Another admissions question - sorry!

[Runoutofideas]

My friend has two sons, one school year apart. Her elder son is in reception at an average school. She has been offered a place for her younger son at a much better regarded school, and one which she much prefers. She intends to take up this place and move her elder son to the better school when a place becomes available for him.

The school's admissions criteria are looked after children then siblings then distance. At the moment she's been told that she's on the waiting list for distance and she won't move up into the sibling criteria until her ds2 actually starts. Someone else, at the school, has told her that this is wrong as she has been offered a place for ds2 and accepted ds1 should go to the top of the list as a sibling from now rather than from Sept. The council say it's from Sept. Does anyone know who is correct?

It depends on what the admissions criteria for this school say. This is one where the precise wording is important. Can you tell us exactly what the admission criteria say about siblings?

PRH is right (as ever ) it depends on the exact wording of the admissions criteria, for example my DD's school says

"Children with siblings attending the school at the time of application and on the date of admission."

So if it's similar wording at the school in question then DS1 wouldn't move up the waiting list as a sibling until DS2 actually started.

This is what the council website says:
"2. Siblings
Where there are siblings in attendance at the
preferred school or paired junior school and who will
still be on roll in the year of entry."

I think this means the child has to have already started. I think the person who said the sibling rule would start from now has misread the "still be on roll".... Do you agree? Thanks for your help.

I agree. The council are right. The sibling priority won't start until DS2 starts at the school in September.

For what it is worth, the critical words are actually "in attendance". DS2 won't be in attendance until September. The bit about "still be on roll in the year of entry" is to stop children applying for places in reception getting priority because of siblings in Y6 who will have moved on to secondary school by the time the younger child starts school.

Thanks - that makes sense now. Not what she wanted to hear though!