is it possible to move schools in London ?

[misskeith]

We have a child in reception in a school we're not happy with. My plan was to hope we got into better schools off the waiting list but we are so far down that it doesn't seem likely - everywhere in our borough is very oversubscribed and there are no vacancies except in 2-3 failing schools. At this point, is it worth trying to move elsewhere for Y1? Has anyone has any success in getting into oversubscribed schools at that point? Or how long has it taken to get in from the waiting list?

The only thing I can think of for you to do is actually phone the schools you are interested in and speak to them. They will be able to give you an idea of if or when they can take your DC.

Yes, moving in atypical years is sometimes easier than getting in in the main entry point years. And there's usually a huge churn in London schools as many people move out of the capital in the primary years.

You need to speak each school and get onto the waiting list. There's quite a lot of movement in the lists too, as people don't necessarily remember to take their children off the list if they decide the school they've got is OK after all.

You should put yourself down on the waiting list for all schools that you believe that you would be happy with and then hope for the best. You should also be aware that the Local Authority who is now responsible for all in-year admissions is not legally required to keep a waiting list beyond December 31st, so it is definitely worth speaking to the LA admission office to confirm you are on waiting lists.

It is possible for you to appeal for a place at any school you want but you have to be aware of the potential pitfalls. If the school has a PAN of 30, 45, 60, 75 etc then then any appeal will be an infant class size appeal and the chances of you winning are practically nil. The ICS Reg does not apply once you are in year 3.
You are allowed one appeal per school year so if your preference is not likely to be an infant class size case then you should appeal for the place and see how things go. Any appeal now you would be expected to take up the place within a few weeks of the appeal hearing not after summer, so that might influence your thoughts on when to apply. Anything after June you will probably looking for a September start.

Thanks. I am on all the lists, at around 20 on all. All schools have 60 pupils in reception already, so I can't imagine what grounds I could appeal on. Another question: what boroughs, if any, might be a good bet where all schools are good- as we would be moving without a place.

misskeith
We've just done something similar roughly about a month ago.
We've picked kingston upon thames because we love the area and it's an easy commmute for DH. It also helped that in north kingston there are five excellent primaries all within a mile/mile and a half radius.
When we first moved here, none of the five schools had places in reception, but luckily DC1 went straight to No1 on the waiting list of four of them. By the time we got back from our xmas holiday, three of these schools offered us places . Mind you, it has also brought on a MASSIVE dilemma which almost reduced me to tears yesterday... found it realy difficult to pick a school in the end.
This wasn't a conniving tactic on our part, we just happened to need to move now, but I think right before the end of the first term is the best time to move to a new area for school purposes, mainly because people with similar ideas would probably wait until the summer, so there is not much competition from newcomers around xmas time, and the ones already on the waiting list probably live further away.
Do you have anywhere in mind?

Kingston does look great.. But not right for us. Can only think of Muswell hill; any other suggestions?

Hampton