Oratory Question. DS not at a catholic primary, does this make is unlikely he will get in?

[majurormi]

We hit all the other criteria for the Oratory, baptism, church attendance, 1st communion BUT my ds has gone to an independent school all his life. Is this going to make him ineligible? Can you explain this away? He has some learning issues that made it necessary to go for the smaller class size, mostly sorted so can now handle a more realistic environment.

Does location make a difference at all? We live a 5 minutes walk from it.

Are you referring to London Oratory or another school of that name?

As the school being referred to is a state school, your child will not be ineligible because he has not attended a Catholic primary. He may, however, be lower priority than children who have. London Oratory has a fairly complicated set of admission criteria so I won't try explaining exactly how you will be affected until you've confirmed that this is the right school.

If you are referring to London Oratory location makes no difference at all.

Depends on when you are applying for. If 2012 you will lose a point for attending a non Catholic primary school. That is likely to be decisive given how over-subscribed it is. If you are applying in a few year then it depends on the entry criteria then.
The London Oratory is a great school so not surprised you are considering it particularly if it is on your doorstep. But it is a Catholic school so the boys who are happy there tend not to be the ones who got in because they "hit" the entry criteria or those who can "explaining things away" - it really won't suit everyone. There are other Catholic schools for whom it is all about ticking the right boxes.
The thing people get wrong about The London Oratory is that it is a highly academic school, with great music and choral traditions, fantasic art and drama and one that fosters the leadership qualities of the boys - it does all these things but fundamentally it is a Catholic school with an emphasis on the spirituality of the boys - it is not about ticking this or that box, it really isn't

On the assumption that we are talking about London Oratory it is a LOT more complicated than losing a point, although it can appear that way if you don't fully understand their admission criteria. Whilst it talks about points, these are never added together to produce a total and really do little other than confuse parents trying to understand how the system works.

It is an extremely complex system but whether or not a child has attended a Catholic primary school is essentially a tie breaker. So it can make a difference between getting a place and not getting a place, but the way London Oratory's admission criteria work means a lot of children who didn't go to Catholic primary schools will be admitted ahead of children who did. For example, a child who has received his first Holy Communion but did not attend a Catholic primary school will get priority over a child who did go to a Catholic primary school but has not yet received Holy Communion.

In the OP's case, the primary school attended will only come into play if the school needs to choose between their child and another who meets the baptism, church attendance and communion criteria, has the same level of service in the Parish/Church and also has no siblings currently at the school.

Sorry, yes, I am referring to the London Oratory. What I meant by ticking the boxes is that we are a very Catholic family and we meet most criteria, except Catholic primary. I am very active in our church. The Oratory would be a great fit for my son, however the local Catholic primary would not have been. We are applying for 2013, so unless the criteria changes before Oct next year, I can't think it is a done deal.