Sibling Priority reverse order?

[Justjoinedforthis]

I wonder if anyone knows, would an older sibling move to the top of waiting list of a younger sibling is at the school nursery(or reception?) ? There was an anomaly of a tiny catchment for just my elder child’s intake, and they have to cross six lanes of traffic to get to school.

My DD moved from 9th to 1st on the waiting list when her younger sister was offered a place (and was then admitted on appeal).

Nursery usually doesn't count as part of the school for admissions purposes. Reception does.

Schools are all different (though most primaries will have some form of sibling priority for Reception upwards). Just look at the school's policy - it has to be on their website.

It all depends on what the admission criteria for the school says. If it says that sibling priority will be given to the younger sibling for an older sibling who is in the school at the time of entry then sibling priority only applies to the younger sibling. However in many schools the admission criteria is not that specific and just talks about sibling criteria. If that is the case then it should work both ways.
Be careful about nursery provision because it does not count in terms of the admission criteria unless specifically said to be included. If it does it would still not come into force until the 1st September when the younger sibling would be deemed to have moved from nursery to reception year.

Thank you so much for your responses.

Also, a couple of notes of caution. Remember that the school can only offer you a space for your older child if they have a space. At a really popular school with low mobility, you could wait a year or more for a space to come up. Secondly, even if they do operate a sibling policy, you won't necessarily be/stay at the very top of the list - there might be other siblings who live closer, or eg a looked after child above you. Of course your chances would be greatly improved, but you need to make sure you can manage two school runs for quite a while, in case.