Secondary School admissions for twins - how does it work if you apply to different schools

[mumoftwinsiny5]

I have nonID DTD in Y5 - they are DC3/4 in my family. Their older brothers both attend a good co-ed school, but I am wondering if single sex may be better for my DTDS.

There are a couple of schools near me that have aptitude tests - if one twin gets an aptitude place - do they have to give the sibling a place there?
Can you apply for different schools as your first choice for each twin and then see which one you get and then the sibling gets a place?
I realise this is quite a niche question.
Hoping MN can help.

I would have thought that twins would be treated the same as any other child i.e they'll each need to sit an aptitude test if required and each be offered a place.

I deliberately sent my twins to separate schools so they could be their own person. On the form there is a box to tick to say they are twins but sending them to different schools had been great for them, it's a bit of a logistical nightmare but for 5 years it's worth it.

@mindexplode thanks for this - are they the same sex? I am very keen to make them their own people - but they are also very very fond of each other, love each other's company and I am relunctant to break this bond. they are in a 1FE village primary currently but not afraid to do different clubs etc.

You can ask the school if they get to the same one to set them in different tutor groups, they may share some but not all lessons and have a huge pool of single and joint friends

Suggest you read the school(s) admission policy which should be on their website. It should explain how they process twin applications. If it does not, email the school and ask.

FWIW Most schools will offer a place to the second twin if the last place was offered to the first. However, if one twin got in through another route eg having an Educational Health and Care Plan or being successful in a ballot, this generally does not mean the second twin gets a place. You can appeal for a place for the second twin. I have been on an appeal panel for a number of these types of appeals.

ooh @Appealpanelist that is useful to know.
This is one of the policies:
"For applications received for twins or other multiple births; in the event of the admission of one such child under the published over-subscription criteria, the twin sibling(s) would also be offered a place(s).

Should a single twin/multiple birth be allocated the last place, we will admit above or over the Published Admission Number to accommodate the remaining twin/multiple birth children."

I would look into after school before going down this road. What if one school gives considerably more homework than the other? One can play out and the other is doing homework. Not answering your question but may be another consideration for you

Do you mean aptitude test like 11+/ entrance exam? In that case,no, because you would be setting them up to fail

Mine are same sex, they are still very close now, they text each other all the time but they have their own friends and girlfriends

Check with each school but usually if there are for example 30 in a class and your twins were 30 and 31 to get a place, then they would both get in whereas under normal circumstances the child who was 31st wouldn’t get in and would be on the waiting list. Normally when it comes to schools that require tests, they offer based on the results and not being a multiple birth.

I have b/g twins who started secondary last sept. Not quite the same but as they'd always been in single form entry schools, we wanted them to have the chance to be their own person without the issues of twin sibling rivalry!

As the secondary school had 2 bands for each year group, we asked that they not be in the same form or the same band. Dt1 is in X, Dt2 is in y. They don't share any of the same classes. It has worked really well, especially as 1 twin also has send and would cause problems for their twin sibling in the same class.

Don't you fill in separate forms for each? If so I don't understand the purpose of the twin Bix?

It's a separate form per child, I think it's so if you do want them together they know those two children are related.
IIRC I think I got a phone call from the admissions people to double check I wanted my twins at different schools. They are year 10 now and it's worked out really well. It did help thr schools are a mile apart for logistics.