Understanding primary school application process

[ohinvertedworld]

I’m so sorry as I’m sure this is something people have asked before, I’ve read countless threads and even watched YouTube videos and I just can’t understand how it works 🫠

I’m in England and I have to pick 5 preferences. I have 2 local schools we like - Option A is slightly closer and is pretty good, but Option B is really good and slightly further away. Each past year we are in and out of “furthest distance offered” catchment for both of them, sometimes we would have got in, other times not, no guarantees.

If I put Option B first choice and Option A second choice but I’m too far to get in at Option B will I automatically miss out on option A and end up with neither? Should I just put the closest one first? Or does it not work like that?

So you will get a place at which ever school has spaces that you qualify for ( distance, sibling, catchment etc) your preferences only come into play if you qualify for a space at more than one school, then your first choice is the one offered. So if you put school b as your first choice and a as your second if you qualify for a place at b you will get b, if you qualify for a place at b and a you will get b if you don’t qualify for b but qualify for a you will get a

I think all local authorities are different but in mine you wouldn't miss out on your second choice if you don't get into your first eg if both schools are in catchment you would get a place at the school highest on your list that has a place and where you meet the criteria

Are both option a and option b in your catchment area?

ok thank you so much! so just to be clear I should just pick the one we like the most and that won’t disadvantage us for the closer one?

There isn’t a set catchment area, after other criteria (siblings, SEN etc which we don’t qualify for) it’s done by distance from the school gate until the spaces are filled so the furthest distance offered is different every year (depending on how many spaces are left over after the higher criteria)

You list five schools. These count as five different applications... the order isn't important at this point.
Each school then ranks the applications against criteria (usually LAC, siblings, distance but there can be other categories) and the the council gets these lists.
If one family gets into the top 30/60 or whatever, the council crosses them off the lists for their lower ranked schools, opening up spaces.
This continues until hopefully every family has a place at a school they want.

All schools on your application are treated equally, so no, it won’t disadvantage you at all.

Every area is different in terms of how many preferences you can select (it's 3 choices here). The actual process is the same country wide though. All applications are considered equally, against the admissions criteria, no matter whether you list them as first, second or third preference etc.

Everyone who applies for a school (in any position on their list) is ranked in terms of priority (based on the school's individual admissions criteria). Those who qualify for a place at their first preference school are then crossed off the other lists and everyone else on the list moves up accordingly, and so on, until everyone is allocated somewhere.

If your first place school has, for example, 30 spaces, and you are 12th on the list, you'll get your first preference. If you're 33rd on the list but 16th on your second preference, you'll be offended your second preference instead. If you don't qualify for any of your preference schools, you'll be offended a place at the nearest school with spaces.

The place you rank each school in order of priority does not affect your chance of being offered a place. Someone who put a school first won't have priority over people who ranked it as their 3rd choice. You'll all be considered against the same criteria. You might not get your first choice, but someone who ranked it second might get it instead of you if they live closer than you and missed out on their own first choice.

I hope that makes sense. It is a minefield!

Just to clarify, local authorities aren't different and the equal preference system has been law across England for many years (since 2007 I believe). Always put the schools in your genuine order of preference, and you in no way disadvantage your application to schools you list lower down if you don't get higher choices. Best of luck

It’s always best to just look at the guide published by your LA. Some parents can put down 5 schools they like but none is the catchment school. My LA has catchment schools. This can end up disastrously as dc are not offered a place at any further flung school so LA says always put down catchment school. Also some parents don’t use all preferences. It’s 6 here. So always include nearest 2 schools as OP is but look at special admissions criteria, eg church attendance. It’s not as easy as nearest school in some cases.

Genuine preference order (while making sure one of your choices you are likely to get in, i.e. your closest or catchment school) good luck!