In year admission and January 15th deadline when moving – advice needed

[GiraffesMum]

We are currently moving 200 miles across England and I really need some help/guidance from people who may have done this before with regards to schools. I am sorry it is long but I’ve tried to be as clear as possible.

We are planning on moving to a large city in February 2014. Currently DD1 is in Year 2 and will be moving into Junior School in September 2014. DD2 will be starting reception in September 2014. Applications for entry into reception (and if moving from an infants school to a juniors) is 15th January, 2014. However, we will not have exchanged contracts on our new house by this date so our permanent address is currently 200 miles away.

I need some advice on how I ensure that by September 2014 I have both girls in the same (or linked) school.

I have been told by the city admissions team that there is currently no space in year 2 at our catchment school, for DD1. They think it is highly unlikely that a place will become available and realistically to educate her at a city school she is going to have to be driven across the city. This catchment school is also only an infants school so to go to the linked junior school I need to apply by 15th January.

However, our new house is on the border of the city and county education areas. Whilst we are in catchment (0.4 miles away) for a city school, we are only 0.5 miles from a County school, which would be in walking distance, or a County Church school which is 0.6 miles away. If DD1 could get into one of these schools in Year 2 I would be really happy (and she obviously wouldn’t need to apply for a junior school place as they are both primary schools). However, I would want DD2 to go to the same school. There is a good chance that there would be spaces in the County schools.

So my dilemma is that I don’t know what to do in terms of applications for 15th January deadline:

1. Do I apply for City Catchment Junior School for DD1 and City Catchment Infant School for DD2 using our current address before 15th January deadline and then submit evidence of our new address once I have got it? (I think I could do this if we exchanged before the 21st February exceptional circumstances deadline?) Then both girls might get a place at our local catchment schools (although the admissions team thought we only had a very small probability of this happening as the school is over subscribed by 50%.)

1a. In this scenario, if DD1 got a place at City Catchment Infants for Year 2, we would hope she would also get a place at the City Catchment Juniors and DD2 would get a place at the Infants.

1b. If DD1 didn’t get a place at City Catchment Infants but did get a place at a County school, how do I ensure that DD2 gets to the same school? Is it possible to turn down a place at your first choice school (City Catchment) and then get a place at your 2nd or 3rd (which would be the County schools?). Or does it not work like this and you have to take the school given to you.

1. Do I ignore January 15th deadline and only apply when I know which school DD1 has got into and then apply late for DD2? Will she be looked upon favourably as a late application as we have just moved into the area and have an older sibling at the school?

Finally, do you know when I can I make an application for an in-year transfer? Do I have to wait until I have exchanged contracts on the house or can I start the ball rolling now? Is there any chance I could get DD1 accepted at a County school before January 15th deadline so I wouldn’t have to apply late for DD2?

If you have got this far and have any advice I would be extremely grateful.

I don't know the answers to all your questions, but no, you don't automatically get a place at your second preference school if you turn down your first preference. If you happen to qualify for two or more schools you've written down. Your preference is taken into account to determine which to offer you.

I'm afraid you cannot ensure that you get both girls into the same school.

The first thing to say is that as you will not have exchanged contracts by 15th January you will have to apply through your current LA using your current address. You can name schools near your new home when you do so.

1. If the LA will accept your new address based on exchange of contracts before 21st February and use that for allocations that is probably your best approach.

1b. You do not have to accept the place offered but if you reject it the LA is not required to come up with an alternative. If they do it will be at the nearest school with places. It is very unlikely that would be your second or third choice school. It is most likely to be an unpopular school that could be miles away.

1. If you apply late for DD2 she will go to the back of the queue for places. It is unlikely she will get a place at any of your preferred schools. If the school gives sibling priority in its admission criteria she would be at or near the head of the waiting list once that comes into operation but she would certainly not get any favourable treatment before that.

You can apply for an in-year transfer through your current LA using your current address now if you want. If the school has a place available they must offer it to you. However you will almost certainly have to take it up within a few weeks or you will lose it so that is only really practical if you are able to move into temporary accommodation in the area until the house purchase completes.

Agree with the above posters with regards to timing. I would also check both LEAs sibling policy as well before applying. In my city LEA there is sibling priority so that if the eldest child is already at a city primary school, the younger child would have a sibling place. However in the neighbouring LEA they distinguish between catchment and non catchment siblings which may mean that younger dcs who live outside the area may not be guaranteed a place.

Thank you very much for all your posts. I'm now trying to work out what we are going to do but I think we may have to move early into rented.

We had a similar situation when we moved a year ago - DC1 in Y1, and needing to apply for reception for this year for DC2.

We realised we had to move and be in place by the January deadline so we moved into rented rather than wait any longer.

DC1 sat on the waiting list for the school DC2 had applied for (whilst attending another school a mile away), and by sheer luck DC1 was offered a place at the more local school the same week DC2 was offered a reception place at that school too.

It was a gamble, but it paid off in the end. We were very lucky - the place DC1 got was the first one to come up since that year group started reception nearly two years earlier. I could easily have been needing to be in two places at once at school open and close time. We could have applied to the further away school for DC2, but it was not as good and with DC3 (and planned DC4) I didn't fancy that school for the next decade or so, miles out the way.

The issue is that there is no magic solution and no matter what you do, it's going to be a gamble/risk and you just have to hope things come together in some way. It's incredibly stressful because it is so totally out of your control.

Homeschool until a place was available (or even private school) was something we considered too.

Good luck!

The safest option is to check whether there is a place for DD1 in the county school for year 2. If there is then you can apply for the place using current address and they have to give you the place. The county school will almost for sure be operating some kind of sibling priority, so apply for DD2 by 15th Jan to the same county school using the old address and then change the address as soon as you can - but check the rules about when you can do this. You will need to apply through your current LA, not the LA where the county school is based. There is however never a guarantee that you will get a place at any school for the 2nd sibling
If there is not a place at the county school then I am afraid that you will need to decide which schools to apply for DD2 by Jan 15th and then hope that places come up for DD1.