hoping to move house before primary school applications due in Jan - but we may still be in old house..

[duzida]

DS1 will be 4 next summer and due to start school in Sept 2013. We're currently in one London borough,but about to put home on market and look for a bigger place in another (not particuarly nearby) borough.

If we manage to sell and find new place AND move by mid-Jan, no problem, we can apply for primary place in the new borough like everyone else, but what if we are still in limbo? we'll almost certainly have moved by next September, but if we apply for place in our current borough, we will no longer be local, and wouldn't want to/wouldn't be allowed/would be impractical anyway to think we could drive him across London to our old neighbourhood everyday. I have checked website of the borough we hope to move to, and you can do late applications, which is what we'll probably end up doing.

I wondered if anyone else has had experience of this, and how it turned out. Should we make application in our current borough (Camden) if we are still here come January, even though DS1 won't be going to school here, just to be 'in the system'? I do feel bad, but we need to move, and if we put if off another year, he'll only have to switch schools anyway, which I'd like to avoid. Btw, we're not moving to be in a 'better' school area or anything - we just need a bigger home, and it's not affordable in our current neighbourhood, although we'd love to stay.

Any advice/reassurance/horror stories appreciated! thanks.

I strongly advise you to apply for a school place where you currently live, by mid Jan, and accept the place offered in April. Once you are very close to completion, contact both Camden LEA and the new LEA and register with them. They'll advise you on the process and documents needed.

In our case, even though we knew we were moving and knew the tentative completion date, the new LEA added us to the wait list only on the actual date of completion which was the 31st of May. At the beginning of July we got offered a place at one of the schools we listed on our application form (3rd choice) and we're currently 2nd on the wait list for our preferred school. We were told that we MIGHT get in early September simply because some children might not show up (moved to private, moved areas etc).

I do have one tip for you: move as closely as possible to your desired school and by that I mean no more than 2-300m away, so that you get straight to the top of the wait list. And if you can move close to two good schools, even better :)

Good luck!

Ideally you need to move before the January deadline. If you miss that you should apply from your current address. Most, possibly all, LAs in London will allow you to change your preferences following a house move up until a date in February, but only if you have already applied.

If you miss both those deadlines you will be a late applicant for a place in your new borough. That means you will probably end up with an unpopular school unless you are lucky enough to get into one of your preferred schools via the waiting list.

As prh47bridge says, it really is worth doing everything you can to avoid being a late applicant in the new borough.

thank you, that's all useful information and advice. here's hoping we get it all over and completed with quickly...I'm sure I'll be panicking this time next year, wherever he's accepted at school, because I will be in denial that it's time for him to go to school already!