Primary school catchment areas

[JohnHunter]

We are looking at a considerable financial commitment to move into the catchment area of our local sought-after state primary. Does anyone know how often catchment boundaries are changed, how can change them, and what process such changes go through? The houses we have seen so far are just within catchment and it's easy to fall outside just by ending up on the wrong side of a street. The school is over-subscribed and very few children - if any - get in from outside the catchment area.

It depends on size of year . My son’s year was a boom year so assume would be harder in his year.

You could look at previous years but be aware of any new housing built closer to school

It really varies year by year. Being in the catchment is no good to you if the class fills up with children who are 3m closer to the school than you.

Firstly you need to check if there are currently catchments at all.

Some areas don't give any priority to living within a catchment, and of course unless you're in Scotland, living within the defined catchment/priority admissions area may not be enough, if there are more DC in catcment than the number of places, distance is usually the tie-breaker.

Catchments can be introduced, abolished of redrawn at any point. There is a requirement to hold a public consultation (can't remember exact length that is necessary) but if needs to be concluded in time for agreed new admission arrangements to be settled by about the April before the opening of the admissions round.

So for example, consultation would be going on now for changes to be agreed by spring, ready for the admissions round which opens in autumn this year for those entering reception in Sept 19

There are no hard and fast catchment areas. Most schools allocate places on the basis of SEN, then sibling connections and lastly distance from the school. Depending on where the children who are applying happen to live, the distance for admission changes year on year.

Thanks. There is currently a catchment area and a wider region in which children get priority but are ranked below those from the main catchment. As far as I can see from previous years, they have been able to accept all children from the (very small) primary catchment area with 3-10 places for those from the secondary catchment.

"There are no hard and fast catchment areas."

There might not be where you live, nuttyknitter but in done pkaces there are. And living within catchment may put you in a higher admissions criteria than non-catchment siblings and other non-catchment children.

Whether it gets you a place depends on whether there are enough places for all catchment children. If there are not, then if will be the catchment children who live closest (or who get the highest ranking in the lottery) who receive the offers.

a family of 6 children moving within the catchment would reduce the space available to the secondary catchment and 3 large families could conceivably shrink the catchment. once the spaces are filled they are filled and after the fact the circle is drawn around the school.

PANs can also change so you shouldn’t base a decision purely on catchment (although a change to PAN is probably not a common event).

We were safely in catchment but the year my daughter applied they went from a PAN of 60 to 30. Two siblings didn’t get a place let alone the child who literally lived next door. We were allocated a school in special measures too far away to walk to but not far enough away to qualify for free transportation. We ended up in the private sector.

Don’t move specifically for one school. Move to a catchment for an amazing school but make sure you have other good options that you can have as a banker too.

It depends on the area you are moving into as well. 10 years ago all the local schools round here were basically full of children in catchment and only took the odd one out of catchment. 10 years later a lot of those families still live in catchment but all their DC have been through primary school and there is much smaller number of families in catchment wanting places - hence more available out of catchment.

On the flip side there are other areas that are full of young families and even being in catchment won't guarantee a place at the local school.

It really depends where you live. I live in London and the catchments are soooo tight. Religious schools do not have catchments. Unfortunately these catchments (for good schools) get smaller each year and there’s no telling where the boundaries will end up.