and homeschool while you wait, they don’t have to offer you a school as your dd is being educated in one way or another.

I think it’s too late for private scholarships unless you find one offering year 9, which is not a lot for girls in london.

Okay, so telling them we're homeschooling is out the window ;) Thanks so much!