Can anyone advise about moving over summer holidays, waiting lists, exchanging contracts etc?

[alittleteapot]

Hello, we are about to put an offer in on a house. The vendors want to move over the summer holidays. They have a school place and are staying in the area. We would be moving from a different area and so would need to get in as soon as possible to get on the waiting list for the local school.

A few questions:

1. If children leave a school over the summer holiday at what point does that place come up for people on the waiting list. Or does it just depend on when the parent informs the school and if so does the place become available to the waiting list immediately? If a child's parent informs the school that a child is leaving does the place become available or is it only after the child has actually left?

1. Is there anyway to get on the waiting list before actually moving in? (I'm guessing not) but e.g on exchange of contracts? If you have a residential mortgage would that be enough to prove that you would be living there and not renting it out for example? If a social need is involved would that get any preferential treatment at this time?

1. Bearing in mind the above, what is the best time to try and move (or to stipulate that you want to move) - should we be trying to do day one of summer holidays, or even to exchange before (if that could make a difference)

Obviously I am anxious that if we move too late in the summer holidays we will miss out on any places that come available in the local school. My dd will be going into year 1.

Thanks in advance for any help!

It depends what the schools admissions are like, it may be that they will informally pencil you in for an available place now if they have vacancies. (The last thing a school wants is to be short on numbers.)

We visited schools well before we moved and applied for places, (though we did have definite address and definite moving date.). At first there was no space for ds1 (in yr1) but on the last day of the summer term the HT phoned us up to say a place had come available. We moved a few weeks later.

You can apply and be offered a place once you have exchanged contracts where I live. Your LEA should be able to tell you which schools currently have spaces in the year DD will be in. Mine are very helpful on the phone.

I think they don't give a child's place away though until they've actually stopped coming - as they could in theory change their minds - but I'm not certain of that.

When we moved, we were told we couldn't be offered a place until we had completed - I tried offereing solicitors letters or saying could they not offer me the place and I would sign something to say if we didn't complete for any reason the place would be withdrawn, but it was not moveable for us. (This was trying to get dd1 into Reception - she's now in Yr8! However, her year is a low birth rate year, now there is a huge pressure on Infant school places - birth rate having risen.

You can apply on exchange of contracts where I live. Mortgage letters are no good. Your LEA's website should stipulate exactly what is acceptable as proof of residency.

Just out of interest, do you think it is likely there will be places coming up at the school? What will you do if no spaces come up? We're doing similar to you (moving over summer) but have selected to move to a village with an undersubscribed school where there are currently 9 spare spaces for our year. It's not an ideal situation (it's a 'satisfactory' school, rather than one of the 'outstanding' schools in the surrounding villages) but we've been advised its very unlikely any spaces will come up in the other village schools (small schools, stable populations) so we've made our decision on that basis.

Best of luck tying it all together, it's a nightmare, isn't it!

To answer your questions:

1. The place becomes available as soon as you notify the school or the LA that your child will be leaving. It should be filled from the waiting list immediately.

1. You can apply for a place at your preferred school through your current LA at any time. If there is a place available they have to give it to you. However, they will expect you to take up the place within a few weeks or you will lose it. If there is no place available you can still go on the waiting list by applying through your current LA but they will use your current address so your chances of getting a place are low. Again, if you do get a place you will have to take it up within a few weeks. You can only apply to your new LA from your new address once you have met their rules. For most LAs that means you can apply once you have exchanged contracts but a few insist you move in. Whether or not you would get any priority for social need depends on the school's admission criteria. Some give priority for such things, many do not.

1. Once you exchange contracts you can probably apply to your new LA from your new address. However, you still face the problem that, if a place is offered, you need to take it up within a few weeks or you will lose it. I therefore don't think it makes sense to apply until the move is imminent. There is unlikely to be much movement on the waiting list over the summer holiday. Most movement will be at the start of the holiday or the start of the Autumn term.

My LA allows you to apply from the end of May for a place in September, and will confirm a place for your child and hold it for them if there's one available at that point. You can't apply any earlier unless you are actually able to take up the place earlier. If it's the same where you're moving to, that could mean that any places that are available in the school you want get allocated to other kids (who are at a higher priroity that you whilst you're still living out of catchment) and aren't therefore available by the time you exchange contracts. So you might be best to do as prh advises and apply from your current address for a school that you know has spaces.

prh47bridge - with regard to applying through your LEA at any time (for a school which has a space), but having to take up the place within a few weeks, does this advice hold if you have a pre-reception aged child, as they wouldn't be 'taking up' any place until Sept?

Thanks!

rillytrying - If the child is not yet of Reception age the few weeks would start from the beginning of the Autumn term rather than from the date of the offer, although you would clearly have to accept the offer fairly quickly. Also in that situation you would have the option of deferring entry until later in the academic year. If you did defer the school would have to hold the place open for you.

purpleroses - Whilst most LAs won't state that formally that is often the result of their policies. If you apply at the end of May and receive an offer in mid-June there are only a few weeks left until the end of the Summer term. If they give you 6 weeks to take up the place that would take you into the summer holidays, so you would actually have until the start of the Autumn term.

Thanks all

To answer questions, there is no guarantee of place at local school. There is generally some movement at the school over the summer holidays. It's two form entry so you would imagine someone would leave!

We have to decide today and to be honest I am feeling pretty sick. Do we go for it and gamble on the whole school situation or stay here where we have place in lovely lovely school but can't afford anytihng like the property we can at new place.

Have just called the new LA and the guy said we can be considered resident from exchange of contracts though tbh he sounded very young and I wasn't sure I trusted him to be talking completely reliably... if that was the case though we could insist on exchange b4 summer hols which would give us the best chance of grabbing a place if one came up, then complete at vendor's leisure - they want to move summer hols but that way they could wait till end if they wanted. I just don't want to roll up there end of August and have no places come up for a year...

Nightmare. Not sure if we shouldn't just skip it and stay put for sake of continuity and security, but def won't want to move when she's older so it feels kind of now or never...

hmm just called back to verify and new guy says must be living there with council tax bill or utility bill...

Depends how much you don't like the alternative schools in the vicinity I would say. The LEA will have to find a place somewhere for your DD, and to provide transport if it's over 2 miles away (they'll usually seek to avoid doing this by overcrowding an existing class if it came to that from what I know).

does your new LEA have an admissions policy document on their website - all the ones I've looked at do, and that will tell you what the official policy is regarding exchange of contracts etc. The details about mine were in a FAQ section. This is what you need to abide by, regardless what someone on the phone tells you (I've had the same problems of misinformation!).

Like purpleroses says, it depends on how you would feel if she was allocated another school nearby, and you couldn't get in to your preferred school on the waiting list. Is there anyone else on the waiting list at the moment?

We're purposely targeting an undersubscribed school, as for us it's really important that DS goes to a school within walking distance of where we end up living (he's an only child so we want to make it as easy as possible for him to make and maintain friends).

Good luck with the decision!