Reception allocation - what should my LA be doing?

[BatEars]

Can anyone tell me what a council should be doing in the aftermath of allocating reception places?

We had to reply within 2 weeks of original offers saying whether or not we accepted. Will subsequent offers have been made where there have been places turned down as and when those rejections came in, or will they be doing them all at once?

The council have told me that they are too busy to tell me how far my house is from the school or where the cut-off is (other than as a proportion of a mile). Should they be able to give me this info? How else do I find out whether I might have an appeal on the basis of incorrectly measured distances? What information should the council be able to give?

Apparently we are currently tenth on the waiting list for the local school. Other than new people moving into the area with no place (or a statement of SEN etc), how might someone else get higher priority than us?

I feel that I am floundering around in the dark somewhat and would like to understand what is going on. I don't really know what questions to ask.

Some people won't have replied yet. The LA should be chasing them. They ought to offer places to people on the waiting list as rejections come in.

The LA should definitely be able to tell you the distance from your house to the school and the distance for the last child admitted. I'm not sure what you mean by saying "other than as a proportion of a mile". How do you expect the distance to be expressed?

If distance is measured via the shortest walking route or similar they should also be able to tell you the route used.

If they measure straight line distance it is unlikely they have got it wrong. You can check with a map and a ruler, although their measurement will be more accurate than yours. It would only indicate a mistake if your measurement came out a lot shorter than the council's.

They are more likely to have made a mistake if they use shortest walking distance. If you can find a shorter route than the one they have used you may have a case, but you would need to check that your route meets whatever standards are laid down in the admission criteria.

The order of children on the waiting list is determined by the admission criteria. So a new application from someone nearer the school than you would go ahead of you. A child with a sibling at the school will also go ahead of you if that is part of the admission criteria.

By the way, a child with a statement of SEN naming the school would be admitted immediately, even if there are no places available. They wouldn't go on the waiting list at all.

As far as allocation of places after the initial allocation what normally happens is that there is a short period of time when people are replying saying yes or no to the school, when there will be no movement off the waiting list.

After this time the LA will re-assess the waiting list order taking into consideration late applications and anybody who has asked to be on the waiting list for the school. This waiting list order is on the same basis as the original allocations, that is the admission criteria order. LA will then allocate back up to the maximum number for the school year, that is the admission number. The same process will be undertaken for every place that becomes available.

Thanks. In fact it does begin to look as though they might have measured incorrectly (even on a straight line basis). We are about 60 yards from a neighbour who was offered a place on distance (I know them well and there is no sibling/SEN etc), but the council seems to think we are more than 200 yards further than them from the school. It took much badgering to get that much info. What remains a mystery is where they think my house is.

What I mean by "other than as a proportion of a mile" is yards. 0.26 of a mile means nothing to me, but 400 yards does!!

This is a really odd process. Apparently I have to appeal to find out where they think I live...

I'm afraid they will give it to you as 0.26 of a mile or similar. If you want it in yards you'll have to do the conversion yourself.

All you need to do is google the distance; 0.26miles = 418metres = 457 yards. I wouldn't badger them about that!

have you double checked that they have used your correct postcode?

I've been converting it all but it makes my brain hurt. Surely it makes no sense to use decimals with miles? Didn't we go metric some time ago? No, this is not the basis of my appeal (!!), but is making me sweat even more than the heat!!

I haven't specifically checked the postcode, but they did ask me for all of my contact details when I spoke to them before they would talk specifics, so presumably they have the right one written down (even if they then input the wrong one into their system for the calculation).

I think I am around 0.3 of a mile from the school, so not within the cut-off for first offers, but not over 0.4 which is what the council think. It also makes more sense, what with me being about 60 yards from someone who did get in.

I just wish they would show me what they did. Then I could simply either accept the result and walk away or know I had grounds for a solid appeal (on where we are on the waiting list/second round offers at least).

If they measured shortest walking route they should be able to tell you what route they used. You can then check as to whether or not that actually is the shortest route.

