School Admissions nightmare

[BHillary]

Absolutely stressed out of my mind,
So the school I applied for for my DD is in a different LA, I applied through my LA and they didn't pass the details on so placed her in a random school. I then had to make a late application due to their mistake, the school I want her to go to my son attends and there are spaces. The LA can't confirm the place, the school has her name in the list and I've received info in the post.
The school she's got her original place at are now putting pressure on me to turn than place down but the L A won't let me because the other LA hasn't confirmed a place.
I'm going out of my mind. Grr

ignore the pressure until you have a place. The LA are at fault here, and so I would put pressure on them to sort it out asap. They should be able to confirm the place, that is just poor effort on their part.

You could try phoning the LA admissions of the place where the school is, and asking them to get back to your LA urgently.

You sound as if you are safe though, she is on the list, school has places, school is treating ehr as one of theirs.

Because it's gone through ad a late application I won't find out until end of June as it's "policy"
The school so home visits and they've booked us in so the school have told me she's going there so I'm not worried. It's just annoying and frustrating

Ywoukd you definitely have got a place had the application had been passed through?
If so that is a mistake and you could likely win at appeal.

Oh if the school has places you wont need to appeal. But know that if you did appeal you would stand a high chance of winning.

I'm honestly not sure what you are getting so stressed about. Try being a parent with no school place for their child/a place at a school they didn't want/a place at a failing school/a child at a school they hate! Those situations are what could genuinely be called a nightmare.

I'm getting stressed because I haven't got it in writing that she has a place and the school is 40 mins away.

I'm getting stressed because the school where she has a place (she attends the nursery) are putting pressure on me in a daily basis to turn the place down but the LA wont let me until the other LA has confirmed. they are oversubscribed and are in need of the place. There's no what I can be at two places 40 mins apart at the same time so this is as good as no place at the min!

I hope so, I just hope there's no other late applications for the same school or I'll have to take it to appeal I can't physically be in two places at once and it was there cock up x

Well a LA mistake that meant your application was treated as late when it wasn’t is pretty strong grounds for an appeal. I’d just appeal now on that basis.

I would repost this in primary education OP or ask MN to move your thread. There are some very knowledgeable posters on primary admissions/appeals and they will be able to help you with your next steps.

Thanks ladies,
I don't think I need to appeal though as the school has my daughter on the list and there's definitely spaces.
It's just bloody annoying for everyone

I’d probably appeal anyway. Because there shouldn’t be a list if there are spaces.

Apparently it's policy to give all late applicants a fair opportunity although it's not even my fault it's late I applied in November, so frustrating

That’s why you should appeal. They should not be treating you as a late applicant because you were not late with your application. Your LA made a mistake, which is grounds for an appeal. Don’t just accept being treated as late.

They don’t need to worry about being fair to any late applicants; you should come first because the only reason you don’t have a space in the school currently is that they messed up. If they’d processed the application properly, you’d have a space now.

I haven't been given an option to appeal, it's very frustrating. You've made a good point I'll phone on Monday x

@admission @prh47bridge @PatriciaHolm are all experts on this type of issue so hopefully they’ll pick this up. You may be best posting in Education > Secondary or > Primary for answers though.

This is very poor. Your LA has got it wrong by not forwarding your application. You are not a late applicant. You are an on time applicant. Your application should be treated as such.

Refusing to offer places until the end of June smacks of holding places back for successful appeals. That is absolutely not allowed. I'm not clear if it is the school, the school's LA or your LA causing the delay but whichever it is, they are wrong. If there are places available one must be offered now. They cannot delay just because they regard you as a late applicant. And in any event, you are not a late applicant. If they hold back until the end of June and you then don't get a place you will have an excellent case for appeal.

However, it really shouldn't go that far. You applied on time. Don't let them lose sight of that fact. They are therefore required to correct the mistake and offer you the place that would have been offered if they had processed your application correctly. If they aren't going to do so they must send you a letter refusing you a place and offering you an appeal. They cannot simply sit on your application for nearly 2 months. Even if you were a late applicant, that would be unacceptable.

Contact your LA on Monday. Keep repeating that you are not a late applicant. You applied on time and they messed up. Tell them that they need to inform the other LA that they messed up and ensure that you are processed as an on time applicant. Keep the pressure on. Their behaviour so far is unacceptable. Their mistake. They need to sort it out and you must not lose out as a result of their mistake.

Totally agree with Prh.

This should never have got this far. Assuming you have some evidence of the LAs mistake, you need to get back to them ASAP and say you need to be put in the position you would have been had your application been considered on time. They cannot just shrug their shoulders and say oops, never mind.