Applying for School in different borough

[Cabbiefix]

I'm looking for anyone who has done this?

We have a school which is 0.5miles (4min drive 10min walk) that we really want our LO to go to but we live right on the border so this school is under Trafford council (we're in Manchester) and we are under Manchester council.

So what is the process? I know we have to apply via our LA but then do we only get looked at by the school if they are under subscribed or would we be looked at the same time as everyone else?

This is our first child so it's all new to us! We have another school within our borough but would like to put the one outside as our first choice but then will that hinder our chances at the second school?

I hope that makes sense, sorry if it doesn't!!

Also this is for Sept.25 so got plenty of time and are planning to visit both.

First go onto the individual primary school's website and look at their admission criteria. It should state how they allocate places. (If they aren't up yet the previous year will give you a rough guide.)

Then go on Trafford council's website and look at their admissions criteria for reception places in their primary schools.

Your application will be assessed under their published Admissions Policy along with every other applicant, no matter which borough you live in. By law they can only use their published admissions criteria. And I think it is not legal for schools to use borough boundaries as a criteria.

List the schools in the order you prefer them, the system ensures that you can never be disadvantaged in your second and subsequent preferences , which can also only use published admission policy, not whether they were a second or third choice.

make sure you include one school that you are sure would admit you.

Good luck!

I live in Trafford, a lot of schools as you probably know are oversubscribed. I think many have lists of streets that are part of their catchment area so you may be able to find that on the council website. We are at a church school so slightly different process... Best of luck!

In the West Midlands they run a coordinated admissions scheme between all the Councils. I have attached a copy of a page of Birmingham's admissions policy.
I live on the border of two LA's and have two schools within 3 streets of each other, one in each Council area and they both have children from each area. The admissions criteria for both are the usual: 1) looked after, 2) siblings 3) distance. Nothing at all about which LA.
The only time I have seen anything favouring a LA is for Birmingham's Grammer schools where preference is given to children living in Birmingham (plus 2 areas of Sandwell?) with only the top scores from other areas being considered (this is from memory when dd was deciding whether to enter her eldest for the 11+. She doesn't live in a priority area so didn't bother as dgs is bright but not super bright).
OP check the admissions policy for your area, if they have a similar coordinated scheme it will be stated and you would only need to apply to your own LA. If not you might need to apply to both Councils. Your local Council Admissions office should be able help with advice as well.

Thanks everyone for your replies!

Both say they use the LA admissions policies and both are the standard 1) looked after, 2) children with extra needs, 3) siblings 4) distance.

If boroughs don't matter then we should fall into distance for both schools with this one being the closest out of the two?

If you want a Trafford school but pay Council Tax to Manchester, you apply via Manchester.
You can check Trafford catchment areas here.
https://www.trafford.gov.uk/residents/schools/school-admissions/Primary/primary-school-admissions.aspx

Yes, but see if the LA the school is in lists ‘last distance’ that was admitted last year.

Sometimes people find themselves in a ‘black hole’, between two schools but not quite making the distance criteria for either!

But hopefully all will be straightforward.

Do your research. Recent years not all Trafford kids got a place in a Trafford school. You need to use ALL your preferences. Use 6 if Manchester still allows that and defo a banker you'll get in. Or you may end up with one you don't want that's not that close

For Trafford schools allocations, have a look here:

https://www.trafford.gov.uk/residents/schools/school-admissions/2024/Primary-admission-outcomes-2024.aspx

@MarchingFrogs That data is really quite shocking on how much it's changed. Most of the primary's have high % places not filled which will impact funding. Manchester has a lot of under subscribed schools too this year

Ultimately, the local authority with responsibility for providing a school place for your child is the LA in which you reside, therefore Manchester. This does not mean you can’t include Trafford schools in your list of preferences, but you would be wise to include some nearby schools in Manchester too.

Ultimately, yes, your LA has a responsibility to provide you with a school place.

But at application stage each and every school will ONLY offer places in the order in which you meet the criteria.

The LA will not favour an application to a school on your preference list depending on which LA the school is sited.

But it is true that you need to include at least one school that you would meet the criteria for. Usually your nearest school, but not always. You might live at a distance which is borderline for an incredibly popular local school, but have an undersubscribed school a little further away.

In that case the nearest (popular and oversubscribed) school would go first in your list and the undersubscribed one further down

I just want to thank everyone single one of you for your help and advise, you all been really helpful so thank you!

This is the only school outside our borough we will be applying for so all the other schools are going to be schools close to us and under our LA, we have 6 preferences so will be using all 6!

We are in London but DS goes to a school
in our neighbouring borough, which was the second closest by distance. It is very common in London to go to school “out of borough” as there are so many primary schools.

We applied through our local borough but listed DS’s school as first preference. He got in because he was within the relevant distance after the other criteria were applied.

We live something crazy like 15 houses into a county - all the schools we applied to for DD2's secondary transition were in the neighbouring county.

You apply to the county you're resident in admission system but just put down the schools you want to apply to in your preference order - it's done purely on the criteria published and not anything about which county you're resident in.

Just be aware of things like differences in holiday dates etc is all I'd advise - not so much of a factor when you have one child, but if you end up with kids in different LEAs it can be a bit of an issue.