Moving from Independent to State School

[beevee]

Help! I can no longer afford the fees for the independent school my sons attend. How do I go about moving into the state sector - or are there any other options?

how old are your boys?

Have you advised the school maybe they can offer a bursary for them, I know many schools have them but don't advertise it

If the financial problems are likely to be temporary, or if your DC are at a tricky stage in their education, like coming up to important exams, then the school might be able to help you out a bit with a bursary - you would have to give all your financial details to the school bursar and see if they can do anything to help.

But, obviously, schools don't have much money for doing that and they may have a lot of parents in at least as much need, so it would really depend on the circumstances.

Other than that, you could look for a cheaper independent school, or home educate, or go for the available state schools.

I think the usual method is to contact the LEA and ask for information about what schools in your area have available places, then visit the schools to get a feel for them if there is a choice, then fill out a form!

I don't know where you live but The Good Schools Guide is quite good at pointing out the best state schools. They also have a thing on their website that shows you the catchment areas for every state school which helped us decide where to move. We had initially made an offer on a house next door (literally) to a brilliant state school but then found out the school was full to bursting with no places at all. Some LEAs are really helpful as well and will point you towards the schools with places available and then it's just a matter of choosing the best of the lot. The BBC has league tables for exam results which can help too.

If you log onto www.ofsted.gov.uk and click on inspection reports, you can put your postcode into the search box and it will come up with the nearest schools and you can then look at the reports at the same time. However Ofsted is not everything and as other posters have said it's a good idea to visit and get a feel for the place, and make sure you have a chat with the headteacher and go by your instincts.

But everything hinges on whether there are places available. If there are places available your dc can start as soon as mutually convenient regardless of catchment area. A good school will make sure they have a decent handover with previous school.

Good luck.

Let's face it, if it is a good school it is unlikely to have places. That is just the way it works. There may already be a waiting list. If it is the only school in the area then you may have to go through an appeal process. Where I used to work we had lots of these and they were usually successful. If you are in area where lots of schools are easily accessible then you will have to go to one with places.