Help me - Catch point areas.

[Saxfie2021]

Hello, hoping you can help - a worrying mum here.

Basically, we live outside the catch point of a school we really want our son to go to.

Our son will be starting nursery there in September (second year) and will be starting school next September.

It’s a village school, in the Norfolk countryside… it’s not small by any means but not huge either. Just a classic village school I guess.

We will aim to put our house on the market next May/june (the earliest we can put it on the market) with the aim to buy in the village or a mile outside.

We absolutely love the location and wish we never left to be honest, so can’t wait to get back there.

I’m just so worried he won’t get into the primary school because at the point of applying in January, we won’t be living there.

What options do I have?

Can I write a letter to the council when applying explaining that we aim to move back by the autumn?

We have a small piece of land in the village that we work on each week? Would working in the village help with our application?

What if I just put the one school as our only option?

I know it might be silly to stress but it’s so important for me to have my little boy go to a good school, not to mention it was the school I went to and he already has friends who attend.

I just want to do what’s right for him, and feel frustrated that we moved out of the catch point, not realising how much we’d miss the place. It always feels like home when we go back.

I just don’t want him going to the local school near us, after going to the nursery there for a year and meeting all the kids ready to go up to school… to then not get accepted and having to go to the school a few miles away for just a small amount of time before moving back to there? All sounds a lot on a kid.

It takes me 20 minutes max to get there, it’s 10 miles away.

I know moving where we have seems daft if where we were was so nice but there was 0 houses coming on and we were being too picky. Lesson learnt, location is always better and we should’ve gone for something that maybe wasn’t perfect but was home.

Anyway, now doing the right thing.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Please be nice too, I’m hormonal and pregnant and shit like this keeps me up at night haha.

Thank you x

Essentially no. Writing a letter won’t help, having land there won’t help and him being at the nursery won’t help.

If they are oversubscribed then they will apply their criteria. It would be worth checking what happened in previous years.

If they are not oversubscribed then you get the space anyway.

if you put only one choice, it makes no difference to your chances on getting a space at the school. It just means that if you don’t get it you get put in the nearest one to you with spaces. It’s not a good idea.

Catchment area

one point to check is whether it’s an academy. They will have their own admissions criteria.

Oh yeah! My bad 😆 thanks

What are the admission categories for the school? Are they over subscribed or could you get in from where you are now?

No, sending a letter about how much you love the village, or you have a plot of land won't impact on the decision as to where you sit in the admission categories

Don't just put 1 school down - it doesn't force admission's hands in anyway - it will still be assessed in line with admission categories and your place in relation to them.

Why can't you put the house on the market now- another year seems excessive?

Yes it’s an academy x

Read their admissions policy and what they say about last distance admitted.

Writing letters and the land will make no difference. Why not kick off the moving now/sooner than next summer?

we’re currently renovating it and with me being pregnant we just can’t get it done that quickly. Possibly as early as February? But thats the best we can do with our time and budget

I wish we could but we’ve just started a big Reno and we just can’t get it done any quicker. We both work full time, possibly February next year at the earliest x

If the piece of land is something you can actually move onto (ie install a caravan on it and actually live there), pay council tax there, register with the GP etc, that would do afaik. Which would be insane with a 4yo and a newborn in winter. I suggest you just do your best with the current plan.

We have just had planning accepted for a two bedroom cabin/airbnb. Ready to be rented out before January?

so technically we could do this.

Just to be very clear - you need to actually live there at the time of application and until school starts. Owning two properties, one small but next to a desirable school, is an entire parade of red flags for local authorities. Been there with a friend.

First of all , look at the admissions criteria for this school and outcomes of this year’s allocations, especially if any were admitted from outside the catchment and if so from what distance, but 10 miles is a stretch. To answer your questions:
What options do I have?
Can I write a letter to the council when applying explaining that we aim to move back by the autumn? No they can only allocate based on the published admissions criteria and your address at time of application ie. January. There may be an opportunity to update the address and it still be considered an on-time application but that is usually a couple of weeks if the LA has such a policy.
We have a small piece of land in the village that we work on each week? Would working in the village help with our application? No, not relevant
What if I just put the one school as our only option? You risk being allocated a random undersubscribed school at any distance if preferred school is oversubscribed. Better to list as many as allowed of your choosing to improve chances of an acceptable place which you can access easily.
I know it might be silly to stress but it’s so important for me to have my little boy go to a good school, not to mention it was the school I went to and he already has friends who attend. Could he not attend preschool/nursery local to where you are currently so he can attend school with those friends if needs be. Attending the attached nursery is unlikely to have any influence on whether he is allocated a place at that school, although a few schools may include it somewhere in their admissions policy, so do check. Would it not be more convenient to have him at a local nursery while you have a newborn rather than 10 miles away.
I just don’t want him going to the local school near us, after going to the nursery there for a year and meeting all the kids ready to go up to school… to then not get accepted and having to go to the school a few miles away for just a small amount of time before moving back to there? You may not have much choice but could put him on waiting list once you move. See above re. Nursery place.

It doesn’t sound like you have pp for a permanent residence so that wouldn’t work. You may be worrying over nothing though - just check the admissions criteria and see how many they accepted in each category.

Please don’t put only one school down. You need to put in a certainty , even if you aren’t enamoured of it . Otherwise you risk being offered a place at the school no one in the authority area wants which could be miles away. A school that is a bit meh but is local is better than one which is a bit meh but miles away.

You never know with admissions, apparently birth rates are falling so schools which were oversubscribed a few years ago are ending up with unfilled spaces. In London quite a few boroughs are actually closing schools down because they are very undersubscribed and sadly just not economically viable when there are empty spaces in nearby schools.

I would call the council and ask if the school you want is currently oversubscribed for the September 2025 reception year. If it isn’t, it's very possible that you’ll get a place for September 2026 (though not a guarantee of course). Even if it is oversubscribed, siblings and numbers vary year-to-year so there's always a chance.

Either way, put it down first on your application in January and cross your fingers (and definitely put other schools down as well). If you don’t get a place initially, you’ll be put on the waiting list; then once you move closer, you can update your address with the council/school and you will move up the list. Hopefully you’ll then get a place eventually, if not before September.

Also young children adapt very quickly. If he has to go to another school for a few weeks or months and then move, he will be fine - and will learn valuable 'making friends' skills!

If you don't get a place at your preferred school you will go on the waiting list. As soon as you move into the area you will go nearer the top of the waiting list but you won't be guaranteed a place. If they are over subscribed you will only get a place if one becomes available.
You should do some research, find out if the school is always oversubscribed. My LA publishes information on oversubscribed schools, how many places they are , how many people are on the waiting list , how many offered places were in the catchment area, etc.
If the school is over subscribed and you are out of catchment you should try and move before you apply for his place.