Reasons for school preference

[Bellawella1978]

As schools are basically allocated by the schools admission policy is there any point in filling out the reasons box? Are they even read? Is it just a way to make us feel we have an input?

It is to draw attention to any specific circumstances which may affect the admissions category ie. Ehcp pending or social/health need if there is a specific category

Right so theres no point in writing anything other than specific information that is in the admissions criteria for that particular school. Anything other than what is already asked on the application like tick box for sibling or faith etc.
What if you have genuine worries about your child being an easy target for bullying? Or do you then need to provide evidence to back you up?
I just think its a 'computer says no' exercise?

You would need some evidence about bullying in support if there is a relevant category such as Social Need. Many schools do not have one though. If it is covered elsewhere ie Faith with extra form completed as evidence you don't need to mention it again.

Generally there is absolutely no point in writing anything.

If you have a sibling - tick that box
If you have a medical or social need - tick that box and provide supporting evidence

It can be useful if you need to explain something - like it you live in Gloucestershire and are applying for a school in Southend because you are about to move. Means people will know what is going on and you didn't make a mistake - but it won't actually 'help' your application.

If you are applying for admission authority schools (Church schools, academies etc) you can write, 'I named this school first because........' for every single preference and they will never know that you actually named the 6th - it shouldn't help your application but sometimes Church schools do silly things when ranking applications.

The other thing that it might help with is if you have to appeal at a later date - the panel may view anything written in the application as something that the admissions authority should have considered. We lost an appeal where the parent answered the 'Do you have a sibling at this school' with 'No' and so was not offered a sibling place - but they had mentioned something in a long waffle about why they wanted the place about the older brother Bob, loving the school. We should have spotted that and as he was named we should have given sibling priority....

So, in summary... what you write shouldn't really help as anything relevant will be covered elsewhere on the form - but it won't do any harm and may protect you from a mistake (yours or an admission authority ranking).

your worries will only be considered if you are able to provide supporting evidence explaining what the issue is and why it means they must attend a specific school.

I live between overlapping catchments of three primary schools. They vary each year depending on distribution of reception age children. We live rurally. Two of the schools would have been fine. If we had been given a place at the third school I would not have been able to carry on working. I'm a single mum, so I explained on the form.

They rang me to check a couple of details, and we were given a place at one of the schools that would make travel arrangements possible. But I think they were able to accommodate most people's wishes. I guess it depends how much pressure there is on places.

Thank you all for your replies. Its all as I expected thank you.