HELP! Change of address on Reception application

[ChanandlerBongsNeighbour]

I have recently moved house. I submitted my child's reception application well before deadline day. The admissions portal said address could be changed via my personal details page in the portal/login area. Obviously the house move had been in the pipeline for a few months before the admissions deadline but I didn't fill it in before deadline day as obviously house moves are notoriously fickle and I didn't want to risk anything.

So now, here I am, finally in new house. Looking at the admissions page and it tells me that change of addresses after Feb 1st will mean that previous applications are discarded and the new application will be treated as late.

I am pretty peed off to be honest! There was no mention of this on the admissions portal! So for the sake of moving 0.6 miles down the road, my application is going to be unfairly graded as late!!

Am I the only one who thinks this is totally unfair?? I want to complain to someone!!!!

When did you actually move house?

I've found an online version of the exact paper guide I have in my classroom, it says

"Where the home address changes during the application process, evidence regarding the new address and disposal of the old address through a contract of sale or a tenancy agreement may be required. Parents will be asked to declare that the address will be thechilds home address beyond the 1st September 2018. Any change in address must be notified to ........ council. The admission team will check the council tax record to confirm the home address supplied"

Then it goes on to say where a home address has changed and the admissions team have not been notified they have the right to withdraw the place .......

Sounds like you just need to inform with date of legal change of address and they can't process it as a late application. Send in the info and ask them to confirm that this does not change your criteria or count as a late admission?

Eventually completed purchase/move on Friday 2nd Feb. Original move date supposed to be 11th Jan but house sellers decided to totally fuck about and ask for extensions (which we had no choice but to accept). Bloody wish I hadn't now it's come back to bite me on the arse!!! (Although to be fair, the alternative was withdrawing from the purchase altogether which obviously would have caused more delay!!).

Honestly, having read the admissions guide in advance, changing the address on the application was a million miles from my mind given that I had no idea it would be classed as a late application! I assumed they would just amend the original application!

I'll phone as soon as I can tomorrow.

I would do it all in writing, insisting on confirmation of everything in writing...

I wouldn't phone as you have no evidence of anything that way!

Just used a generic 'as the crow flies' calculator to confirm distances (I'm aware this could change depending on software used) and new property is 0.1 mile further away from school than previous property

What a shame - it looks like your LA might have gone down the same route as ours regarding siblings, hence prioritising siblings in catchment over siblings out of catchment to avoid what I posted upthread. Fingers crossed for tomorrow OP.

It is very common for families to do this (normally by renting) to abuse the system and then move back again as soon as they have a place, as SuburbanRhonda has also stated.

That doesn’t justify treating an applicantion as late when it wasn’t just because a house purchase has gone through.

Just found it buried at the bottom of the FAQ page about the Feb 1st deadline, perhaps had I known I might have been able to chivvy the sale by a day? Bugger bugger BUGGER!!

That doesn’t justify treating an applicantion as late when it wasn’t just because a house purchase has gone through.

It does, if it's clearly stated in the admissions policy. If it is, the OP should have informed the school of her pending house move before the deadline. If not, then she may have grounds for appeal, which is what I said. It's harsh, but if that is the rule the school has decided on, they have to abide by it.

Just don't update your address until after allocation. I assume, if they try saying you have been fraudulent you can just show them the documentation proving you were at your old address prior to submission deadline. Not a big deal at all. I wouldn't risk being a late admission.

Ignore me, just seen your updates. Bugger.

Are you still in catchment though? As if so, if it does mean going on the waiting list, I'd guess you'd be at the top of it with an in catchment sibling.

This is very simple. If you are after the last possible cut off date for admissions to accept your new address then you have two options. The first is to go to admissions and say you have moved and this is the new address. They will then treat it as a late application and you will not therefore be considered for a place until all applicants who were on time have been allocated a place. That is a bad option.
The second option and what seems to be the obvious one given you are not that far away from where you moved from is to go to the admissions team and state that you are aware that the application date has passed and you wish the admissions team to use the old address for the allocation of places as per the admission code, however for the purpose of all future communication the new address is XXXX. You have correctly then followed their procedure but will be counted as an on-time applicant and therefore have a reasonable chance of getting one of your preferences for a school.
Please ensure that you confirm the telephone conversation in writing (email) to the admission team so that there is no potential for misunderstanding.

I would contact the Admissions Office tomorrow and explain. Hopefully, because it doesn't affect your criteria rating, it will be okay.

It may not affect the admissions rating, but if it comes down to 'closest' to the school and property A would get in and B wouldn't ?

You don't know what the competition is likely to be - hard call!

Have you told the school you've moved? You could just forget until they've been allocated ..... or speak up and take a fair chance

I will contact admissions tomorrow and just explain. I doubt it will make a difference. I will have to risk being being a late applicant. It may all be a moot point anyway as there were four empty spaces last September! Fingers crossed for the same this year and we get in first try!

Any policy must be declared as part of the admission arrangements. They can't change policy part way through.

The question for me is whether they are going to insist on using the new address and treating you as a late application or whether there are other options such as continuing to use the old address. Simply treating you as a late application because you have moved strikes me as unreasonable.

Which local authority are we dealing with here? PM me if you don't want to post that publicly. Once I know which LA it is I will take a look at their published policy.

I carry out appeals in at least 4 different LAs and all of them will do what I have said in my previous post. If you tell them you have moved after Feb 1st but you do not want the new address used for admission purposes then they will use the old address because that is the fair and reasonable thing to do.
As PRH says it is totally unreasonable to just say tough luck we will change the address and then you are late application.
If they insist of doing it then you need to go to appeal and argue your case for admission, which I would suggest is a good case. But you do need to make sure that the LA admission office have been told in writing that you do not want to have the new address used and become a late application, that would be the key piece of evidence to win the case.

@admission & @prh47bridge glad you've turned with all your expertise!

Thank you all so much! I spoke to a lovely lady at admissions today and the panic is now over! We had been allocated a place already (I assume) but there are still quite a few empty spaces so we will still get a space regardless of being classed as late or not! Phew!

Hurrah! And well done for calmly ringing and not being all mad.

Wahoooo she got a place!! So relieved!!!

Wait, in our area they use the address you lived in on deadline day. If you move after that stage and want the new address to be used for admissions purposes, then you'll be counted as a late applicant. If you are happy with the school you've been allocated, then it's not a problem to move house - just like if you move house after your child has started they can still continue at the school even if you move ten miles away. Are you quite sure you aren't misunderstanding?

Great news!