Moving to an oversubscribed area after applications

[Whereinharrogate]

Dd turns 4 next September, so starting school in 2025. We want to move house between now and then and the area we are moving to is known for its primaries being oversubscribed.

Does anyone know what happens to children if you move house after the applications are in? We will of course try to be in before January 2025 but if we aren't, could she end up without a place? Has anyone had any experience of this?

It's keeping me up at night worrying that she might not get a school I am tempted to give up on the whole move at the moment 😩

She would be given a place at the nearest school that has a place free.

Think you need yo try to move before cut off gor applications. She will get a school hut might not be local, but this might be the case anyway

You have to put your address for where you are currently living so if you're not in area then they'll allocate a place according to that address. Yes, it does mean you may not get a place in the area. You are most likely to be allocated a school near to the address you're at now even if you don't put any of those schools down.
However, when you move you can then apply and the distance you are from the school will then help you get a place on the waiting list.
It's common for children to move schools so even if they're full they often have places come up later. It can be months though.
You are definitely better to have moved before if you know schools are already over subscribed.

Thanks for replies so far...yes I understand about the cut off. I suppose my question is how far can it go? In a very oversubscribed area could a 4 year old realistically have to travel a 20 or 30 mile daily round trip for school?! I suppose so if they are full they are full.

I had thought that about a waiting list and even wondered about going private for a year if possible to keep her local while we waited for a state place. Would really stretch us though and i dont want to move her schools if i can help it. Of course the best thing to do would be move house beforehand but my experience of moving house is that it doesn't work to whatever your plans are.

Local councils publish online the numbers of places taken in last year's round of applications - here's Hampshire's for example:
https://documents.hants.gov.uk/education/Year-R-Offer-Day-Data-2023.pdf

It's not organised by locality, so you'd just need to start working through all the schools one by one to get a sense of whether all were full. and how far away the nearest school with a place was. If this is a city area, you are likely to get a school which is accessible; rural or small towns can be much more difficult due to the travelling distances to the next school.

Depending where you live and how over subscribed you may not get in to a school 100 yards away if they use siblings first etc.

There is something called the Fair Access Protocol which allows the council to place a child in a full school if there is no options within a reasonable travel time. However its not the parents choosing the school.
By no options it means if there is a place in a school in special measures... thats where they go. Or the religious school for an atheist family.

If the allocated place is more than 2 miles, you should be offered transport (but just for the child)

There is sometimes a slightly later cut off for families moving into the area.

There is sometimes a slightly later cut off for families moving into the area.

Yes, you really need to check the rules for the area into which you are moving. e.g. for Essex, the 'movers in' cut-off for primary is usually about February 4th / 5th and iirc proof of exchange of contracts is accepted as proof of address - I'm not sure whether other areas accept this.

The LA has to find you a place.

If there are no places at all within a reasonable distance (what the actual distance is will depend on the local situation) then the council must activate the Fair Access Protocol to force a school to go over numbers and admit an extra pupil. This is decided by the council working out which full school is best able to cope and you don't get a say in it as such. If it is more than 2 miles away, your DC will qualify for free transport.

But if they offer a school, even if you hate it and it's in the wrong direction for family logistics, then the LA has fulfilled its duty. They won't activate FAP if they have made an offer.

You can of course stay on waiting lists, or even appeal if you think the LA has acted so unreasonably the decision is utterly perverse (eg offered school is an hour away by taxi when the roads are clear and double that in typical morning traffic)

Take a deep breath and focus on moving (hope you have considered secondary because believe me those conversations start in KS1). Even in the most over subscribed areas the birth rate has dropped (and keeps dropping) so you are likely to get a place at some point. I know what it’s like when you are applying for the first time - it feels like such a big final decision. It isn’t.

Reception is play and phonics (reading every night to them). KS1 is reading, reading, reading some very basic maths and lots of general skills. None of this is beyond a parent to help so don’t worry if school you are allocated isn’t great.

It would be unusual if a place didn’t come up at some point, but it might be in year 1 or even year 2. My eldests school has always been an oversubscribed school (0.2 miles and 2 years before she joined 24 siblings took most of the 30 places). This year it was on the councils list after allocation day as ‘places available or short waiting list’, as were quite a few of the excellent schools. Places filled quickly once word got out… but there you go. Falling birth rate!
There has been movement every year: SEN child leaves for special school, Europeans went home, others moved to country or just to a bigger house in a different part of London. Places are filled very quickly but there is movement. If you are Harrogate I imagine people leave to move to the sticks or for job relocation too. Easiest advice to give is just relax and focus on moving… but I know that when you haven’t yet started school the ‘myth’ that you need to live 0.2 miles away and it is impossible to never get an in-year place, isn’t true.

My brother and his wife gave their new address after they had offer accepted and exchanged but not completed or moved in.
The estate agent thought they were weird but passed on the acceptance
Letter. They were accepted to that school. People will probably say this is wrong but it worked out very well for them.

Rather than go private for a year I would rent for the year- will put you in a better position to buy and you can rent next to the best state school

You need to move and have the correct address for the school you want before the cut off date otherwise you don't have a chance at getting in on address alone. If the school you want is connected to a church, start going every Sunday and get to know your vicar/priest for a reference to apply for the school in January.

There are so called Late Applications. It is until January if I am not mistaken. You need to contact your local authority with the list of preferred schools and proof that you moved after application deadline.

Your best bet will be waiting list, if you end up very close to a school you like you could easily jump to the top of the waiting list overnight if you’re closer than others.

at our over subscribed primary, 2 or 3 get in on waiting list every year, often at the very end of the summer term or beginning of September

Just do the move, you'll get a place eventually if you are close enough to the school even if you miss the normal application window.

Every year children at the school I work at are given places off the waiting list in September/October as families have moved/gone to a different school etc. We can't take children off roll until we know they are registered elsewhere so there's always a delay.

Make sure you buy a house well inside the distance they accept from so your child is higher on the waiting list.

To clarify, the LEA will offer you a school, you accept anyway as long as you can physically get your child there and then take your chances on at least one waiting list. You will eventually get in to a school close to where you live.

Thanks to all of you for your advice. I really appreciate your replies, it's been really helpful and you are making me feel a lot less panicked!

You can apply for any school from your current address (the thing about proving that you have moved / are moving is to have your application taken over by the new LA, if different from your current one, and having the new address used for school applications as soon as you can). So if you are definitely in the process of moving, you can list 'new area' schools in all the slots on your CAF, bar one, which you use for a fall-back school in your current area, in case everything goes very pear-shaped with the move. That way, you might get lucky with your April allocation, or you might not - but by naming them in e.g. positions 1-3, you will be on the waiting list for the schools where you are moving to from the off, and if place of residence is crucial (not always so much with faith schools), will move up the list as soon as you can provide a local address.

So we were in this situation and luckily found somewhere- we moved in November , got on the electoral roll and application in before the deadline.

Plan B would have been to rent in the catchment with a view to finding something or while a purchase was going through.

The school was oversubscribed and the council did come round to check.