Relocating family and school registration

[mbridgeyogi]

Hello,
Would love some local mum advice...
We are relocating mid-term (this October) to Richmond from abroad. We have yet to obtain a local address so cannot register for school just yet. But we are a bit concerned as it seems all local state schools are oversubscribed! Is there hope for us to get a Reception place for our son? And should we be looking for a place near a particular school that my have space? I've tried reaching out to the schools to get a feel but haven't had much luck.
This is a whole new system to us and we're not quite sure how to go about it!
Many thanks in advance.
-M

I'm not sure which schools are not full for reception, I know Vineyard, St Elizabeth's, Marshgate are full... but maybe Holy Trinity isn't not sure.

If you can find somewhere with a place (council will help, they control lists), then you can live anywhere and be offered a place.

If you want to get into a full school it is based on distance, and living across the road will get you a place faster - but you need someone to leavem, which takes time.

Otherwise you move and the council has to find you a place - but it might be far away, which is pain for school run and making friends.

Good luck.... it is lovely area and all schools are lovely, but sometimes luck plays a part.

Hi mbridgeyogi. The local primaries are very oversubscribed, and that's the subject of a lot of debate. A local campaign group has just published a report which gives all the primary admissions data in its appendix (see here).

The schools that have least pressure on places are Buckingham and Heathfield. They weren't oversubscribed by applications, but lots of people who didn't get any of their 6 preference were allocated places there. Depending on how many accepted them they might now be full.

It's worth contacting the council even if you don't have an address yet because if you're flexible about where you can live then it might help.

I moved in July from the US. My daughter does not have a place in a school yet. If you can change place do so. This is my advice. The council is doing a really bad job in administering school admissions and in year admissions are a nightmare.

@mbridgeyogi: how old is your son, is he due to start Reception now or next year? Regardless, your best bet is to move next door to a good school (by next door I mean 100m away :)). This way you can ensure you are at the top of the wait list. People do move out of the borough and places come up... just give yourself the best chance if you are in a position to choose your address.

There are a lot of faith schools in Twickenham although some are more exclusive/popular than others. It is a problem if you prefer a community school as all the popular ones are very oversubscribed despite doubling in size in many cases. London is particularly bad because of an expanding population and high mobility. It's even worse in Hounslow, Sutton and Croydon than in Richmond.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-23931974

But because there is high mobility in many areas and a lot of private schools, waiting lists do move.

I would look at Barnes primary as they took the bulge class in reception this year so may be movement on the waiting list .