Admission in new primary school on moving

[Ellie2015]

Hello all

How does it work if you move out of a region to a new one in terms of admissions in Primary schools? DD goes to an academy Primary state school which has infant and junior section so she is still in infants. The place where are moving also have two schools like that-infant and junior. By the time we will be moving DD will perhaps have joined Year 1 or just about to.

How do admissions/transfer to new schools work?

Assuming we again apply through council, do we always apply after securing a local address (we are likely to rent first).
Do admissions work term to term? Or can it be in the middle of any term?
Would the current school allow to continue until new school starts so there is no gap in education?
What if the council at the new place throws us off to a distant school being in the middle of term etc?
Anything else I need to know?
Please if you could advise, especially if you have gone through similar thing. Thank you

You can in theory apply to a school with any address, so if the new school you want has a space, you could apply and be offered it. You would then be expected to start within about 2 weeks. They won't worry about it being mid term.

Alternatively you can wait until you have a new address. You can then apply for a range of local schools and be offered your highest preference that has a space. You may of course get one to don't like or is far away. Once you are living locally, the LA has to in theory offer you a place somewhere. Your child can remain at their old school through this process if it's not too far to travel. This process can take a while, particularly at busy times e.g. if you move in Sept.

If you get a school that was low on your preferences, you can remain on the waiting lists at your preferred schools. You can send your child to the new, less preferred school or hang on at your old one (if feasible). Obviously some popular schools don't have many places come up. If you are in a tricky position, you may have more luck moving to year 3 due to lack of infant class size regulations. Hopefully it won't come to that.

Thanks soooo much for your detailed response **BendingSpoons . Is there a way to find if there is a space in the school we want other than word of mouth? I don’t think their website or council will give that info. Do they? Do you recon it may be a good idea to speak to the school directly?

Please if you could clarify re year 3...didn’t quite catch that bit....

Thanks

Classes in KS1 (Yr1 and Yr2) are covered by the infant class size regulations which means they can't go above 30 (except in a couple of cases). This means you're only likely to be accepted by schools which have fewer than 30 I.e space.

This rule stops at juniors (yr3) so you are more likely to be accepted by a school you apply for.

In terms of spaces, the LA should be able to tell you which schools have spaces for a specific year group (ours does), or you can contact schools directly and ask.

I would try and ring the school first and if they won't give the info, try the LA. Lots of LAS are mostly email based at the moment, so a phone call to the school may be quicker.

As scissy said, they really can't go over 30 per class in infants. If you don't get a space you want and you appeal, it is very unlikely you will win unless they made an error. If you appealed for a year 3 place they can admit you (with good reason) to make 31 in a class. Hopefully that won't be an issue and you will get a place you are happy with when you move.

In my experience head teachers are not very clued up about the admission process. Usually you apply through the Local Authority of the area in which you are living. My LA will tell parents which schools currently have places, but those places will be filled from the waiting list (if there is one}.

Great, thank you all really helpful responses xxx