Seeking guidance on School Admission in Kent - Moving Home

[debj007]

Hi Mums - My 4 year old (November born) is due for RECEPTION next September (2024) - I am currently staying in Essex and about to finalize a house in KENT.

Given that it is a NEW BUILD PROPERTY, the COMPLETIUON DATE is not exactly fixed at this time and the EXPECTED timeframe is Mar, 2024

I checked with KENT Council on how to apply for Kent Schools given that within 15th Jan (2024) i.e. the deadline for School Admission - what they are saying is that I need to furnish the Exchange of Contracts mentioning the completion date.

On the other hand, my builder is saying that they can never put an exact date on the Exchange of Contracts but a timeframe e.g. End March, 2024.

I am completely confused and feel a tad helpless to be honest - has anyone faced similar situation ?

Any advice will be really helpful.

Look forward.

Thanks.

https://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/schools/school-places/move-to-a-different-school

Just found this in their website.

If you are not moving to March, you may have to apply for a school in your existing area, then apply for an ‘ In Years Admission’ which you apply directly to the school, not via KCC.

Thinking about it, I think I contacted all the local schools when we moved (back in early 2000s), although my dc were already at school (not in Kent).

There is often a date in early Feb you need to have actually moved by for them to accept your exchange documents. You can ask them, but March might be too late and they are unlikely to accept a vague date that might slip back.

If they aren't ready to exchange contracts by January, you will need to apply through Essex. You can still apply for schools in Kent, but obviously your chance of a place is much lower. There may be some undersubscribed schools that would offer you a place. You would then need to update your address once you exchange and this will change your position on the waiting lists. If you are moving near to a school, then hopefully a place will come up, especially if it is a larger school. I understand the uncertainty is stressful though, and it might take a while to get a place.

If you are definitely moving, list your preferred Kent schools first on your Essex CAF, but if there is any possibility that things might slip back further with the dates for your move, then think about listing your most preferred Essex school in the last slot on your form.

If you are still in Essex on offer day, as @BendingSpoons says, you are unlikely to be offered a Kent place unless a school you named was undersubscribed, but you will be on the waiting list from the start with an on-time application for the Kent schools and you will be offered a place somewhere in your current locality ('nearest undersubscribed', if not your preferred one, but again, in that case, you will be on the waiting list) as a fall-back in case things go really wrong.

Thanks a bunch for the insightful responses.

The Kent council did mention a date (9th February, 2024) by when they need to have proof that I'll be moving - that is why they are insisting on exchange of contracts with completion date.

The council did NOT state that I need to be already living in Kent by 9th Feb but they did ask for SPECIFIC COMPLETION DATE and this is where my builder says they cannot give me one for a new build - may be I'll need to connect with the Solicitor to get specific guidance on this.

I'll also try to follow the advise on listing some Essex schools in the Essex form down the stack rank - only thing is Kent allows 3 schools - so not sure if I should list 3 Kent (TOP) and then 3 Essex (bottom) or go for 5 Kent Schools and leaving 1 Essex at the bottom as @MarchingFrogs recommended.

The number of schools, if you are completing the Essex form, is 4 for primary (6 for secondary), so I'd put three Kent, and one Essex last?

(The paper form and the online one are the same re number of preferences)
https://www.essex.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2023-11/Primary-application-form-2024.pdf

Ah that's good you don't have to have moved by 9th Feb. I guess you will need to see what they will accept. I don't know that solicitors will be willing to agree a completion date when there is a reasonable chance the property won't be ready. (Sadly my experience of buying a new build was it took about 5 months longer to be ready).

I would fill all but one of your choices with Kent schools and then put your most likely Essex school last. You will probably get offered that unless you can sort the exchange or any of the Kent schools are undersubscribed. In some ways it doesn't really matter, as you can be added to waiting lists later. You might also be worth looking for any less popular schools near your new house or ones that have recently expanded and might have more chance of a place.

We have this almost identical situation at very similar time (only difference was my dc was starting secondary not primary). Ideally you need to exchange ASAP and agree a long-stop completion date with the builder. We were expecting g to be in by end of Jan and ended up moving 4th April (completion was set at on or before 1st May with 2 weeks notice either side) but because we had exchanged the council accepted this for the school application.

New builds will always exchange really quickly after reservation but completion will be at X weeks notice. You won't get a builder to commit to a completion date.