What happens if you move between now and September

[assumetheposition]

We are renting at the moment and DS has a place at the local infant's school to start reception in September.

We are looking to by a house and are assuming that we are now tied to this area.

If we changed boroughs between now and September what would happen? Would they have to give DS a school place? Would he just get a place at the only available school?

Ooooh I'll be watching this with interest as we may find ourselves in a similar position.... no advice sorry...

don't move out until day he starts reception or they can quite legally withdraw place. bear in mind there will be lots of other parents prepared to shop you.

we moved in the july before dd was due to start school. what we did was apply for a school place in area we currently lived in case sale/purchase fell through. also applied in new area but as it was after the application deadlines, the most they could offer was to be put on the waiting lists. dd was number 9 on the list as, until we exchanged contracts, the only address they could use in the new area was our current one which put us at the bottom distance wise (we moved from the north west to the midlands). while we were waiting to move, it was really frustrating as 5 school places in new area came and went, the local authority rang us each time to see if we were any closer to moving, but each time there were more and more delays with the chain.

we kept in such close touch as the new address would put dd at the top of the waiting list as we were in the catchment area. finally we exchanged, and moved 2 days later, only at this point did we turn down the school place at our old address. as soon as we got there, i went down to the council offices and dropped off proof of address, then we just had to wait. dd still had no school place (this was now mid july). luckily for us, within 2 weeks, dd was offered a place at all 3 local schools so we got to choose. whole process was very stressful though.

basically, it's a case of going on the waiting list for all schools within reach and seeing what places come up. worth finding out where abouts on the list you are and how oversubscribed the local schools are. we were very lucky to be moving to a village, and new house is within the catchment area of the best school, but if a place hadn't come up, dd would ave just gone to one of the other schools, not as good but at the end of the day, they all feed into the same high school here.

NW London

There is nothing to shop. We haven't done it to get him into this particular school. We sold our house last year and our purchase fell through at the last minute. We rented here as it was the best available house (relocated from London).

If we did move we would want him to go to a different school.

I'm just mindful that now he has a school place we are stuck looking to buy in a very small area and have had our choices taken away somewhat.

I just want to know if we would still have the freedom to move to a different town.

You need to check what the admission authority say about moving houses. Normally as long as you can show that the rented accomodation was for a reasonable (6 months +) then there should be no problems. Most admission authorities say that the place is offered on the basis of the place of abode on the date of the offer being made, so you need to check but I would expect that your place at the school is secure, no matter where you decide to live. In theory you could gain a place at a school in London and subsequently move to Manchester, bit of a long commute but still possible.
When it comes to moving elsewhere then that is different. You will be treated as a late applicant and therefore will be given a place at a school where there are places. This could obviously be quite a way from where you move to. You can appeal for a school place at your preferred school but the probability of getting a place will be low. Most admission authorities also have rules about when an application can be considered- normally when you can prove that you are moving into a specific house, rather than a general district.

You need to call the admission office and talk it through with them. I am currently doing the same thing, and it is stressful. We are not allowed to apply in theory until we have completed; in practice, they seem to accept evidence that you have exchanged contracts.

The thing you need to check is how much churn there is between the offers going out and first term. The area I am moving to (SW London) has very good schools and all of them are oversubscribed. The admissions office tell me that they will offer me a place in the borough, but it won't be in the area - there is a sink school on the other side of the borough that takes the latecomers. HOWEVER, when I talked to the school I like best, they said that for the last five years they have always had vacancies in September. Apparently up to 25% of their applications are 'insurance places' for children who are destined for private school. They usually don't know these kids aren't taking up their places till the start of autumn term, so the message is that if you move quite near to the school and can hold your nerve over the summer, you'll probably be ok.

This may not be the case in your new area (and of course I may yet discover my gamble has not paid off!) but do talk to the council and also to the school.

If you were to change boroughs between now and September you would be able to apply to the new borough for a place at a school locally but would have to accept that there may not be a vacancy in Reception in the school closest to where you move to/that you'd like him to go to.

Once you've moved you will be able to apply and be put on waiting lists - there is a lot of movement in Reception in London so chances are, a place would come up fairly soon.

I would advise you to seek written confirmation that your son's place will stand even if you move. LAs are clamping down on fraudulent applications and although your situation doesn't equate to that it would, in theory, be possible for them to withdraw a place and offer it to someone else if the school was oversubscribed.

OK - read into your post that you wanted him to stay at the original school. If you moved out before he started they could take the place away.

If you move to a different town you will be a late applicant and on the waiting list for whatever schools you apply for there.

You'll be a late applicant into the new area, so just contact the local schools once you have completed your house sale and ask to be placed on the waiting list(s).

I'd second the 'hold your nerve' comment if you can. There can be a lot of movement over the summer holidays and if you are prepared to move in the first/second week of school in September you might find you can. So hold off on buying those embroidered sweatshirts etc!

A further option (only useful if your LO is young spring/summer born) is to keep them in a pre-school setting and wait it out for your choice of school in the new area to have a vacancy. Your LO does not have to legally start school until they have turned five.

Don't feel your are locked into buying in that area just because you have a reception place, buy where you want to live. And if you don't get your first choice at your new location, you can always change which at primary level is not a big deal at all.

There is another thread (sorry, no time to search for it and link to it) about the circumstances in which school places can be taken away. They are very few. Places can be taken away before the child starts school if they have been obtained fraudulently, but not if there has been a genuine change of circumstances.