School selection

[izrozyse]

Do the headteachers have any say in the primary school selection? Do I need to schmooze the head at the school I want my LO to go to?

Generally they’re allocated by LA unless private. Depends where you live.

If it's a state school then no, they have to follow the published admissions criteria 100%.

In a state school, no. In a private school then possibly.

Yeh as others say, nope, not in a state school.

Remember that you are expressing a preference not selecting a school. Make sure you put your local/closest/catchment school on the list somewhere, even if it's not your favourite – as otherwise you risk being allocated an unpopular school that's also far away.

My local school in my catchment area is undersubscribed but we don’t want to go. I’m worried if I put it anywhere on the list, he will be given it.

our local school is undersubscribed and I really don’t want him to go. Worried that he’ll be given it if it’s anywhere on the list

He will get given it only if your higher preferences don't have space.
You are saying "I prefer school A, or school B, if not them then School C"

But if you don't list it, and 20 people living 20 miles away do list it as its better than their local school, you will be allocated the nearest school with space... which might be miles away.

OK so if there is space at any of your preferred schools (ie if you live near enough basically) then you will get the one you ranked highest.

If there is no space for you at the ones you list (= you are too far away) then you will be allocated a space at the closest school with spaces. This may be your local/catchment school if it has spaces. Putting it on your list somewhere only really means you will be allocated it ahead of an unwanted school three miles away – surely closer is better?

IMHO there is nothing to be lost by listing your closest school even if you are not a fan – unless listing it means you lose a space for a true preference (some LAs allow only three prefs, some up to six).

If you local one is not full after the first round, and your preferred schools haven't offered to you, then you probs will be given the local one, even if not on your list. I guess the way to avoid that is to list another undersubscribed school that you do prefer. Bear in mind tho that if you don't list your closest school, you will be liable for transport costs (if any) to the one you are allocated. How likely are you (based on last years figures) to be allocated your top choice?

I’m confused. Is it better to list a third one that’s further away that we wouldn’t mind going to but wouldn’t be our preference or our local one that we really don’t want him to go to?

First off it is all done centrally via the Local Authority and nothing to do with the Schools at all

if you don’t get a place in any of your chosen schools you are likely to get a place at the undersubscribed school anyway although I have seen people do that in the past and then get another undersubscribed school further away.

my advice is to put the close school as low down as possible but still put it down. Then put down any other schools you want in the order you prefer

I only get 3 options

Where are you? It is normally 6

I would say be realistic with your options there is no point putting a school down you simply won’t get

BUT if you don’t get the 3 you are likely to default to it anyway they can offer you a place at a school you didnt apply for

Well better to list the one you don't mind, I guess – as long as you are sure that you will get a place at that one (in other words, if you are a fair way from it, it probably needs to be historically undersubscribed – so has a PAN of (say) 60 but only has (say) 50 pupils going there each year.

If all your prefs listed are unrealistic (ie you would not have got in there on distance in recent years) then you are risking an unpopular school the other end of the borough. How likely are your prefs?

@Tiswa it might be six in your area but it varies. It's four where I live and in a neighbouring LA it's three.

Only three where I am too. If you are 100 per cent sure you don't want him going there then I wouldn't list it but do consider the other 'bad' possibilities too first.

He won't be UNLESS he doesn't meet the criteria for anywhere else on your list. They only look at the schools one-by-one. For example,, your list is

Red School
Orange school
Yellow school
Green school
Blue school
Purple school

Question 1 will be "does little izroyse meet the criteria for Red School?" Only if the answer is "NO" will the same question be asked about Orange School. Subsequently, each school will be ruled out in turn until he meets the criteria for a school.

In terms of whether you put down your local school:

1. Even if it IS on your list as say finial choice, you won't be given it unless your child is genuinely NOT offered a place at the other schools on your list because he doesn't fit their criteria.
2. The choices are considered individually in turn, so you won't just be given a lower choice because it happens to have space. The schools higher up will be asked to consider your child's application first - only if they can't accept him because they are full with children that meet the criteria better for them, will they be able to refuse to give your child a place.
3. If your child does not meet the criteria of ANY schools on your list, he will be offered a place at the nearest school with space, regardless if it is on your list or not.

If you have other schools that you want him to go to more, and you are sure the local school is undersubscribed, then leave it off, as it will be the school he is offered anyway if he doesn't make the other schools on your list. If there is a danger your nearest school might get full, put it on as your last choice to stop there being a danger that he doesn't get any school on your list, and the local school is full by then, so he is offered a place at an unpopular school further away,

Schools 101.

You express a preference for schools 1-6 often.
The schools have a list of criteria which they use to accept students. Usually EHCP and looked after, then siblings, the distance. But it can include religion. And get very convoluted I.e. Baptised Catholic before 1, then Priests letter, then other Christian, then other religion, then non-religious; and within each of these on the basis of distance (so a Catholic living 20 miles away gets admitted before someone C of E who lives next to the school).
The LA (even for academies) and a clever computer programme put all this together.
And you get offered the school which is your highest preference for which you qualify before its full.
But if you don’t qualify for any on your list then they give you the closest school with space.
The danger is that your local school “which is never oversubscribed “ actually looks attractive compared to school X which you’ve never heard of and is 10 miles away. So lots of parents from X put your local school on their list. They take up all the places and you end up with School X which is so bad parents are prepared to drive long distances to avoid.

So you know that your closest school is undersubscribed. What about the one(s) you actually like? Your best course of action depends on the answer to that question. There's no way to game a place for your DC if it's oversubscribed and you're unlikely to be admitted. But if there's a chance, all good.
The short answer to your original question is that leaving a school off your list is no guarantee you won't be allocated a place there, if it turns out to be the only one with spaces. So choose wisely if you're really sure you don't want that one.

@clary is it the same for high schools?

I did think I had forgotten how many we had for primary as was so long ago I did a first time application and not a sibling rule

Thank you you’re all being very helpful!

I wish we did have 6 options but we only have 3, that’s why I’m stuck. Our first choice is the 3rd nearest school, 2nd choice second nearest, third choice will be about 6th nearest (though haven’t really chosen what it is yet).

Is the 6th nearest oversubscribed and a realistic option?

It was for us; not heard of an LA with different numbers for primary and secondary tbh.

You need to look at the furthest offered distance for last year – or actually the last 2-3 years.

If your first pref (not choice), even tho it's third nearest to you, is very popular, it may be that it fills up with children who live (say) half a mile away. In that case (and you can find out) even if you are “only” a mile and a half away, it’s very unlikely you’ll be offered a place. How far are we talking? and how big is the PAN for these schools? Siblings can also be a factor in primary – if a school prioritises siblings then that may make a difference.

We can apply for three for Primary (the legal minium) and five for Secondary; in Essex (which borders our LA on the sides which aren't water) it's four for Primary and six for Secondary.

@izrozyse ypu have received some good advice from @MollyButton with regard to the danger that the undersubscribed school local to you which you don't want may actually come to the attention of enough people miles away, for whom it might appear so much less awful than their own sink school, that they would be willing to transport their DC to yours and you could be stuck with theirs.

If there are other schools in your home LA that to you are at least as undesirable as your local one, then put your local one as preference 3.

That makes no sense. if you are considering a 6th nearest school, then that sounds like 6 schools for the form??? Unless some are selective and your child wouldn't make the cut? Sounds unusual for primary though.

we have 3 here…. Never heard of having 6 options… that sounds excessive!? Im only putting 2 options down