Rejected my sons place offer for September, what happens now?

[PoppyPia]

We were allocated a terrible primary school miles away earlier this month for reception, I have thought about it and there's no way I can send my son there, so I have rejected the offer. What happens now?

Are you appealing for one of the places you didn't get?

As I understand it if you reject your place the onus is on you to find a new place. I could be wrong but I wouldn't assume the LEA will start looking for an alternative on your behalf.

The lea has fulfilled its obligation to provide you with a school place. Now you need to make sure that you're on waiting lists for all schools that may be acceptable to you, and to hope that something comes up!

You have to put your son's name down on the waiting lists of every school that you approve. You have to do this straight away, and more than one. By the way, it would have been much wiser put his name down on all the waiting lists and not refuse the allocated primary school as you may end up with no school at all. How many schools did you apply to in the first place?

You home educate!

Nothing really , but you may find yourself with no place for September. Presumably you are on waiting lists for schools which you feel are more acceptable but it is not necessarily automatic that you will be put on so do check. However there is no guarantee another place will come up in the meantime and LA has no obligation to find you one.

Too late now- but you should have kept the place and put your son on waiting lists.

What's wrong with the school you have been allocated?

I don't know if I can appeal because of infant class sizes? I'm not sure though, I need to look into that. I thought a mistake must have been made as we didn't even get the local school, but when I phoned the LA they assured me there was not a mistake.

*LEA

Are you on waiting lists?

You can appeal, and you can add his names to the waiting lists of any other schools you would find acceptable and hope a place comes up.

But it's up to you now. The LEA has fulfilled its obligation. And you cannot count on getting a place via appeal/waitin list. You have to arrange for his education from the term following his 5th birthday, so you might want to look at private options or HE.

Or make a fresh in-year application for the term he must go, and take your chances on what school place is available then.

The short answer is that nothing happens, unless you make it. You rejected the place, and the LA's responsibility to offer one is done. all you can do (apart from appeal) is, as others have said, put his name on waiting lists and hope for the best.
Failing that, you stump up for a private school or home educate. Or just accept a place in any school which has places left. And, depending on your area, that may well be a school that you think is even worse than the one you've just rejected.
Who on earth advised you to reject the place you'd been offered?

When is he 5 ?

I work full time so can't home educate, I can't afford private. My son is on waiting lists but very low down all of them, I'm assuming this will change now he has no place at all.

The allocated school is miles away- I don't drive. It's in a rough area, has poor sats results and my son is likely to be one of few British children in the year. It's not an option at all, hence rejecting it.

He is 5 in September.

The position on the waiting list will NOT change as a result of you refusing the allocated place - waiting lists are organised with reference to the admissions criteria, so usually siblings/distance. If you are low down on the ones you're on, how about casting your net further and putting his name down for even more schools.

It's a shame you turned the place down - the lea have fulfilled their obligation and it gives you no advantage in terms of appeal or position on waiting lists.

I am not certain but I don't think his place on the waiting lists will change just because you have rejected the school allocated.
If he is well under 5, then its possible his nursery/preschool might keep him on. As I said thoigh, am not totally sure.

The trouble is that even with free transport, I couldn't go on a bus with my son as I would be getting to work. And I'm not sending a 5 year old on his own.

If it is more than 2 miles away and the nearest school the LA could offer then they would have to offer transport for him. This won't be the case now as you have rejected it.

Do you have any grounds for appeal? except for the fact you don't like the offered school? Did you apply for any schools that you had a realistic chance of getting a place at?

Are you aware that the fact you have rejected this place does not increase your chances of a successful appeal - the waiting lists are held according to the admission criteria so the fact you rejected his place makes no difference. You need to find a back up plan .

What happens if you don't get a place by September? Are you able to take leave. To home ed as I understand that he legally needs to be educated once five?

You've assumed wrong I'm afraid.

He won't go up the lists just because you've rejected his offer. The lists are ordered in the sane way the places are allocated, using the admission criteria of each school.

"I work full time so can't home educate, I can't afford private. My son is on waiting lists but very low down all of them, I'm assuming this will change now he has no place at all."

PoppyPia, I'm sorry to tell you that it doesn't work like that.

All rejecting the allocated place has achieved, is ensuring that your DS has nowhere to go in September.

The admissions criteria for each school is clear, legally binding and cannot be circumnavigated by rejecting a place.

Your DS will not go up the list on his waiting list schools because you have rejected the place. He will remain where he is on the list unless someone gets allocated a place at the school (so he will go up the list by one place) or someone moves into the area, closer to the school than you (so he will move down the list by one place), etc.

The LA now have no obligation to find you a place for your DS. Of course, if there is a school with places, you're entitled to a place, but given that your allocated school was so far away, it's pretty certain that there are no closer schools with places.

You won't go up the waiting list just because you have rejected your offered school.

Do you have a Plan B in case he doesn't get in to any of the schools he is on the waiting lists for?

"I'm assuming this will change now he has no place at al"

I'm afraid this assumption is wrong. Waiting lists are ordered by how well those on the list fit the entrance criteria. Holding (or not) another place doesn't come in to it.

If you refuse then the LEA has no obligation to find you a place. It's a common misunderstanding that refusing the place means they have to find you a place, or gives you a better standing at appeal.

If it meant that they had to find you a place you would accept, then people would just refuse all except the one they wanted, which couldn't work.

The general advice is do not refuse even if you have no intention of taking it up, as you can then end up with no school place.

You need to find out where you are on the waiting lists, and if there's any hope of getting what you want.