Am I missing something?

[ilovehens]

I've arranged for my ds1 to change secondary schools. The new school has a very good reputation and is usually oversubscribed.

I was very surprised that they had a place for him, but it could be explained by the fact that another very good school 1 mile up the road has just been rebuilt. It's well known throughout the region as being very good and parents go to great lengths to get their kids in.

Now, the new school were very keen to allocate a place for ds1, very keen indeed and have told him that he can start after half term. In fact the head of year asked me when I wanted him to start. They seemed a bit desperate really.

Do schools receive more funding the more pupils they have or are they penalised for being undersubscribed one year or something?

I'm scared that I'm missing something and that there's a rabbit away somewhere. They haven't had time to contact his primary school because I didn't list it on the application form and they even got the county council to send me an LEA application form when I'd already been sent one.

It's all a bit strange and too good to be true. I have accepted the place, but am getting panicky now

Any thoughts or am I just paraniod?

They receive funding per child on roll, so yes of course they want him! Particularly as the newly built school will effectively be completing with them for children.

Competing not completing

Right. That's what I suspected. It doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with the school then I guess. I think that the newly built school have increased their capacity too.

It may change from County to County but there is usually a census of pupils at a specific time in the academic year - both total numbers plus Free School Meals plus SEN.

That is the basis on which per pupil funding and any additional SEN/FSM funding is then allocated. Ours is coming up soon, so that could be the motivation for them being so keen, but I can't imagine one additional pupil's funding is going to be make-or-break for a High School's budget. So I don't know. Maybe they just really love the sound of your DS and can't wait to teach him :o.

Titchy is correct. To give a little more detail, the number of children on the roll in January determines the amount of funding they receive for the following financial year, which runs from April to March. However, assuming you are in England, all admissions are controlled by the LA (hence the need for you to apply to the LA for a place at this school) who should not allow schools to admit children when the relevant year group is already full.

From a funding point of view it doesn't make any difference whether your son starts after half term or in January. In fact it is slightly better for the school if he starts in January because they wouldn't have to spend any money educating him before Christmas but would still get funding for him next year.

They wouldn't need to contact the primary school when you applied as the rules are simple - if you apply to a school and they have a place available they must offer you that place. Even in the normal admissions round information from the primary school does not play any part in the process.

I'm not sure why you should be worried by the school's eagerness to take your son. What you have described sounds perfectly normal to me. They have a place available, you've applied for it and they have therefore offered it to you.

Having said that, if the school offered it to you part of their eagerness may stem from the fact that they shouldn't have done so. All offers should now come from the LA. If someone else applies to the LA they may be offered the same place which would cause all kinds of problems.

I think they can decide who they take because they're a Catholic school and the LEA agree to let a pupil attend there if the school have agreed first, from what I found out when I phoned the LEA.

Maybe I'm just trying to spot problems that aren't there. I'm too suspicious of peoples motives I think

In that case you are right that they can decide as they are their own admission authority. In year admissions are still supposed to go through the LA's co-ordinated admission scheme, though, so what should happen is you apply to the LA, they pass it on to the school, the school lets the LA know whether they want to admit the child and the LA then offer the place. Not that it really matters as long as you get the place you want

also, if they have vacancies, and there is a pupil who was permanently excluded from another school, they can be made to take that pupil. they would far rather have your child than one like that, if they still have spaces mid year.