In-year application without new address

[ggmom87]

We’re moving from across the country this summer and have two children who will be transferring schools into Years 1 and 3 in September. I’m really confused about the admissions process because it seems to be very different depending on the school. Some of the schools I’ve talked to control their own in-year application admissions, while some are managed by the LEA. While almost all the schools / councils won’t accept an application without a new local address, one school (the one I like best) is classed as an Academy and says I can apply to the school as early as beginning of summer term - before we’ve moved. They have plenty of space for my children and said they’ll have no problem getting in. Even though we won’t have an address yet. How can this be? Is it possible I’m misunderstanding what they’re telling me? Just curious if anyone has ever heard of schools accepting applications from families who have an address on the other side of the country.

If a school has a place but no waiting list they can offer it to the next applicant even if not local. However there may be a time limit to take up the place.

Interesting, I didn’t realise that.

Academies can make their own rules, unlike local authority maintained schools. I'm sure the LA can advise if one of their schools is tour favourite though

Yes, we were offered places before we actually moved. The school had spaces available, we applied through the local authority and were offered the spaces. It was great because our children could start school straight away when we moved.

We’re moving during the summer holidays so it would be really good to have school sorted so they can start the new school year on time.

An offer is only valid for 6 weeks. Not sure how the summer holidays would affect that.

You need to establish from the school what is the longest time which they will hold open a school place. If you are talking about moving in the summer and start date of September I would expect that the school will only hold places open from sometime in late June but you need to get a written answer from the school over this. I am slightly surprised that they are saying the beginning of summer term which is mid april but if they confirm that date then that is to your advantage.

You can in theory apply for school places from your current address. The issue is usually that the school is not keen on accepting an application if it is not a local address but under the current admission guidance if the school has places available and you ask for them then they are yours if there is nobody else looking for places.
Obviously as soon as you move you need to inform the school of the new contact details which may be a problem to achieve if you do not move until the summer break.

@kitkatsky

Academies can make their own rules, unlike local authority maintained schools. I'm sure the LA can advise if one of their schools is tour favourite though

Not exactly true - all schools must follow the Admissions Code which has the force of law.

However, some of its provisions are things that admissions authorities/ schools can do, rather than must do, and that is what accounts for variations.

If a school is undersubscribed, then you can apply from your existing address and be offered a place. Distance only matters if the school is full, just one place has come up and they need to decide between applicants (waiting lists are ranked by the schools entrance criteria, not time on the list - as you don't have your local address yet, then they must use your current one, and you are bound to be too far away to get an offer as there will be applicants living closer)

When we were moving over the summer holidays we found some areas had a date after which an application would be considered for September.... usually in areas with lots of military bases as they would have an annual upheaval. (Which indeed was why we were moving!). We were offered spaces in June for the following g September.

I misspoke. They said they will accept our application from summer half term, and hold their places until September.

@LIZS

If a school has a place but no waiting list they can offer it to the next applicant even if not local. However there may be a time limit to take up the place.

They not only can offer it, they are required to do so.

We had this 2 years ago when we moved across country and the children joined year 2 and reception. We found we needed to relocate in the April and agreed to do so over the summer holidays to mimise disruption.

We applied giving our previous address but attached a letter saying that we were planning to move in the summer so didnt have a definite address in the new area.

Its worth looking at the council website for the new area and finding out what the process is and what you have to do. The website should also tell you which schools run their own admissions procedure.

When we did it we identified three or four schools in the area we wanted to live and then contacted each one individually to ask if they were oversubscribed or knew if they were likely to have vacancies for the relevant yeargroup.

We then concentrated on two schools we liked (and said were likely to have places) and added them to the application. We were told that our application would be considered in the second half of the summer term. And sure enough on the first Friday back after halfterm we got a letter saying that we had places. We then had to confirm that we wanted the place. Then we arranged a visit to the new school to have a look around and meet the new teacher and deputy head - this all seemed to go well and so we were very relieved!