Please talk to me about in year admissions if you move house?

[multigenliving]

We are trying to move closer to family to support elderly parents but have twins who will be going in to year 9 and there doesn't seem to be any spaces... what happens?

I had this pre covid.
Dt were in primary school so we looked at others and found one that had places for both. But our other option was to have separate schools until a place became available in the other obviously wanted to avoid moving them and moving them again so felt a slightly further out school was best for our family.
With dc1 there were no places in the secondary school and the distance to the next was going to be difficult. I was able to apply before moving but had to show we were in the process of doing so and before dc1 started school I had to show we had moved.
Applied in the December (that was the earliest they allowed application), moved in the January. We got turned down in the December and had to appeal. In our area appeals happen on set dates we were lucky that we got a date very quick and had appeal hearing beginning of February and dc1 started after half term. So in the end dc1 missed half a term of school.
From what I read at the time it is different in different areas so I'd advice having a chat with the admissions service for the area your moving too. Ours were excellent. We also got good advice by going to the school we wanted and having a look round/chat with the staff involved in the process (this helped me give good reasons why it was in my childs interest to go to the school while not being overly detrimental to others). So I'd say local research, be open minded to alternatives and be aware it could mean dc out of school for a while.

Will you be buying a house in the new area or moving in with the relatives?
If the former your new address will be accepted on exchange. If the latter you will need to find out what information admissions will need in order to process your application.
You also need to check the LEA policy for twins. In the schools I have worked in, if one twin is offered a place, the second automatically then is offered a place using the sibling rule.
Do you mean no places at all or just at your preferred schools?

No spaces at all. Apparently a school has just closed, so there’s a big scramble

are you able to consider private even if only for the school year?

But then what happens?

You contact the in year admissions team as soon as you have a moving in date and they can give you a list of what places are available so you can apply, if zero places are offered they have to find places within a set timeframe which could mean providing transportation too

Yes if there are no year 9 places at all the Fair Access Protocol may come into play. IIRC it's a four-week delay as in DC has to be without a school place for four weeks.

Are there really no places at all? Round my way you would struggle to get into school X or school Y but schools A and B would have a space. I guess the LA has closed the equivalent of school A leading to pressure on places.

I am in Essex, it may be different where you are. Here you need to apply to as many schools as you would consider. Actually put the application in. Don’t be fobbed off by being told they’re full. Then when you get your letter saying they’re full, put them on the waiting list (sometimes there’s an additional form), lodge an appeal and make sure that the local authority know you’ve moved in to the area and need a school place. It is their legal obligation to find you one. It may not be at the school you want, but your children can stay on the waiting list of your preferred school(s).