Moving to new location with no school place

[sunflowers8]

Hi

We are moving to a new location In the first week of January, when our house purchase will complete.

The school admissions in that area have advised they will not consider our application until we have physically moved and provided proof such as a utility bill.

This will mean after Xmas my daughter will not be able to attend school in the new area and it is also too far to travel to her old school. The admissions team said it could take weeks to process her application.

Has anybody had any experience of taking their child out of education for so long due to a house move? Both myself and my husband work so we have a further dilemma there!

Any help or guidance is much appreciated.

Feeling stressed

It is fairly common for places not to be allocated until the family has moved and has proof of residence at the new address. When you have moved be quite persistent in chasing up your application.

I guess maybe not all authorities operate in the same way? A previous school application with a different authority was able to offer me a place even before exchange of contracts.

It is worth calling round all the schools now (before the end of term) to find out if they have any places in the appropriate year group, so you know what you are aiming for, and then just keep on at the council office until they get you sorted.

Agree with previous poster. Ring the schools asap and have this exact conversation with them, they'll know if they can fit you in and can help with the local authority.

I second the advice of calling round schools now to find out which have places. My friend was guaranteed a place at her chosen school before even moving (in the end the house move was delayed and she commuted to the new school before moving into catchment).