Likelihood on getting into CoE on distance?

[babycorn123]

Much as the title says...

Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts. Single form entry, need to fill in SIF on application. Unfortunately what with one thing and another, we haven't managed to do the whole church attendance at least twice a month for two years thing.

School is 0.13 miles away... is it worth still applying? And if so, what do I do about the SIF, I can't exactly return it half blank!

Thanks.

Depends on the school - are you Christian’s and worshipped there pre children but now can’t make it? I’ve known a few people get in that way on appeal. The same if you worship somewhere else.

I think it’s different per area though…

Have you looked at the admissions policy. Try should give you a good idea it'll say something like
Group 1 C of E kids within x distance
Group 2 C of E from outside that area
Group 3 other Christian religions etc. etc

Well I would say more 'lapsed' Christians... I mean, I was baptised and went to church as a kid, but that's not going to cut it, is it?

Admissions policy - distance is the last criteria...

No harm applying, dd would have got in to a cofe school this year that’s 2 miles away as undersubscribed. Normally we wouldn’t have had a hope.

Ok, thanks. Will check last year's application info to see how many kids got in on distance...

But that's not guarantee is it? Seems unfair in this day and age!

May as well apply, but still need to send the SIF which will basically be blank apart from the address and proof of address.

Are all places treated the same? Some CofE schools divide them into two categories - church places (for which church attendance etc is relevant) and community places awarded solely on distance.

The information should be available for previous years about which number they reached on the admissions criteria, and what distance within that. Obviously at 0.13 miles you're very likely to get in if they don't fill with those who meet the religious criteria (and any other higher ones such as siblings).
In some areas your chance of getting a place would be extremely small, and in some areas it would be near certainty, so nobody here can answer your question.

If it’s a VA school, the school admits. Ask them for previous admissions data. If it’s a VC school, the local authority probably admits and their stats on admissions should be on their web site. Undoubtedly it will vary year on year. However you will see a general picture emerging. However siblings can vary greatly from year to year so nothing is for definite. I would apply as you are close.

Yes. Admitting by religion is unfair. Most people want their local school in their local community. Feeling cast aside isn’t inclusive and it’s not a nice feeling. Originally these church schools were set up for everyone. To educate those in the neighbourhood. Picking and choosing the deserving few is not acceptable - but it seems no one can ever change it!

DD goes to a cofe school, I'm christened and confirmed DD isn't.

I'm half a mile from it and got in on distance, Religion is in the criteria but only after LAC, EHCP, then it's christianed siblings, christianed only, then any other child.

Does depend on the area though.

Surely you have a good chance 0.13 miles from school?! We lived in a CofE catchment & it admitted far more children on distance than church goers. Most people I know with kids in that school do not go to church at all ..

It depends on the size of the school! Larger ones do admit more, others hardly any on distance. It really depends on whether the schools is VA or VC and the admissions criteria. If it’s a small CofE it can be difficult to get in.

Our local CofE is filled every year with those with church stamps. But is only one form. Every area is different

It's a common misconception that you have to go to church to get into a CofE school. We are single form and a number of our places go on distance because siblings/church rarely make up 50% or so.

But, when all said and done, putting the CofE school first (if it's your preferred choice) has no bearing at all on whether you get a place at your other schools if you don't get in to the CofE. So you literally have nothing to lose.

DD goes to a C of E school, we are about 0.5 miles out of catchment and I’m a lapsed Christian. DD has never been christened
So give it a go!

They’ve removed church attendance as a criterion for my kid’s school now, but when they had it it was literally a couple of children each year. If you like the school, apply.

Just put your favourite school at the top. You can find out very specific information from the LA about which children got in in past years even as much as to what road so if you want to see the likelihood, send them an email. We got into a very heavily subscribed CoE school based on distance (about 0.5 mile). We go to church but not the church linked to the school so it had a no bearing at all. I would still hand in the sif though and say how much you have attended.

It really depends on whether the schools is VA or VC and the admissions criteria

As there is a SIF, it'll be VA. Faith schools that are VC have no faith places, so no need for the form.

It'll come down to how well you fit the criteria compared to all other applicants. If there are a set number of open places, as you live very close it sounds worth a try (though number with siblings might be an issue). Or perhaps the church places don't fill up with faith applicants - not all do, see example from BuffaloHigh , in which case distance will matter considerably

This is also another issue with religion vs catchment. You cannot assume that one school is the same as another. Every single one can have completely different admissions stats so individual experiences mean nothing regarding the OPs school. All she can do is investigate the stats for her school and complete the application process. As she’s so close, I would apply but we cannot guess the number of fully qualified DC, siblings, teachers’ DC, LAC, EHCP DC snd so on.

Or honestly depends on the school. A London city school had a 2 families start attending a week apart from each other, first family got in, second didn't, they had been attending for several years prior to admission.

School my DSs went to, all you had to live in the area covered by the parish church (which was an odd shape as had 2 churches), and if outside of it THEN attendance at the parish church counted.

Totally depends on their policy and luck! Our closest school is CofE (it’s next door to us) no religious criteria but their admissions policy is

1. local authority looked after
2. ECHP
3. siblings
4. distance.

We toured it for our DS2 and the reception teacher said last year they had 25 places filled by a mixture of criteria 1,2&3 so could only offer 5 places on distance

Depends on the school. If it has an attendance criteria and it's popular then probably not - my friends child didn't get it despite both her parents working for the Church of England and it being a 5 minute walk away ... we aren't sure of the criteria but I'm convinced they discriminated (my friends are low income but very religious)

Just to add, nobody has been to church twice a month for two years for the last two years because they’ve been shut. Unless they are counting watching online services as attendance?

Faith schools that are VC have no faith places

But they do have faith priority as part of the admissions criteria so a SIF would still be needed to support their application.

Utterly depends on where the school is, how popular and how oversubscribed.
In my little village CofE school you’d have no problems getting in.
In the very popular CofE primary that serves the catchment my best friend lives in you’d not have a cat in hells chance without church attendance! 🤷🏼‍♀️