Coming to England for 3 month - Can I get my children to public school?

[SurpriseItsMeHorseyNeighNeigh]

Just that really. I have a European friend coming to England for 3 months for learning/an internship and she asked me if she could put her kids to schools here, in the public.

My first answer was no, but actually now, I doubt myself. Once she has an address in England, can she apply for an in year space in public school for her primary age children?

By public, do you mean state school, or fee paying schools?

Sorry, state school (and I also meant her children in the title, not mine...). I assumed private school would accept anyone who pays if they have space.

I think you might mean state schools - as in those paid for by the state.
England has a wierd naming system for schools where the poshest private (paid for by the parents) schools are called public schools, and others are called independent schools (also paid for by parents).

I think your friends probably wouldn’t be able to get a temporary place in a state or public school for just three months, but I think several independent schools would offer this if they were prepared to pay for it.

I doubt she would get a state school place as she would have to prove residence etc. She may be able to get them into a private school but only if it was non-selective plus the cost of school + sports uniform would be a waste of money for only 3 months. The cost of uniform at private can be 1K+. Might also have to factor in paying for 6 months as they usually require 1 term's notice + fees paying. Although all of this would be negotiable, for a price!

Is she coming just her and the children? If so what is her plan if she couldn't put them into a school? 3 months isn't very long and depending on where you are it is unlikely she will get them both a space.

If she was coming with their father wouldn't it make more sense for them to stay where they currently live rather than uproot them for 3 months?

Thanks for the answers! That's what I thought.

I am not sure that her plans are set in stone yet, she is just asking me to know what her options are. I suppose that leaving the kids at home with the Dad and travel back to see them will be the easiest option, and probably still less expensive than trying to get a space ina private school.

She needs to be very very organised before she comes if she plans to do this. She would need robust proof of address, which would be like a bank and utility statements and council tax number etc. and then apply for in-year places. Is any of that likely for her?

But... the state system is under enormous pressure and defunding, and she would be essentially using it for free childcare and teaching English as a foreign language, disrupting a class, putting teachers under even more pressure, and then whisking them out again.

The private sector might even hesitate as it's just for one term - and she'd be looking at about 6k per child for the term. If the father isn't on the scene, this might be something she simply can't do, logistically, with children.

From your update then yes I think it would absolutely make more sense for them to stay with their father and keep the continuity of being in the same home, at their current school and being in the same country.

3 months is hardly any time at all and uprooting them for such a short time seems quite selfish. I appreciate she will miss them and them her but it would be much kinder to leave them at home with their Dad.

What type of visa would she be coming over on? And would the kids get a right of abode? Or is she just planning on using the visa free travel for them?

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/schools-admissions-applications-from-overseas-children#:~:text=Foreign%20national%20children%20resident%20in,a%20right%20of%20abode

Depending on where they are going, school places may be in short supply, and they might not get places in the same school - if indeed they get places at all.

We have done "guest" admissions at our Secondary for children of visiting academics - but they tend to already be fairly facile English speakers so a benefit to the school.

Which country would she be coming from?

I ask because there are some schools in London, such as the German School in Richmond and the Lycée in South Kensington, which would be useful ports of call.

If she's got a student visa, her dependents living with her are entitled to a state school place (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/schools-admissions-applications-from-overseas-children#other-categories-of-foreign-national-children-who-can-enter-the-uk-and-attend-a-school).

However, she won't be able to apply for places until they are living here, and it may take time to get a place, especially if all the local schools are oversubscribed, and there's no guarantee that it will be at a nearby school, or the same school for each child. So she might have a month or so of them not being in school, followed by two months of having to get them to two different schools, and wrap-around care may not be available at short notice either. If she can ascertain that wherever she's moving to has an undersubscribed school that is highly likely to have spaces for all the kids (plus any necessary wrap-around care) it might be possible. However in many areas that's just not going to be the case.