primary admissions question - last one hopefully!

[shelley72]

before we commit to filling the application, can anyone remind me what will happen if we dont get any of our first three choices (out of three)? we will be automatically placed in another school and go on the waiting list for our no1 choice??

we have visited 6 schools in the area, but the three we really like we are out of catchment for - our top fave is the furthest distance away (approx 4 miles, but in neighbouring LA). our catchment school, as i have mentioned before is not long off special measures and has historically been the 'worst' school in the area (still is by ofsted/sats) and so has been undersubscribed. on visiting though it seemed alright, not somewhere we would particularly want DS to go to and a bit too large, as we and nursery think he would benefit from a small school. but we could live with it, and did prefer it to the catholic school which everyone raves about and is literally down the road from us - cant quite say what but something about that school didnt 'feel' right. however i know that leaving off our catchment school can be a very risky strategy.

so really, i wonder just how far could the LA send us if we didnt get any of our choices, and would we be stuck with their decision, or would we be on some kind of waiting list. i know you can only appeal on a basis of infant class size / procedure so we wouldnt look a that option. or should we really put down our catchment school?

its times like this i wish for a lottery win!

thank you for any advice, its really making my head hurt and i will be glad once the form is in so the decision is out of our hands!

The honest answer is that you would be best served by putting down your catchment school as your last preference.
However if you did not get any of the three preferences then you would be allocated the nearest school that has available places after the applications have been processed. That could of course be your catchment school if you are right and it is under subscribed but it is a real risk and you could be allocated a school place anywhere. The legal position is that the LA has to offer you a place but it does not have to be in their LA and legally schools an hours travel away have been considered acceptable.
I would always accept the school offered, as you may not get a better offer. However you can go on the waiting list for any school you wish (though quite a few LAs seem to dispute this and only allow three) and in some schools there is considerable movement between the initial allocations and the start of the school term in September.

No you do not automatically go on any waiting lists you have to request this with the LEAs involved.
If none of your 3 choices have places you are automatically offered a place at the nearest school in your LEA that has available places. This could be your catchment school but could be one that is even worse!
The LEA advisors that provide help with applications advise to put your dream school as first place but to have your catchment school (or closest school) as third choice and this should minimise the chances of not having a place.

Actually you should automatically go on the waiting lists for any preferences you didn't get that are higher than the preference you did get. So if you got your second preference you should be on the waiting list for your first preference. However, some LAs get this wrong so you should check.

My reading of the Admissions Code is that you are allowed to go on as many waiting lists as you want - many people who advise on admissions have long believed this to be true. Unfortunately it seems the Schools Adjudicator made a determination on this matter last year and disagreed with us, ruling that the LA is entitled to limit the number of waiting lists a child can be on. That therefore is the definitive position until either a judicial review decides otherwise or the Admissions Code is modified to clarify matters.