Diplomatic families and school admisssions

[Bouviergirl]

Hi, I'm interested to find out if there are any other FCO diplomatic families out there with experience of returning to the UK from post / and school admissions?

We are due to return to the UK shortly and when we come to do the school admissions process, we won't have an address (rental or owned), so we are very unlikely to get into the schools of our choice. Just interested in others' experiences, tips, etc.

Many thanks

coccyx is a military wife and she posted that her DH works alongside those in the private sector.

I'm not surprised that you decided to refrain from posting more in support of unfair working practices.

Hi
Your post seems to have gone a bit off topic but we were in your situation so thought I'd add my piece.
When we returned from our last posting we used an FCO letter which explained the particuar circumstances of FCO families & made the point that such families shouldn't be disadvantaged, and sent it to the school we wanted in the area we expected to live. Our situation may have been simpler than yours in that we were returning to our own property which had been rented out.
Regardless, we were told that all the schools near our house were full and that any place was conditional on children leaving whch left us with contacting the schools to find out what spaces they were expecting to become free.

Good primary schools are generally full so you are reliant on someone leaving and no letter or special case can affect that as class sizes cannot be increased.
We were told no place could be promised until we were resident in the UK again, for this reason I came back with the children in the June ready to put in the applications for the new school year.
We needed a Yr 6 and two Yr 2 spaces (twins) and were VERY lucky to find them in only two schools. The eldest went to one (first choice) and the twins to another(the 2nd choice). The school admissions people were as helpful as they could possibly be.
Can I suggest you call the secretaries of your chosen schools (assuming you know the borough you will be living in) and they should know what pupil movement they are expecting in the various years.
All this is no good if you don't have a rough idea where you'll be though!
I think I'm trying to say that being an FCO family doesn't get any special treatment but people are very helpful.
....and regardless of the mood in the UK in general I am VERY happy to be home, hope it works out for you too.

Almanzo - Your LA may have been helpful but I'm afraid they got it badly wrong.

Their statement that no place could be promised until you were resident in the UK again was a clear breach of the Admissions Code. Once you had provided a letter giving your relocation date and your intended address the LA was required to offer places for your children (paragraphs 3.27 and 3.28 of the Code). If there were places available for your children at one of your preferred schools at the time you supplied the FCO letter you would have had an excellent case for appeal. The LA failed to comply with the Admissions Code. If they had done you would have been offered those places.

You are correct that good schools will generally be full so you are reliant on someone leaving. Having said that, class sizes usually can be increased in Y3 and above. Even in Reception to Y2 class sizes can be increased if you are moving into the area outside the normal admissions round and there is no place available within a reasonable distance.

The schools may be able to give you some idea of likely pupil movements but remember that you apply to the LA for admission to any state school, not to the school itself.

As outlined in my first post, FCO families are entitled to special treatment. There are a number of specific provisions for such families in the Admissions Code.

Thanks Almanzo and prh47bridge and others for the useful feedback.

I wasn't interested in a debate on the fors/againsts of taxpayer-funded FCO and military families, but had a specific question concerning my personal circumstances for which I wanted to seek similar experiences.

Anyone currently connected with the FCO knows the complexity of this topic, especially in light of recent internal organisational changes. Just to state for the record, the children's education in the UK is not automatically paid for privately. It is much more complex. That is why I asked about state schools admissions.

Thanks to the posters who provided useful info!