Question about school admissions & waiting lists

[Dogsandcats12345]

Hi I’m in the process of looking at primary schools in London (DS will be starting school in sept 2027). I have a question about the distance criteria. My local authority website lists the furthest distance offered for the past 3 years for each school. Does this distance include people who were placed on the waiting list and then offered places?

For our preferred school, the furthest distance offered over the past 3 years was 0.996km and we live 1.041km from the school. We are 45m out of the ‘catchment area’. I know it’s impossible to say for sure, but I’m just wondering how likely it is that we would get offered a place on the waiting list?

In our borough they publish the distances immediately after the offers go out and don't update them, so they can't include waiting list places. It might be different in other boroughs though.

You're probably best contacting the admissions team for your borough and asking.

Normally it reflects the April offers. Some areas may also publish those who are offered by September,

Do you know if it’s a high birth rate year in your area or not? When we applied for DS school place 10 years ago, we were in catchment for two schools. I put the nearest one down as first choice and the further away one as second. We did not get first choice. I know for a fact that we would have got a place the year before as people further away from the school got places as well as the year after. DD is in the year below and a friend of her from primary who lives about a quarter of a mile further away was allocated a place there. I did appeal and went on the waiting list but it got us nowhere. Once DS went to a transition day at second choice, he said he wanted to stick with that. And was very happy there for five years.

Thanks, I’ll try and get in touch with the LA.

supposedly 2023 was a low birth year but I have no idea if that applies to my area or will have any real impact! The schools in my area are supposedly quite good so I suspect families move into the area as their children reach school age

In Merton, they give distances on offer day, then i think it gets updated for "second round" and then again for 1st Sept. Its usually listed on the borough website.

It’s April offers. Later places not included. Occasionally LAs or schools give a second ‘as of 1 Sept’ distance which is quite instructive - generally a good chunk further away

I would have thought he'll definitely get in unless there's a birth spike that year in your area, but if he's really starting reception in September2027 then you don't need to apply for another year, the closing date will be a year in January I think.

It's usually distance within a category. If the last category offered is in catchment with siblings and you don't have a sibling then little chance unless the number of siblings is much lower in your year. Our area has defined catchment areas which aren't circular around schools though. I.e. A child who lives near the school but out of catchment won't get a place above a child further away who is in catchment.

Remember, it's equal preference so always put your first choice first as long as your catchment/closest/other priority school is on the list. Let the system deal with who an offer.

Thanks everyone. It’s Sutton LA and I’ve emailed the admissions team so I’ll see what they say. We are just outside the “distance offered” for a couple of good schools so I’m hoping we’d be able to get in on waiting lists.