Inter county education - does anyone know?

[ohgodmumyouresoembarrassing]

This may have been covered elsewhere but...does anyone know if you live in one county whether you can apply to another county's schools? Planning on living in Saffron Walden but huband works in Bishop's Stortford. SW - Essex, BS - Herts. Could we apply (via the LEA I suppose) to schools in BS or anywhere on the route from SW to BS if they had space?

You'd need to check with the relevant LEAs how exactly the application system works, but yes, it is normally possible to go to schools across county boundaries - it happens a lot where I live.

Of course you will be disadvantaged in terms of getting a place if you do not live near the school, but if they are not heavily oversubscribed you will stand a chance.

Lots of people do here. As the other poster said you do have to check places.

A few years ago DDs friend swapped council houses to go to the secondary of her choice. Now the birth rates fallen and several local DCs. go there.

It's actually an easier drive from here, but you don't get a free bus.

Thanks for the answers. Much appreciated.

Yes you can. No need to check how the system works with the LAs, though - you always apply to your home LA even if you want a place in a school elsewhere.

Thanks prh47bridge... no quick way of finding out which schools have places I suppose? e.g. Herts has the private site schoolguru.com which is brill and tells you what schools have places open at any point in the year - updated every term. Does Essex or Cambs have any similar site that I haven't managed to find yet?

I would say beware of such a site, as if a school has a place and there is someone on the waiting list or who applies, they have to offer it to them. Therefore any such site in the SE is likely to be totally out of date, as school places are usually at a huge premium.

The quick way to find out if a school has places is to ring the LA and ask. If they don't know it may be worth asking the school. You may not get an answer but if you do it will be far more reliable than anything you might find on the internet.