Moving to new borough - how to sort school place

[hanxsy]

Hello,

We are looking at moving to Sutton & would rather move dc to be at a closer school. We are buying but the process has dragged on somewhat so am I correct that we cannot use the address till we exchange?
Also some schools in Surrey are closer than the ones in Sutton, do we put those on the form for Sutton or do we apply separately?

Thank you

You apply through the LA you live in, so you can add Surrey schools to the Sutton form.

You can apply before exchange, but you would need to use your current address. If a school had a place, they would have to give it to you. They will expect you to start quickly though, usually within 3 weeks maximum, so you might prefer to wait until exchange to be sure. Also if your choices are full, they don't have to find you an alternative until you are living there.

Sutton have a list of spaces on their website that is updated quite regularly, which is helpful. Although most of their schools are quite full.

@BendingSpoons thank you