Applying for a school place when buying in another catchment

[NewYearNewMNName]

We are in the process of purchasing a new build, have a deadline of exchanging 6 weeks after our offer was accepted, completion is currently expected 3 months after exchange.

We need to apply for our child's nursery place during the period in between exchange and completion.
Current house and new house are in complete different catchments.
We do not want to apply in the old catchment as we won't be living there when our child starts, council won't accept us applying in the new catchment as we won't physically live there at time of applying (even though we would have exchanged contracts).

Has anyone else been in this situation? What did/would you do here?

council won't accept us applying in the new catchment

I thought anyone could apply to any nursery. They don't have the same application rules as schools.

Sorry you're right, I've worded this wrong.
We can apply using our current address (outside of catchment), there is only onr nursery in the village we are moving to and it is v oversubscribed so we will have zero chance of securing a place. If we were able to use our new address we'd have a decent chance of securing a place as we're 0.2 miles from the nursery

I think you might need to state a rough area.
In England, nursery doesn't usually have catchments. Round here, there are LAC/SEN/sibling links, then it is down to time on wait list. So, there would be nothing to prevent you applying to places close to the new house.

I'm in Wales.

LA nurseries (those attached to schools and stand alone ones) usually prioritise in a similar way to Reception, they just manage it themselves. So distance is a big factor. Can you apply anyway and get them to amend your address as soon as possible, so you go high on the waiting list? How far are you moving? Can you apply to other places as backup? If that is their policy, I doubt there is any way around it.

I can't speak for wales but exchange of contracts was sufficient in England

Interesting. It obviously varies by council.
This is our local primary school.

I stand corrected! Where I live and work (different areas) for LA nurseries you have to apply by 15th Jan similar to applying for Reception. The criteria is similar to the schools', so siblings then distance etc or faith based for church schools. Private nurseries are usually based on when you applied. It's so variable!

The policy where I am is the same as yours @BendingSpoons
Applications open in June and close in July... 3 weeks after our current completion date

Welsh nurseries are on a first come first served basis

Not with my council (and the neighbouring council). The same entry requirements apply as reception

Can you not use your exchange documentation or a letter from solicitor as proof of address? It wasn’t ‘in rounds’ when we applied for dds reception place but we applied once exchanged using the new address and an accompanying letter.