Hm, it's straight line around here.
Something is definitely wrong, that's for sure. And it may not make any difference, but it is just rather annoying that I can only find out by appealing. What an inefficient system.

It is quite unusual for a straight line distance measurement to be wrong because using a computerised system they can pin point the datum point on your house and that of the school. Such systems are easily accurate to a yard or less.
However if you are only 6o yards from someone who got in and the LA think you are 200 yards further away then that would suggest that you do need to appeal and argue that they seem to have got the distances wrong. I would normally suggest that the other family had priority based on another criteria but if you know that they were offered a place on distance that would seem not to be the answer.
I do however have to point out that this will still not get you a place directly because you would not have got a place even if the measurement was correct.

Well, they might have got a place if the measurement was correct -- not instead of the child who lives 60 yards closer (call this Child X), but there may be another child who lives 70 yards further from the school than Child X who has been given a place that the OP's child would have got had the distances been correctly measured.

Hard to prove, though, as the LA can't give you enough information to check for that kind of thing. All anyone appealing can do is throw doubt on the distances quoted by the LA. That is obviously easiest if the LA measures the shortest walking route and there is a shorter route than the one the LA used, or if the LA has obviously mislocated the appelant's house. If the panel think there is reason to believe the LA may have got it wrong they can ask the LA to remeasure the distances for all the children applying for the school. However, the panel needs evidence. You can't expect them to go on a fishing expedition.

I think what I am asking them to do is confirm where they think my house is! It is possible that the wrong info has been put into their system, for example. There's a house round the corner with a similar address - we get each other's post and that might explain things.

It's also possible that the error lay in giving the other child a place - but presumably if the council has offered that child a place in error they will have to stand by that offer (as well as letting in whoever should have received an offer if they still want the place).

I know we would not have got a place anyway on first offers, but I also know that some offers have not been taken up and that further offers are being made, so maybe we would otherwise have come in for one of these.

How much detail should I put into my appeal? Should I give the address of the other child? That might make me feel like something of a grass...

If you think a mistake has been made you need to convince the panel. They don't know anything about the case other than what you and the LA tell them. Make sure you give enough information to convince them.

If the LA are saying you are 200 yards further from the school than a child who lives 60 yards from you, I would definitely bring that up. Personally I would name the road and pinpoint it on the map the LA send with the appeal papers rather than give the specific address.

You aren't grassing on anyone. Whatever happens that child won't lose their place.

There is no issue with you stating that you believe a mistake may have been made in locating your house. Indicating that there is a very similar address very close for which you get their post is a good starting point for arguing that the LA has to prove that they measured from the right house to the school.

I have no doubt that the LA will say we don't make that kind of mistake but regretably there are very occaisonal blips and it does happen - yours is the typical example where there is confusion over the exact house. You need to insist that the appeal panel cannot confirm that the admission authority have properly administered the process whilst there is a question mark over the exact house used for the measurement. That should mean the panel ask for clarity but if they don't it is a good case to take to the LGO. The LA can print off the straight line distance map and show you which house it was measured to. It is an easy situation to resolve.

Thanks. I've sent in my appeal doc (deadline is soon and I am flat out so at least wanted to get it in).
I talked about the other child and the fact that my house is not - on any measurement that I have done - as far from the school as the LA claims, although since they have not told me exactly where it is measured from, and it will be virtually impossible for me to be sure I hit exactly the right spot on Google Earth, I can't be as specific as I would like. I've said that because of these two factors I am not convinced the LA has measured from the right house.

I didn't mention the confusion with the other house, but presumably I may be asked for supplementary info or could be asked to speak to the panel? Is that what happens next? Perhaps I should send them some Google Earth images?

I would actually send in a supplementary sheet for the appeal confirming that you think the confusion may be with a similar house around the corner. It just may stir the LA into rechecking their figures before the appeal hearing.

There is no actually deadline for the written information to be received. The deadline is for the admission authority to send out the available information including the case not to admit 7 working days before the appeal hearing date.

It is quite permissable to introduce new evidence even at the appeal by the appealants providing that they understand that this could result in the case having to be adjourned to allow all parties to study the document.