In Year Application - unsure what should happen

[AllAloneMoreOrLess]

I submitted an in-year application for DD1 (then year 4) to move schools earlier this year. I knew from friends that there weren't any places in the class at that time so was expecting her to be put on a waiting list. Sure enough, I handed the LEA form and supplemental form (faith school) into the school office and was told by the secretary that there were no spaces but they would keep her application to be looked at if a place came up. The secretary also told me that there was one other person waiting for a year 4 place. I asked whether I could call after a few days and be told DD's ranking on the waiting list but was told that the school didn't keep a ranked list; if/when a place comes up, they would look at the pending applications and rank them at that time.

Fast forward to end of summer term, and I called to check whether they expected any places to be coming up over summer and was told that they didn't know of any, but someone would write to me to see if I wanted DD's name to continue to be held into the new academic year. I didn't hear anything so emailed the school at the end of the holidays confirming that I wanted DD to remain on the waiting list and asking if any further information was needed. Received a reply saying that the person dealing with admissions would contact me.

Have heard nothing as yet (but obviously still early days and schools are busy) but I know that the school's admissions policy changed for September 2015 admissions and that therefore (I think) a different supplemental form would be needed to rank DD for any places if they come up (is that right?). Went onto the school website, thinking I would just download and complete it to send in to make sure our info is up to date but it's a new website and the admissions forms etc haven't been uploaded yet.

I'm a bit worried that in the (admittedly unlikely) event that a place comes up, the governors will not have the correct form completed for DD in order to properly rank her on the list, even though I have confirmed I would want her to be considered. What would happen? Also, should I have received anything in writing confirming that our initial application was unsuccessful and that we would be on the waiting list? I'm a bit concerned that it all seems a bit informal. And if at any stage we wanted to appeal for an in-year place (given that she is now year 5 and so no class size prejudice) we don't have an actual decision to appeal?

Sorry for length - any pointers would be great!

Unless they have changed the requirements to qualify for priority on faith grounds there should be no need for a new supplemental form.

Yes, you should have received a letter informing you that your daughter was not being offered a place and telling you how to go about appealing.

It may be that the informality is due to you handing in the forms to the school. The supplemental form should have gone to the school but the LA's form should probably have gone to the LA. It would be worth checking whether or not the LA handles in-year applications for this school. If it does you should submit an application to them. If the school handles applications itself you should ask them about appealing if you want to go down that route.

Prh - thanks. Our LA asks you to return forms to the relevant admission authority, so for faith schools handling their own admissions, it goes straight to them...at least, I think but maybe I should ring the council and check!

The change in admissions criteria for this academic year is the introduction of categories taking into account church attendance, whereas last year's form just required proof of baptism, so my concern is, if they rank according to new policy they currently have no evidence of DD's church attendance, so would they ask us for that or just rank her lower?

I probably need to stop waiting for the new website to be updated and just ask them to send me a new form!

No plans to appeal at present as things seem to have settled down at DD's current school, but that might change...

Thanks for the advice

There a number of issues here that you should resolve. Firstly you believe that the school is their own admission authority. So you need to get confirmation in writing about exactly how the school handles in-year applications. From what you have said in the post it would appear that the school has to be the first port-of-call for any application but it is not clear to me whether or not there is actually a waiting list. Talking about pending applications is not appropriate, there is either a waiting list or there is not a waiting list.
If there is a waiting list then the school has to keep that waiting list in order, which is the order according to the admission criteria for the school. If there is no admission criteria then the school needs to explain in writing how the school handles any place becoming available. That really should be on their school website.
If the admission criteria changed for September 2015 admissions, then the admission criteria and the supplementary form needed to be available for parents to submit the applications from September 2014 to the cut off date of January 2015. So the supplementary application form that you filled in earlier in the year should be the current one in theory. However when you say September 2015 are you saying that the admission criteria change is actually changing for September 2016 and hence must be available for September 2015. If that is so, you are correct any pupils on the waiting list now need to be in correct order based on the new supplementary form for the admission process. I think that you need to get an absolute confirmation of the situation from the school.
There is no doubt, as PRH has said, that if you applied for a place then you should have received a formal letter from the school or possibly the LA confirming that they could not offer you a place and the reasons why. The other niggling doubt in my mind is that with what appears to be such an informal system in place (which it should not be) that the school could have admitted a pupil into the year group and you were not aware of this.
I think I might be tempted to submit another application for a school place now and insist on the school writing to confirm the outcome. If a school place is to come up, the most likely time is now, with someone not returning after the summer break. Another application costs you nothing and at least makes sure you are on the waiting list (assuming it exists)

Thanks for reading admission...just to clarify, the change in admission policy came in for the September 2015 intake. So originally I applied during the 2014-2015 academic year using the September 2014 admission criteria and supplemental form (requiring baptism only). But the September 2015 intake had different criteria and a different supplemental form (requiring church attendance) so I'm thinking that we might need to complete and submit this form for an in-year application for this current (2015-2016) academic year because the original form won't include all the relevant information. Does that sound right?

So I think my plan should be: 1. Ring council and check the school is its own admission authority and deals with in-year applications (I'm fairly sure it is). 2. Get hold of a new 2015-16 supplemental form (website still incomplete but I have found a direct email for the clerk to governors who I have been told processes admissions for the school). 3. Send in new form for this year, and press for written confirmation of outcome. 4. Try and get some kind of answer about waiting list positions.

I'm wary of becoming a nuisance on this, but agree there is a danger of DD slipping through the net due to the informality

I would go ahead as you have indicated and see where you get to