Primary admission versus dream home? Advice please

[WhatADilemma]

Please can you wise MNetters give me some advice!

DC1 and DC2 both currently attend our local Catholic school very happily. As a family we are very involved in the life of the parish (regularly attend Mass, undertake responsibilities within the parish etc) and my paid employment is actually within the school grounds. As you can see, we are very attached to the school and the life of the parish and this is something we would not change, no matter what the geographical circumstances.

So here's the big dilemma... Our dream home has come on the market. It is the home we imagine our DCs becoming teenagers in and eventually leaving as adults. It's the home we imagine growing old in. It is made for us and just perfect in every way. This week the vendors have significantly dropped the asking price which makes it very affordable for us. Living in it would also mean, for complicated reasons, that the quality of our family life would be very much improved. We know the vendors are keen to sell quickly. There are no other similar properties nearby.

BUT, it takes us out of parish. Which means DC3 would slip down to category 4 of the admissions criteria (DC3 is currently at category 2). The school is oversubscribed. I will need to make DC3's admission application by the middle of Jan 15 for admission in sep 15. For family reasons, and my sanity, it is imperative that DC3 attends the same school as DC1&2.

Everything seems perfect about this house except for this one problem!

Is there a way I can access this year's data to see how the places were allocated to the different admissions criteria so I can estimate DC3's chances of getting in if we moved?

Can anyone suggest a legal and ethical way around this dilemma?

Or do we have to sacrifice our dreams of our perfect family home to ensure DC3 is at the same school as the other DC? (Which is what we will do if we have to but we reeeeaaallllyyyy don't want to!).

Thanks for your advice and ideas everyone.

We are certainly not trying to 'beat the system'… just take advantage of the opportunity to buy our dream home at a very pleasing price whilst keeping all 3 children in school together. And as sleepyhead says, I wouldn't be able to get away with any funny business even if I wanted to.

Unfortunately for us, it doesn't look like we're going to be able to have our cake and eat it, though we'll keep thinking until we either find a solution or don't have the option anymore. Or unless we make a firm decision either way of course.

At the moment, we're thinking its too important to keep the DC at the same school to risk the move, so we'll just have to wait for a few years and see how the future pans out. Although we seem to change our minds daily about what's for the best!

I would try to buy the house and rent it out - it's only for a year or so!

I would go and talk to the current owners of the dream house. Explain the situation. See whether they'd consider doing a deal, whereby the house completion doesn't happen until after you need to do the application. It will depend entirely on their situation (i.e. they may be desperate for the cash now, or may have a house they want to buy that may not be available in a year), however I know people who have done this and it has worked. Good luck.

I would go and talk to the current owners of the dream house. Explain the situation. See whether they'd consider doing a deal, whereby the house completion doesn't happen until after you need to do the application. It will depend entirely on their situation (i.e. they may be desperate for the cash now, or may have a house they want to buy that may not be available in a year), however I know people who have done this and it has worked.

If that doesn't work, I would buy the house now, see what happens and ensure DC3 is top of the waiting list for old school. It will work out.

Good luck.

oops sorry duplicate post.

What are your secondary school options and do they change if you move house?

That would be a deciding factor for me - Secondary WAY more important than primary.

If you love the school AND the house so much you will find a way around the logistics of two schools.

I maybe should have clarified that I don't agree with this tactic but its what people do, and in our area its not against the rules. I spoke to our LA ages ago when we were thinking of moving and all they go on is the address at application stage, when proof of residency is asked for etc As the applications run mid Aug- Jan there are plenty who moved in the middle. If you started the process of buying now and selling yours, it could easily take a few months. Near us, people stay in flats, get application in then move to bigger cheaper house frequently.