Quick question about moving and school offers

[MayorMumbum]

DD has been offered a place already at a secondary for September but we are going to be moving to another area quite a distance away. Do the council then have to make her another offer of a different school within a few miles radius? I'm so confused by all of this

Do you have a confirmed moving date and have you looked at what secondary schools you would prefer in your new area?

You can apply for any school you prefer but as secondary offer day has already happened the success of getting into a school may largely depend on if they are over or under subscribed. Appeals take place in May/June so if oversubscribed schools have successful appeals they could be above their planned admission number (so even fuller than expected).

I would ring the relevant LA and make enquiries as to what schools currently have year 7 places available for September and explain that you will be moving into the area. If a school you like is under subscribed it is worth asking if you can make a late out of area application now before you move and secure her place using your current address.

If you are moving over summer and apply to the LA after you have moved with proof of your new address:

If all of your preferred schools are full then you would usually be given a place at the nearest under subscribed school that is closest to your new address.

If you apply for a specific under subscribed school then I would imagine she would be allocated that school without too much delay.

You can ask to be put on a waiting list for an oversubscribed school if your initial application was unsuccessful and you can also go through the appeals process but the appeal would likely not take place until mid/late September and may or may not be successful so this has to be considered.

It is always best to accept any offered place initially as the LA will have fulfilled its obligation and unless you are prepared to home school or enter the independent sector you could find your DD without a secured place.

Thanks so much for giving me such a helpful answer. No confirmed moving date yet though if I am brave enough to do this it is likely to be the third week of May.

All of the preferred schools in the area we are moving to are full with waiting lists, in fact the woman at the council said that there isn't a single place available in the whole area for any year 7. I was just wondering if they would still expect her to attend the school she was originally allocated now it is 6/7 miles away or whether I could make a whole new application and be given a school closer.

Homeschooling for a while is definitely an option, I have posted here frequently recently regarding my DD's struggles, but if I were to homeschool it could end up being indefinitely as there may never be a spot for her at the local schools! I would like her to return to school eventually. Also I have no idea how to deregister after her SATS as she is expected to start at the high school she was allocated in September.

Are you moving to an area that is under a different LA than the one you are in now?

Did the council say that they have no under subscribed schools in their entire LA?

Same LA but right on the outskirts. Yes that's exactly what the woman at the council said, not a single year 7 place

If it is the same LA and there are no other under subscribed schools I would hold on to her place for now. The LA has allocated her a school so has fulfilled their obligation. I would still go on wait lists for other schools in the meantime.

You have the option of appealing now for any schools (even if you didn't apply to them initially) before the appeal deadline for this admissions round. It is usually 29th March but your LA can confirm the date. This could mean that you go to appeal before you move house so it might be difficult to win as you would not have proof of your new address and the panel would have no concrete evidence of your potential move so may not consider it.

You could also appeal for a closer school after the deadline and immediately after you have moved and have proof of your new address. If it at the end of May then your appeal should be held before the summer break.

It is recommended that any travel time to secondary does not exceed 75 mins one way and does not require more than several changes on public transport. If your DD falls within these limits after moving house it would be better to strengthen the appeal with other factors such as what a preferred school can offer your DD that is not available at her current allocated school ie specific specialisms and provisions that your DD has a proven interest in or requires. I would also request any schools that you have placed DD on waiting lists for to update or resubmit your details with your new address and you may find that you move up the list. There can occasionally be no shows in September so there is the possibility of movement on the list and it is kept active until the end of the first term (December).

Thank you for all your help.

To be honest its starting to seem undoable.
I feel that I may end up with no school places for my children I can feasibly get to and will have to home ed indefinitely which wouldn't work for DS at all.
We really need this new start.

Hopefully you can find a solution and go ahead with your planned move and fresh start.

Unless in a densely populated city such as London or a very rural area with few schools it is unusual for every single secondary school in the LA to be oversubscribed.

I would be very persistent and phone the LA every few days to check if any places have become available and if one does then apply for a place immediately even if you haven't yet moved. There can be a bit of movement in the next few months with people declining places, appeal hearings and people moving out of the area.

Maybe you could also double check that you have been given the absolute correct information (that all schools are full) by making a freedom of information request to the council. This may give you more clarity on the admissions in your local area.

You could send a letter something similar to below (this a copy of a letter off a FOI submitted to my local council by a person that published their request on another public forum. I did not write it)

Dear *** Council,

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please supply the following:

1 A list of all secondary schools in (insert area) and whether they were oversubscribed or not-oversubscribed on national offer day 2019 (1st March).
Please include each school’s Unique Reference Number (URN), DFE code, or address/postcode to allow us to identify each relevant school without ambiguity.
We define a school to be oversubscribed if, and only if, at least one on-time applicant was refused a place and the applicant did not receive an offer from any higher preference school.
If there were no refusals to on-time applicants - even if the school was unable to accept one or more late applications, or admitted over its published admission number - then we do not consider this school to be oversubscribed.
If you use a different definition of oversubscription, then please make this clear in the response.
2 The total number of places offered at each school.
Questions 3-5 apply to oversubscribed schools only:
3 The number of on-time applicants refused a place who did not receive a place at any higher preference school.

4 The admission criterion under which the last successful applicant was admitted.

5 The home-to-school distance of the last successful applicant, assuming distance was used to allocate this place.
Please include measurement units and whether this is based upon a walking/driving route, straight line/as the crow flies distance or an alternative measurement system.

Please always list all schools within the *** (insert area) Local Authority even if you are unable to provide all the requested information - simply mark the relevant values as ‘Not Known’.
Note:
If any of these dates differ - please align to the relevant secondary offer/deadline dates for your local authority.
• Secondary National Offer Day - 1st March 2019.
• On-time applications – submitted before October 31st 2018
• Late applications – submitted after October 31st 2018
Middle deemed primary schools (if present in your authority) may align with other primary education provider dates

If you feel that more information is required to interpret your answers to these questions, then please supply this information too.

Yours faithfully,

MayorMumbum

Thanks so much for that! I had no idea I could send a request like that to be honest. It does seem weird for all schools to be full but I've been told that by multiple members of staff at the admissions office so who knows.