Moving back to London and finding decent year 9 school place

[user1504044345]

I’m very keen to move back to London after trying and failing to enjoy living by the coast. The plan is to rent near the secondary we like most and hope a place becomes available soon. The options are Dulwich for the two Charter schools and Camden for CSG and Acland Burghley. Would also consider close to Alexandra Park. Does anyone have any insight into waiting list numbers for these schools as admissions won’t give any indication until you apply. Thanks!

I can’t help with your query OP but if you are in the UK you can apply anyway, surely? You don’t need to live there. If there is a space at any of them then you will have to take it quickly. Otherwise you can go on the waiting list. I’m sure someone will correct me if I have got that wrong.

Year 9 is not an obvious time to move so there may not be much movement at popular schools (I assume the schools you like are popular). People are thinking about option choices and might well not want to move this close to KS4.

Yes we could apply but as the waiting list is usually don’t on catchment we would be bottom of the list if you see what I mean. You basically have to be living close then apply which is what makes it tricky when you have no Cole how long the list is!

We are in Hastings- it’s absolutely beautiful and we are probably mad to leave but my industry is predominantly in London and I just miss it all desperately. Where is your sister?

But if you apply then you will know how long the waiting list is? I don’t see what you have got to lose tbh – if the list is 143 ppl then just think again.

Hi OP. Don’t know anything about Dulwich schools but I am in North London and have a dd at Camden Girls. It is highly sought after and I would imagine a place in Year 9 would be unlikely to come up. There’s an existing waiting list as far as I know, and it could well be longer than ever, given there might be kids transferring out of private school because of the VAT on fees pressure. Same applies to Alexandra Park unfortunately.

Acland Burghley is most likely of the three to have space. Many parents and pupils love it, though all would say it has some challenges and the GCSE results overall aren’t as good as CGS or APS. You could also look at Parliament Hill (if you have a daughter) or Highgate Wood.

Either way, worth calling all the schools and seeing what their situations with waiting lists are. Do remember that there’s a lot of movement at 16 for A-levels, and your DC could apply for CGS or APS at that stage or La Swap (which Burghley is also a part of).

Good luck!

We are on the waiting list for Acland Burghley and are currently 20th for an in-year Year 9 place.

So if the OP wants to get a place there, she has to 1. apply and 2. put her DD in a position, vis à vis the oversubscription criteria, that puts her 20 places above you as soon as possible (assuming that the list goes at least 1. LAC / PLAC, 2. Distance - she's got problems if there's something like 'Siblings' in between, of course).

@user1504044345 the point about applying from where you are currently is that it isn't fully relevant that at the moment there would be x applicants ahead of your DD. For schools admitting mainly on 1. and 2. above, then living 80 miles away when you apply will only get you a place straight away if there is a place at the time of application and no one else wants one. But once you are on the list, from wherever, you might find that a place comes up and yes, you're not at the top of it, but for various reasons, all those above turn the offer down. (And if distance is a major factor, then once you move to the area, you will go up the list). If you haven't formally applied, and a place goes to the person in the position you would have been in, and no further places come up this year, or at all, you've lost out.

'You've got to be in it to win it', as the saying goes.

I'm on the Camden/Islington border. DD1 is at Highbury fields school which has been consistently good & has a deserved outstanding OFSTED.
I have friends with DDs at CSG, Parliament Hill, Ally Pally & Highgate Woods. Apart from CSG everyone is happy with their secondary choices & their DDs are thriving.

Do you know if any of those schools start covering the GCSE curriculum in year 9? Where we live it’s roughly 50/50 of those that do and those who don’t until year 10.

Worth checking and ruling them out if so.

What are the concerns about CSG?

I guess the problem is that there won't be much turnover in year 9 and these are I assume sought after schools with waiting lists. If they don't tell you how many are on the waiting list and more importantly what category they are in then even if you move next door to a school there could still be others above you on the list in a higher category. You would be further down an alternative schools waiting list as there may be someone closer and in higher categories. You would be making a decision blindly with no idea of the chances of getting a place at your favoured school. It wouldn't be a gamble I would be willing to take in year 9. Do you definitely have to move?

No idea about length of list but with the Charters it is proximity to school that matters so if you buy/ rent as close as possible you will go to the top of any list.

Hard to get a yr 9 CSG place, and I think maybe you won’t regret that. You’d need to move v close to Parli and ABS to have a chance at either. Have you called the schools to ask how much turnover/how many on waiting list etc? Places wd def be available at LSU but it’s pretty patchy.

Also, for secondary, the schools hold their lists, not the Local Authority, so the LA won’t be able to give you an idea of waiting list times etc. We went on the waitlist for ABS in June, they did a sweep and contacted everyone on the list over summer and we are still 20th now. We live 1.0082 miles from ABS. I have been informed there is one sibling ahead of us on the list.
Edited to add we are in Islington, but that shouldn’t matter. The school keeps reassuring me that there is a lot of movement still happening and that we shouldn’t lose heart…..

Thanks everyone- these are really interesting responses and giving us much food for thought. It seems it will have to be a case of deciding to move and then hoping for the best with the waiting lists but it’s so difficult when there’s only one school you like and don’t want any of the others in that area! We could decide to move near Acland Burghley for example then not get in and be left with no other Co-ed options that are suitable- aaagh so tricky!

Hi OP for Dulwich you are extremely unlikely to get a place unless you rent on the doorstep. These schools are full and North Charter, for instance, had a waiting list of over 100 pupils for Y7 last year 23/24 with little chance of a place if you’re far down the list. The school did hold the list for Y7 but after a year you have to go back to the council to apply. Y9 was a big birth year in London (dropped off a lot since then) so there is a lot of competition for the popular schools for that age group. More so now with impending VAT on school fees. Good luck though- living in London is great and you’ll enjoy being back!

Thanks Polly- it’s for current year 8, there are 27 on the waiting list. Do you think if we rented v close we would have a chance?

OP you've literally picked the most popular schools in these areas. There are so many other options. If you need to live in London then the benefits of doing that for you and your kids will outweigh going to a ‘good’ but not ‘outstanding’ school, for example. Don’t move somewhere only for the school.

Hi OP ah peak London birth rate! There is a possibility but i guess you’d have to find out what the waiting list distances are and try to find a rental property super close and i don't think you’d be the only person with that plan. I doubt at this stage there would be much movement. Are you looking for DS or DD? As @SugarIsHardtoAvoid says there are other “good” schools in the area. Also bear in mind that there may be some influx from private schools too

Totally agree with this. I’ve honed onto those schools from my experience of having attended a couple of them myself for school then sixth form and having lived in the other areas and knowing lots about the schools. My child is also extremely keen on the non uniform aspect of the Camden schools!

The trouble with in year, year 9, places at CSG is that the admissions criteria puts siblings high on the list. This includes siblings where the eldest is in the sixth form.

CSG do start teaching some of the courses in year 9. At least that’s what my DDs tell me. The school have never said. I think it’s the sciences. The beauty course too.

it’s also a very small school to be transported into in year 9.

I wouldn’t move back to London expecting CSG to be the answer to your prayers.