Moving area

[notnow2]

DH wants to move to a new area - Hertfordshire/Essex . I have ds1 5 who is in yR and ds2 4 in the nursery class. I also have an 18mth old dd. The thought of moving terrifies me as I worry about uprooting the boys. We plan to accept our reception place here for ds2 for now and possibly just move in August (we rent so quite simple). Is this a bad idea as I know we can't apply for school with no address and surely a lot of school admin teams will not be around in August.
We are going to seek out schools in the area that we like that are typically undersubscribed and see if we can get a place under the last admissions criteria whilst living here but I so confused. If this just a rubbish idea altogether and too difficult?!! Surely people move though? Just seems so complex!

If you plan to move in August, my advice is call the school admissions team in your new local authority (am assuming that you know where you will be moving to) and ask for advice.

You will have missed the normal admissions round for DS2 so both your children will be considered under their 'in-year admissions' rules. What that means for you depends entirely upon how over subscribed the schools in your new area are. The admissions team will be able to advise you of this.

In year admissions means that your children will be allocated a school place from what is left after all of the on-time admissions have been allocated. You apply to the local authority- not directly to the school so don't worry about people not being around in August.

It is complicated and may well be difficult to get a place in the school that you want. Why does your DH want to move?

We live in London and he wants a bit more open space etc.

Thanks for that information - it is a big headache.

If any of the schools you want has a place available you can apply through your current LA and they must offer it to you assuming there are no other applicants. If all the schools are full you will have to check with the LA for the area to which you are moving as to when they will accept an application from your new address. Once you get your application in they will find a place for you. If there is a school within a reasonable distance with a vacancy it will be offered to you. If there are no schools nearby with places they will offer you a place at whichever school they think is best able to cope with an additional pupil. If you reject the offered school(s) the LA is under no obligation to come up with an alternative. Note that your children may be offered different schools.