Moving into the catchment of a very oversubscribed school...how does it work?

[HauntedLittleLunatic]

If I was to move into the catchment area of a v oversubsribed school do I go onto waiting list?

Where would DCs go to school if there were no places at catchment school?

It is going to be made a hundred times worse that I have not 1 but 2 going into Yr7 isn't it?

And my other will be going into Yr2 which has rigid max class sizes.

I need to know what to expect before I accept a job (which I haven't been offered yet)

If it was my DCs massively over subscribed school you would be in luck this year, as they seem to have had a low birth year 6.
You will go onto the waiting list in the position you would be if you had applied on time. So if you move next to/very close to the school you will almost certainly jump to the top, unless someone moves even closer.
If there are no places the LA has to find you somewhere. I believe under fair protocol this can mean squeezing you in; but it will probably mean an undersubscribed school (but if far enough they have to provide transport). But you can go on the waiting list of any school you like.
I have known people get into massively oversubscribed schools having moved during the summer before year 7. Twins isn't that much worse, except one might get a place and then you'd have to wait for the other.

If you apply for a place at the school then you will be told that you have or have not got a place at the school. Assuming that the answer is no, and assuming you are moving into the district then the LA will have to find places for all three of your children but that is not necessarily in a good school and probably some way from where you are living.
You can appeal for places at the schools but I think you already realise that in a very oversubscribed secondary and a year 2 child the probability of success is low.

Thanks. Would it be any more likely that I would get a place if I move into area either mid-Yr7 or between Yr7&8? Or is it just a case of waiting equally in all scenarios?

Obviously my chance of getting a place at primary in a year is slightly better when DD3 is not in infants.

In any scenario you may strike it lucky and get in just as a place becomes available (assuming you move close enough to the school to go straight to the head of the waiting list) or you may find you have to wait for months. You will just have to take your chances, I'm afraid.