Primary school enrolment and moving house

[AlfaRomeoWhereArtThou]

Our flat in Southwark is on the market and we are looking to move to the Twickenham area. It's all going rather slow unfortunately.

We have a three year old DD whom we need to register for primary school by January to start in September 2024. Registering her in Southwark would be pointless as by September 2024 we will definitely have moved, but I doubt we will have done so by the January registration deadline. Has anyone been in this situation and what have you done?

Technically we could hold off from enrolling her in school for another year, but she is quite a precocious one who will likely get bored + we don't qualify for 30 hours free childcare so an extra year of childcare would be very expensive!

You have to apply using your child's permanent address at the time of application; applications don't close for primary until mid Jan, as you know. Many LAs do have a later date for address changes with a good reason, so if you know the area you are moving to, check that.

If you are still in Southwark, but set to move, the advice would generally be to apply to schools near where you are going as first choices, then last choice a banker Southwark school you should definitely get into from where you live. If one of your top choices in the new area happens to be undersubscribed, you might well get a place even from Southwark, and if not, you can immediately get on waiting lists, and you should then have a fallback Southwark place just in case everything goes pearshaped.

All properties sell at the right price and you have over eight months to move to Twickenham. I would prioritise selling your flat, you can always move into rented near your preferred school by the primary application deadline. A word of warning, do not rent while keeping your Southwark flat as that would be seen as your home.

We moved house when dd was starting school / the school applications had to be in. We had to confirm we had exchanged contracts (letter from solicitor) to the local authority by the date that the school applications closed so that our new address would be considered for the school application although we didn't move until a few weeks after the closing date.

Thanks very much for the replies! That's helpful to know that proof of a signed contract might be considered sufficient, @teateateaandcake . That would buy us a little bit of extra time. Renting is also an option but I'm a bit worried we'd be stuck with a lease if we choose to go that route.

Hi OP, you mention moving to Twickenham. I suggest therefore that you look at the detailed information for primary admissions on the Richmond Council website, which is here https://www.richmond.gov.uk/media/3082/primary_admission.pdf

I have cut and pasted the following which seems to relate to your situation "Any change of address will only be considered in the first round of allocations if you provide sufficient proof that the move is legally binding and that you and your child are habitually resident in the new property by 9 February 2023. The non-exhaustive list of evidence includes: ● a solicitor’s letter stating that the sale is complete, or a formal tenancy agreement which shows that the property leased is suitable for the family’s needs. Confirmation of an intention to buy or rent is not sufficient proof and will not be accepted, and ● proof that the previous property has been sold or the lease terminated, or sufficient evidence to allow the Admissions team to reasonably disregard the previous property for admissions purposes, and ● a copy of two utility bills or contracts (less than three months old) to prove that the family is habitually resident in the new property. Mobile phone bills, credit card statements and bank statements are not acceptable. Inclusion on the electoral roll is not proof that you live at the address.

I agree with PP that 8 months should be sufficient for you to move to the borough ahead of the Jan deadline. Many people try to game the system in Richmond/Twickenham because of the outstanding primaries so the council are very aware of the usual "tricks" such as renting a property while owning another one further out.