Is there no hope regarding Bristol school places?

[Dreambee]

We are hoping to move to (easta/northeast) Bristol in the summer but have been told by Bristol City LA that all but two secondary schools have long waiting lists for the years we are looking for (year 7 and year 9). From what I can see even children already resident in Bristol are struggling to find a school place.

We feel that we may need to call off the move (sob) because we cannot gamble on the chance that places will come available at any of the schools before the end of the summer or that we'll find a house right on the door step of the school so we are at the top of the waiting list. I am under the impression that we could be faced with children sitting at home with no school place. Unfortunately, we can't afford to consider private schools.

Have any of you had a positive (or negative) experience with a similar situation? Are other areas of Bristol worth considering? We are Catholic so would consider the two schools in that faith (although they are far from our preferred area).

Do we stand more hope with South Gloucestershire LA schools? (I am waiting to hear back from them).

Have you looked at schools in BANES? Geographically Keynsham is close to Bristol and I know Broadlands and Wellsway both have children coming in from City of Bristol and South Gloucestershire authorities.

Have you looked at St Bedes? I don't have personal experience of it but I have a friend with a daughter there in Year 8. I think there are some transport options available for that school as well with a school bus going from Redland.

Have you thought about going across the bridge to Chepstow?

Is it possible to find out how close you’d need to move to be near the top of the list? If they are good schools it could be that people from some distance away are going on the list in hope rather than expectation.

I know there aren’t many schools that parents are keen on in Bristol and lots bus out to surrounding areas so that is also something to consider. Where do children go from the areas you are looking at?

This!

You will not be left with children sitting at home without a place. Once you move, the council must find places for them somewhere, although they may not be at the same school.

Note also that your position on the waiting list is decided by the school's admission criteria, not the date on which you join the list. So, even if a school already has, say, 98 children on the waiting list, your child may be very close to the top of the list as soon as they join.

Thanks for this advice. I’ll look into the school transport option for St Bedes. The public buses to there apparently take about 1 hour from where we would like to live so it would be great to have a quicker option if possible.

Why Chepstowe? We haven’t considered it because we would like quite easy access to the city centre but I’m curious to hear more.

Yes but if OP wants BSCS and is offered Patchway,that's not ideal.

We live in NE Bristol (actually into South Glos but it is Bristol suburbs) There is a massive problem with school places due to building huge new development Lyde Green with no new secondary. It was promised for 2022 and they allocated 120 places but still have not built the school and no date for it to open. 2 other schools had to take bulge classes of 60 extra last year and even the schools with poor reputation are oversubscribed for the first time in my memory this year (20 yrs in the area). There are children in Y7 who have been allocated places the other side of Bristol. It's a mess.

Do you have a house purchase lined up? The rental market in Bristol is impossible at the moment. Honestly I’d be more concerned about finding somewhere to live (friend looking for 3 bed has spent 4 months applying for every rental that came up and not getting them).

Chepstow has 2 good secondary schools (one following the English curriculum if that's important), its 15 mins away, house prices are cheaper than Bristol and it's a nice place to live.

If city centre access is important though, it won't suit you.

You'll be given a place in Hartcliffe, that's the default secondary. People who live in Hartcliffe don't want to send their kids to Hartcliffe. It's just stuck in a cycle of people getting allocated it whilst they wait for a place elsewhere and so the school never gets any better.
Where are you looking to move? I would consider trinity in Horfield/ Lockleaze and Fairfield in Horfield. They both seem really positive places.
St Bedes might be an option if you look at houses in Pill or if you move to Keynsham you might be interested in Wellsway or getting the bus down the road to old field.

Basically it depends on what house you're buying or renting. If you want to be in the centre and I suggest a school in Downend then that doesn't really help you. Would renting somewhere dead in the middle of the catchment, even a one bed flat, and then moving out later help you?

Indeed, but OP says she is "under the impression that we could be faced with children sitting at home with no school place". My point is that this won't happen. She may not get the school she wants, but her children will be given places somewhere.

Look at Bristol Free School - it has a remote admissions area so check the policy carefully.

Thank you all for the useful advice and thoughts. You’ve given plenty to think about 😊