Admission question for primary - exceptional circumstances

[MrsMonkey]

Hi - we are house hunting at the moment, and I've been looking at last year's stats on admissions to local schools. A couple that we have seen are very oversubscribed. One had 113 applications for just 30 places! The other had 90 applications for 60 places. In both cases, about 10 of the places were awarded to children on the basis of proximity to the school. Hardly any seemed to be awarded to siblings. In both cases 20 or so children were admitted due to 'Exceptional circumstances'. Does anyone know what those circumstances might be? Just interested to work out why there were such a high proportion, given that it is supposedly an exceptional circumstance rather than a common one!
Cheers

SN or SEN naming that school?
Maybe they were applicants who had made a strong case on multiple criteria, so couldn't be classified into any one category.

Where do children go to school who don't get into these over-sub'd schools, what would your alternatives be?

My DD will not be able to go the the school in her catchment area as a consequence of my job and risks involved (potential contact with people who I might work with). On that basis she will be allocated a place at the nearest catchment area under 'exceptional circumstances'.

Thankfully, as that school is a good one!

Perhaps there are children under circumstances similar. It is one example.

Oh and the reason she is going to the nearest catchment area school is that there are no particular issues with that area (ie not high risk), but if it was, she would then go to a different one again, one where the risk was lower. In effect, this means she will likely be allocated a place in a good school by virtue of my job, as those schools are in areas with lower risk for her.

Well, we were kind of wondering where all those children who don't get get in end up going. I'm sure they can't all be going private. When the LEA states 'preferences recieved for 2008' does that mean that parents indicated that school as their first preference only, or does it mean that it was either first, second or third preference. i.e. just one of their three preferences. I'm guessing that it must be the latter, hence the high numbers applying.

Would exceptional circumstances include transport issues to the school?

I was also wondering what kind of distance most people end up travelling to school - both our local state primaries are about 1.3 miles away. Nothing closer.

And thanks so much for the replies! Can't be SEN though, as that is given in another column, and there are just one or two for each school in question.

Pavlov - yours really does seem exceptional circumstances. I can't believe that there would be many cases like yours. Certainly not 20 or so in a single year!

Oh, if not SEN (I would have thought this most likely) I really do not know. Agree, not likely to be more than the odd one or two like me (if any), but wondered if there might be a mix of lots of things, including people like me, but others too?

Can you ask them for a breakdown, not specifics that can identify children/families but a general idea of reasons? Or won't they give this information?

I can try and ask! I just thought it was strange. It is the Surrey LEA. Admissions criteria are 1) looked after children 2) Exceptional circumstances 3) Siblings 4) Nearest School 5) Others and then SEN is given as a separate column. And some schools with a couple of children entering with SEN have none listed as exceptional circumstances.

Looking through the columns for all the areas covered, schools either seem to have no children admitted under exceptional circumstances, or quite a high number. Over half the total intake in a few cases. I'm wondering whether it has something to do with the school location and transport issues - like maybe other schools are geographgically closer, but over a busy main road or something.

Well, maybe something like my situation might not too unusual then?

For example, there are a few people in my field of work in this area, and others in very similar professions which would most likely have the same exceptional circumstances. So, for example, if they all had children, they would all be entitled to move their children to next catchment area, the risks would be the same for all children, which means that all our children would go to the same school in different catchment area.

The school nearest us would not have these children, so they would not be included in the 'exceptional circumstances'. Which means school 1 would have no, or hardly any exceptional circumstances, and school 2, the 'better' school would have a high number of exeptional circumstances. Make sense?

Thanks Pavlov. Makes perfect sense. Just seems like a lot of children - say the intake is 60, in one school 28 got in under exceptional circumstances versus 25 for closest to school. I can't help thinking that there is something there that I need to understand. May try calling the school in the week!

MrsMonkey, this will sound really daft, but are you looking at the addmissions booklet online? When I look at it there are numbers in the EC column that aren't lined up properly, and none in the siblings cloumn as you say. Just wondering if it's a formatting error?

Hi Chippy, not daft at all - lots of them haven't lined up properly in my print out, but can work out where the numbers should be. The other thing that I can't believe from the figures is just how oversubscribed some of the schools are! It must have been a nightmare for people applying. One place had sixty places available for over 250 applications!

Mrs Monkey, it's not as bad as it sounds. We're in Surrey and they operate an equal preference admissions policy. So you apply for 3 schools and will be counted as a applicant against all 3 of them. So 3 schools in an area may all have the same 1 child applying for a place.

Also, infant schools tend to have a lower number of siblings because children are only there for 3 years and then move on. You only count as a sibling if you are both going to be at school at the same time. DD's school is a primary school and admits 60. This year it was 30 siblings and 30 "new" children based on distance (and other factors as it is a church school).

I would have thought one of the exceptional circumstances would be medical - ie being at a school close to the GP surgery is one exception I have heard of.

where about are you looking, not in runnymede are you? Schools around here have been stuffed up by them converting schools to primary schools

Do they have an equal preference system, that may skew the figures and make the school have more applications than they really have, because they list every application whether it was 1st, 2nd or 3rd.

I think it is an equal preference system, which explains the high numbers somewhat.

I guess if the schools are very popular and hence oversubscribed, aside from the kids who live really close to the school, everyone else who gets in does so because of some specific reason - i.e. anyone out side of the village itself who applie who doesn't have a sibline or special circumstances doesn't get in? That would kind of explain it.

Not looking in runnymede - Tadworth and also Horsley area.

We are looking for something close to a village - ie which still has shops, isn't too suburban but still has some countryside - but is commutable to London. Any other suggestions on where to look gratefully received - I guess anywhere in Surrey the schools are going to be horribly oversubscribed - popular ones, anyway. We can't afford private.

I would pop into the schools and talk to the secretary informally if poss. She will be able to give you a good idea of your chances of getting in - ie definite, possible, no chance. They are generally quite "in the know" on these kind of things.

one school i visited is next door to a big hospital and they did say that if, say, a parent has cancer and needs chemo they would give the child a place regardless of where they live.

It can be health reasons other than SEN. Dd's physical disability does not count as a SEN as it does not affect her mind- but it does affect her ability to use a two storey building and her ability to travel to school. Other exceptional circumstances that come to mind is access to special counselling at a school (for two children about to lose their Mum). Children in care usually take priority anyway.