InYear Admissions

[HugoSpritz]

I was wondering whether any of the appeal experts on here may be able to help?

Moving to UK from USA applied for an InYear y6 place for January. (Secondary application for y7 September 2027 already submitted).

According to the council list of availability (which says it may not be accurate anyway) first choice school does not have space.

With hindsight we should have indicated that Spanish is important as the applicant's maternal grandparents live in Central America. They are moving from an area of the US where the use of Spanish is prevalent.

Can we email the council and ask that this be considered now or if they don't get am offer of a place at a school offering Spanish can we appeal on the basis that this is important if they aren't offered a place that offers Spanish?

( I am UK based grandparent helping them to navigate the system this end while they close down life over there!)

For a year 7 appeal, offering Spanish would be a very valid reason.

For halfway through year 6, although it would be a reason, I'm not sure they would give it much weight. The amount of language teaching in primary school is fairly minimal - I'd be surprised if they would get much more than 10 hours in the time they are there. If your child already speaks Spanish, it would be rather below their level, too.

It's not something you put on the application form, so don't worry about the hindsight - it's just something that you can bring up at the appeal stage.

I have a year 7 child who did French at primary. The amount of timetabled French from Yr3-Yr6 was so little, and there was no reinforcement or expectation of actually committing it to memory through tests etc, that they started French again in Year 7 essentially as a beginner. I think most state primaries are similar in their delivery of MFL so I wouldn't expect this to hold any weight for the Year 6 application.

Unusual for any state primary to offer Spanish in any meaningful way so unlikely to make any difference.

Agree with others – this is a very useful argument if needed for a year 7 school that offers Spanish. But MFL teaching in primary is sadly poor to minimal. IME it’s usually French, occasionally German, and often depends on the MFL skills of one of the teachers. So I don’t think it will help – unless you have identified a school with a strong Spanish offer, in which case it is worth adducing.

Thanks all.

Yes the preferred school offers it via something described as Language Angels (or similar) and is definitely for only Spanish rather than any other MFL.

I think with only 2 terms before moving on to y7 any place in the area will be welcomed. It is hoped more to settle him in the area and UK and establish some friendships before moving to the local catchment comp.

There are several strands here.

The council (as education authority) has to offer a place somewhere, but it’s likely to be the nearest school with a vacancy.

If all schools are full, the council can activate the Fair Access Protocol to create a place somewhere. They should listen to the parents’ preferences, but ultimately it will be for them to judge which school can most reasonably accept an additional pupil.

Any unsuccessful application attracts the right of appeal, but I agree with others here that wanting a place at a school which offers Spanish is unlikely on its own to be enough to win an appeal unless the school’s case for not admitting is very weak. The argument for a place becomes stronger if there are other reasons for wanting it - such as needing a school place to help the child settle and make friends - although obviously that argument could apply to any or all schools.

Local authorities vary in how much they are willing to do before the child has arrived in and has an address in the UK. It is worth checking with the school admissions team what they are able to do, and when.

You said that they have applied for a yr 7 place. I didn't think you could apply to state schools from abroad. When are they arriving here?
As for the primary school does it really matter where they go? If you don't get in your first choice primary you then have to go to appeal which will take a few months. If you win would you really want to more her at that stage for a few months?

For primary there's no point appealing around whether Spanish is offered at the allocated school. You are likely to be directed to the schools that have space in Y6. There will be no placing you above other children, because the other children will be already in the school, so them staying will have priority over your child arriving.

For secondary, you can try, but given that there is a fixed list of criteria which language options isn't one of, it's unlikely to hold any weight!

Yes, you can apply for schools from abroad, but unless certain circumstances apply, the current home address of the child will be used for ranking purposes - so likely to be at or near the bottom of the 'all other applicants, ranked on distance' category, if applying from the USA, but the application must be processed, regardless.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/schools-admissions-applications-from-overseas-children

It's true that languages play no part in admissions criteria when making the initial application (in the vast majority of schools, anyway).

However if you don't get your preferred school, and appeal, they can definitely then be used as a reason in the appeal.