Moving house and school place HELP!

[Komone]

So 99% sure we will not get the #1 choice for our Son this coming April. On a map we are the same distance from 2 schools - 1 infant brilliant, most of his peers and friends will be going there etc. Not our catchment it seems and horribly found this out after moving 2.5 years back. At the time I just checked distance rather than catchment. Idiot me.

School we expect they will give us is our last choice due to location and performance. Not a great area, not well performing and will be very upsetting to send him there. None of his peers, friends etc will be there.

Question: Does anyone have any experience of moving closer to a school they were rejected for and what happened? How likely do you think we may be able to get in where we want?

If we moved in the next 6 months (before he is due to start) into catchment for the school we want will we get in? Move down the wait list but still have to have the place we get in April?

It would probably be a move of 1/2 a mile or so. We are currently 0.9 miles from both the school we do and don't want.

Very stressful with OH on the edge so any help appreciated.

Thanks,

K

You'll move up the waiting list commensurate with the new distance from the school. No idea whether you'd get in as that depends on how much churn there usually is at the school and how high up the waiting list you'd get. In the meantime the original offer still stands, and you could also go on waiting lists for other schools.

The last admitted distance from the school may change each year though - if you only moved 2.5 years ago I wouldn't go through the expense of moving again just to get a bit further up a waiting list. Is the school you want usually full?

Moving closer at this stage will not mean you are offered a place as places will have already been allocated. However, if your move very close you will likely jump right to the top of the waiting list. Is it just a one form entry? Are there popular independent schools near you as sometimes parents intending to pay for school don’t bother to turn down the state school place so the LA don’t know about that space until Sept. in which case it could be yours as long as you are on the waiting list.

My advice would be to wait until Apr as you may get a place anyway and not need to move. If you don’t and you’re not near the top of the waiting list then by all means move. Make sure you let the LA know your updated address and make sure school know too. There is often movement right up until the end of Aug/beginning of Sept. Good luck

With waiting lists how quickly do you find out where you are on them? Saw a previous post with someone mentioning the # and how it changed when they moved, when a sibling started at the school etc..

Thanks for replies.
School we usually want full - yes seems to be.
popular independent schools - not sure - anyone know how to find out?

It depends where you are. In some places you can find out immediately and in others they wait till the deadline for accepting offers has passed before confirming.

There are two steps you can take. The first is via the waiting list using your current address. You should now be able to establish from the LA where you are on the waiting list for the preferred school. Obviously it is impossible to know whether there will be movement,but quite often there is. So if you are say in the top 3 on the waiting and the admission number for the school is 30 then there is some possibility of getting a place via the waiting list. Obviously if the admission number is 30 and you are 15th on the waiting list then you have to be realistic and say you will not get a place of that waiting list.
If you move closer to the school, then you will be reassessed as to you position on the waiting list and may then be higher. But it is also possible for others to apply and have a far higher priority than you simply due to distance. The reality is that whilst there can be movement even after schools starts in September, the majority of movement off the waiting list tends to be from April through to August. So again a lot will depend on the number of pupils admitted to the year group.
You can also appeal for a place at the school but you need to be realistic about your chances of this happening. Most admissions to reception year are covered by the infant class size regulations, which limit the class size to 30 with one school teacher. It also means that effectively you can only win on appeal if a mistake has been made in the allocations and you should have been given a place. From What you say this sounds unlikely.
My gut feeling is that a house move is not likely to be worth the outcome unless you can show that there is a reasonable level of movement of pupils in and out of the school.