Primary school admissions - hope to move before September

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Hello there,

My DS is due to start at Primary school this September. We currently live in an area of socio-economic deprivation and I am desperate to move. Unfortunately our house has not yet sold and with the closing date looming ever closer I have made my application to three local schools. One is lovely (but we are just outside of the catchment area) the other two are ok, but this just isn't where I want my son to grow up.

My question is, if we do manage to sell and move by September, what will I do in terms of applying to schools in the new area? There are a couple of primary schools in the new area that have received pretty average/poor Ofsted reports. I haven't yet visited them it is true, but, I would naturally prefer him to go to either of the two outstanding schools, rather than the satisfactory ones. If we manage to move, will I have any choice in where he attends?

This is such a minefield! I wish he could stay at his wonderful Nursery forever!

well, the closing date for most councils for reception this september, is the 15th january, and that goes on your current address. if you move after this date, then you are not prioritised to a school of your choice unless there are spaces left after other parents have been offered there places. it all falls on where you live now and not then, really unfair i know, i have just moved 3 months ago so i fall within the catchment area of a school i want my dd to go to as i knew if i left it till after jan, i would not be prioritised. you can find out from your council how many people applied for the particular school last september, and how many places were given to give you an idea. good luck

If you move close to your preferred school and apply then, you should be high on the waiting list so may well get lucky. Plus you will have a definite place in your old area that you can send DS to until a place comes up.

We moved in 2006 after DD had already started reception, so slightly diffferent.

We had real trouble finding a local school with a space. I phoned the schools directly but it was the LEA that handled the recpetion waiting list. Other year groups the school seems to handle the waiting list.

All allocations of places are now handled by the Local Authority. You have filled in the form using your current address and will be allocated a school based on this address on the specified date in April?
You can do nothing until you have sold your house and have somewhere to move to. Different LAs have slightly different rules over when someone moving can actually apply, whether it is when you exchange contracts or when you actually move in. So establishing this would be sensible, so you are prepared. When the time comes you will need to apply for places at schools you want with the LA admission office. However it is likely that many will be full and you will not necessarily get a place on appeal. It is quite posisble that you will have to continue at the initially allocated school until a palce comes available via the waiting lists.