Can I appeal for a lower preference school??

[AGA007]

Hi!

We recently moved to UK and are finally living in Orpington area. My daughter would be joining In Year in Year 1. She has been granted admission to Preference 3 school but now we want her to get into Preference 4 school, if a spot is available.

Can we ask Bromley council to consider a lower preference school even though they have us admission to a higher preference school??

Is there any way out? Anything that can be done??

You need to check with the Admissions team; have a look in your local school admissions
www.bromley.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/3171/applying_for_a_school_place_2018.pdf

However, it looks like you may have to accept the school you have been allocated and make a new (in year) application for your original fourth preference school once the autumn term has started.

(From the Bromley booklet)
'Additional preference requests for Bromley schools not previously a preference will be added to waiting lists according to the process timetable on page 5.
Applications for lower preference Bromley schools can only be made under exceptional circumstances and will be
considered by the Admissions Manager in consultation with the school/s concerned.
n Applications for lower preference Bromley schools not considered to be exceptional will need to be made via the
In Year process in September 2018'.

I wish we had put preference 3 as preference 4 in our application. Feels like we are in a mess right now. Hoping to get some help from the council

Thanks for a prompt reply MarchingFrogs.

In my experience (different local authority though) the admissions team can be a lot more helpful than they sound in their documents - definitely worth sending them an email - just explain your reasons and beg!

Thanks! Yes I am planning to call them in the afternoon today. Maybe it would just work out.

Good luck - your case for wanting to 'trade down ', so to speak, may be accepted. I have come across someone wanting to do the same at year 7 transition and was refused, but ossibly it could be different with an application that is already an in-year one, though.

Definitely email or phone council and talk to a real person! Different area, but I have found them helpful too. Good luck!

The one thing you must not do is accept the place you currently have being removed before you are offered a place at the school you now want. You need to talk to the admission office but then confirm in writing what you want. Too many people do not seem to understand that for all sorts of good reasons, parents may want to change their original preferences, so make sure everything is in writing or they may think that you are a late application rather than an on-time application wanting to change preferences.

Thanks everyone!! I did call Bromley Council this afternoon and the lady was very sweet in explaining the process. I was told that there is a waitlist at my Preference 4 school and that I was already added to that. In case a seat gets available they would surely contact me. I was also asked to send an email confirming that I would like to accept a place at a lower preference school if a seat gets available as I was already offered a seat at higher ranked school.