Moving to the Catchment Area

[bigdigger]

We want to move to near a good school with a tiny catchment area. Is it wrong to move into rented accommodation guaranteed to be in the catchment and then look for a house to buy which may be just outside the catchment area?

Only because there is no point being in the area at all if we cant get in.

Treat has a good point. A friend of mine has ' previously looked after children' and is constantly aware that people gossip about how they got in to our school as they live just beyond the shortest distance publicised. I have had to tell other parents to drop it as they had cat1 priority and it's actually not something they want people gossiping about. Cheats get reported at our school every year

Just remembered, I know someone who was investigated for this about three years ago.

In their case it was all above board. Sold their old house to buy a bit of a wreck. They then rented whilst the work was done. But because they owned a house and rented a house close together they were investigated. It was all above board in their case as their owned house wasn't habitable and it was clear that it was legitimate, but it would have got sticky pretty fast if not.

The irony was that they hadn't even picked the rental because it was closer to the school , it was coincidental.

When it comes to good school places trust no one!

Tiggy - I do agree, but I think they still found it quite stressful. They'd rung the council beforehand to check which address to use but being told you are being investigated still makes you panic a bit!

As long as you've sold your previous house I can't see the issue.....

As long as you've sold your previous house I can't see the issue

It doesn't matter whether or not you can see the issue. What matters is what the admission authority think. If you move into a short term rent to get a place then move away they are entitled to take the view that your application is fraudulent and act accordingly.

but if it's your only home at that point and you don't own another it's your home surely? People move all the time and live in a rental property while they find their next house?

I guess though this is a London-based issue that where there are enough school places and the schools aren't that different people just wouldn't bother. So my personal experience is different.

Toby I don't live in london i assure you it is not a London only issue.

The house we currently live in is actually very close to the school, however in another council. If we let the house out and buy another one in the catchment area, with the full 100% intention of this being a permanent move for us, is that OK?

Making a permanent move is fine. But not disposing of the other property may or may not be fine, and only the view of the LEA in question matters.

Being in a different council area makes no difference unless there is a catchment (in the sense of defined priority admissions area) which happens to follow an established border in part. The admissions code prevents LEAs giving priority to their own borough residents.

If more LEAs ditched the sibling rule, fewer parents would try to play the system by short term renting. LEAs aren't helping themselves (or law abiding parents who rent with no intention of moving out of the catchment) by retaining it.

Does the school have a formal catchment area or is it simply distance from the school? If it is distance the fact that you live in another council's area will not be a disadvantage. If you live nearer the school than another applicant in the same category you will get the place even if they live in the "correct" council's area.

Whether or not renting out your house and buying another one will be acceptable is up to the school's LA. They make the rules. Some will accept this as a genuine move, others would insist on using the house you currently own as your home address.

If you want to PM me some details - which councils are involved, which school you are looking at and where you live - I may be able to give more detailed advice.

Million - it is difficult though. We didn't get into our closest school, and got into one a bit further away which we'd put down second. It would be deeply unfair on us if losing out first time then meant that with DC2 and DC3 we had to go through the stress of finding out whether they'd get in on distance that year. There would be a lot of parents in our position, especially in cities.

For my dc i only used paper form and I only put down one school in the choice form.

What does that mean Treat? Just that you were lucky you got the only school you wanted?

Or treat lives in an area where schools are not full !!!

Sibling priority at secondary level should be scrapped across the country while we still have so many single sex schools! Its a no-brainer. Quite apart from the other appalling inequalities such as siblings of pupils who got a special place due to SEN, or musical or sporting aptitude, or even on a lottery.

And, also, secondary school pupils should be able to get themselves to school (in non rural areas) surely?

Yes, Tiggy. I've got a friend whose Y7 child has just got into a comprehensive with a super selective band way outside of catchment, because their older child is in 6th form there. But the older child did not get through the selection process and did not even go to the school until Y12! Ludicrous.

We were advised only put down the school/s of your choice. So that s the one and only school my dc wanted.

My understanding is that in our county siblings outside catchment area only get the left overs after all local catchman kids have been allocated places. Then thats according to distance again. So my dc2 may not necessarily get a place if we don't stay in this area.

"We were advised only put down the school/s of your choice. So that s the one and only school my dc wanted."

Advised by whom? Because that's really bad advice (unless you are the vicar, with perfect baptismal/attendance record, living next to an undersubscribed VA school).