Negotiate late admission

[saverineni]

HI All,

I am in the process of buying a house and anticipated occupation is 31/01/2016.

Online applications for all the primary schools in the council can be made between the following dates: From 01/09/2015 until 15/01/2016

Applications received outside of these dates will be considered as late applications and will be processed after all on-time applications.

I will applying for a seat in the reception and I heard the schools in the catchment are very busy and might get fully occupied.

Is there any way I can negotiate with the school or council to avoid a late application.

Any experiences or suggestions are much appreciated.

That is the national deadline, so no discretion. Some LAs will allow you to apply by mid January deadline from your current address then submit a change of address shortly afterwards which is still treated as if on time. If you are buying they may allow proof of that address from exchange or for rental with a signed lease, before you actually move in.

LIZS is right that if you look at Trafford's policy for school admissions, proof of address can be demonstrated by exchange of contracts. I would therefore see (if you're buying) if you can exchange before the deadline (and you can do the application on the last day online).

If you're going to be renting, ask if you can have a tenancy agreement that starts earlier - again within the deadline. If you are renting, and you're in Trafford, the tenancy agreement needs to be for at least 12 months or they won't accept the rental address as your permanent place of residence.

I should add that I wouldn't get too hung up on what results the schools may or may not get. The West Did free school may have a more MC pushy parent intake at present, small classes (it's not full) and it's all precious first borns so far, so any comparison is like comparing two different things. Think what you actually want from the school in terms of overall experience and go from there.

Sorry wrong thread!