can i ask opinions on how easy it is likely to be to move a child schools, a couple of years into primary?

[Twobusyboys]

Ds1 starts school in August. Ideally we want to move to an area with better secondary school and out of city centre. The local primary is fine where we are now. But perhaps not best school ever.
Ideally we should move before he starts primary but we are running out of time for that. Plus this isnt a great time for us to move really we would rather move ina year or two.
Just wondered what everyones experience was with moving during early primary years?

Moving when the child is in infant classes will always be more difficult because the infant class size regulations make it more more difficult to win an appeal. So from that perspective alone it would be better to move so that you need a new school at the beginning of year 3. That is not to say that you will always win an appeal, you will not, the average is between 20% and 30%. It is also true that other parents will be thinking as you are in the longer term when it comes to getting into a good secondary school.

However everything I have said comes with a big red flag and that is a school can change enormously in a couple of years with a change of head etc. So what you and others think is a good secondary school now may not be when it comes to deciding which schools you prefer. It will always be a bit of a educated guess as to which is the best school and what is bets for your child. What you can do is make sure you research the primary and secondary schools well before making the decision to move house. Ask the primary school what there turn over rate is for pupils, it could be near zero, in which case there will probably be a waiting list for the school. Ideally what you are looking for is a good primary school, which has places in the year you want.

Thanks very much. You raised a few points i hadnt thought of. The area we live is where i grew up. And the secondary schools havent changed since i was at school. The good schools always perform consistently well. So i am hoping there wont be much change before my dc get to secondary.
It is a thought moving him once he is settled though. I am worried we will be reluctant to do it when time comes.

So from what you say. Aim for move whe n going into year 3. This woulf work well for us as this is when dc2 would start school