School Catchments

[AllsoppWannabe]

Hi, hoping to get some advice about school catchments.

We currently live on an estate which we love for various reasons but the catchment primary school we live near is unfortunately not our cup of tea - I can say this having been in to the school in my capacity as a teacher.

We would preferably not want to move house but do not want our children to attend there. Does anyone have any advice on how to get around this? Despite being a teacher I know very little about how the whole catchment/applications procedures work. (I'm in Hampshire if that helps.)

Thanks

My recollection is you can apply for any three schools. We applied to our three nearest and didn’t get into any as oversubscribed. There really wasn’t such a thing as catchment area because it varied every year depending on population. Anyway we weren’t in the catchment if any school at all (this is in London). So we went private.

A lot of schools don’t have defined catchment areas these days but the admissions criteria are based on distance (as the crow flies or safe walking route).

This varies each year but the council usually publishes a list showing which category the last child admitted fell into in previous years which will give you an idea. So you need to check the criteria for each school you might be interested in.

So they wont force me to take a place at the school I dont like?

We dont mind travelling to a better school if we get in but definitely dont want them to attend this school.

You need to look at your nearest half a dozen schools and check how far away they admitted from - your council will have a booklet that tells you furthest distance. No guarantees of course.

If your child doesn’t get allocated a place at any of your preferred schools then you will be allocated a place at the nearest school that does have places. This may well be your local school or it could be one just as bad several miles away.

You can then go on waiting lists and hope a place comes up somewhere accept the place, home educate or go private.

You need to be aware of catchment Vs intake. We're in catchment for lots of schools bit intake of only two. Intake distance varies year on year depending on population starting school in that year. Look at the intake information for the last few years and the birth rates for those years and the year you are applying for and it will give you an idea of whether you will get in the school you fancy and if the local schools are oversubscribed.

Look on your councils website for school admissions, that should tell you what the admissions criteria are, and you should be able to check whether the alternative schools are realistic options. You’re looking whether they’re oversubscribed, and once you know what category you would be in (categories are usually along the lines of: looked after children, children with an EHCP naming the school, siblings, catchment, other. Sometimes nonsiblings In catchment come before out of catchment siblings, and religious schools will probably have additional categories)

You can apply for any schools you want. All applicants are ranked according to the admissions criteria, the top 30/45/60/90 whatever depending on the school are given places. If you don’t qualify for any of your choices you’ll get the nearest school with spaces. That may not be your catchment school if it’s already full from people who listed it as a choice.

They can’t force you to send your child to a particular school, but once a place has been offered the council have done their bit and they don’t have to offer an alternative place. You can appeal but infant class size appeals are extremely hard to win. And you can go on waiting lists and hope for movement. If you don’t get a place at another school by normal admissions, appeal or waiting list then you’re only other options would be go private or home educate.

Ok, so it appears that schools in Hampshire do have defined catchment areas. Living in catchment doesn’t guarantee you a place but it does put you higher up the list.

At the school I looked at the criteria were

1. Looked after children
2. Exceptional medical/social
3. Children of teachers who teach a shortage subject
4. Siblings in catchment
5. Others in catchment
6. Siblings out of catchment
7. Others out of catchment

So assuming you will be in category 7 you need to check if any children were admitted in that category in recent years & what the distance from home to school of the last child admitted was.

In addition to what everyone else has said, try to find out from the schools you're interested in how many siblings they're expecting to start school in the same year as your child. The siblings will have priority. I learned that when we were applying our preferred (non-catchment) school didn't have a lot of siblings that year, and we got in no problem. If it's a year with loads of siblings, your chances are significantly diminished.

Sorry, the end of my first paragraph should be: once you know what category you’re in check the last admitted distance in that category and whether you would’ve got in. It’s not a guarantee but is a reasonable indication.

And I do know the difference between your and you’re I promise

Different LEAs have completely different ways of allocating schools!!! You need to find out how your LEA allocated them, how many choices you get to make and the allocation criteria of the schools you desire.

Hampshire you have 3 choices.

Here is last years admissions allocations.

documents.hants.gov.uk/education/YearR-data-2019.pdf

You'll find this page helpful:
www.hants.gov.uk/educationandlearning/admissions/data

Especially this link:
documents.hants.gov.uk/education/YearR-data-2019.pdf

x-post

We were X posting teen!

What is an x-post?

Thank you all so much for your advice. I will have a look at those websites now.

Broadly speaking, usual advice would be to put your catchment school last on list even though you don't like it, as if all else fails better to have a school you don't like on your doorstep than one you don't like 40mins drive away.

x-post = cross post. Comefromaway and I were simultaneously writing the same thing, so it looks like I ignored her, but I didn't.

These are 2019 reception allocations

documents.hants.gov.uk/education/YearR-data-2019.pdf

You need to read the individual admissions policies for the schools you want to apply for to see if you can realistically hope for a place there.

If the council can’t offer you a place at any of the schools you name on your caf they will offer you a place at the nearest available school with space hence it advisable to always name a school you will definitely be offered a place at. Put the schools in the genuine order you want them.

They can’t ‘force’ you to go to a school you don’t like but at the same time they have no obligation to find you a school you do like.

All schools will allocate places according to the admissions criteria, so it all depends on whether you will get a place in a different school, which you may not if they fill their places with children who live nearer than you.