How much chance of getting a Year7 place with a late application

[Ginda]

... at a very desirable comp?

We have to relocate between Christmas and next summer, so DS will not be able to take up the place that he will be allocated at our local comp. But I can't apply for a place at the comp. I want him to go to in the new town because we don't have an address yet.

So my question is: when we move, should I choose a house in catchment for the desirable comp. in hope that a place might come free for DS, or do I choose a house in catchment for a less good comp., which is more likely to have capacity?

Relocating is a nightmare and the uncertainty of school places is making it even more stressful!

In my DD's year, the local very desirable comp was massively over subscribed, 2/3 of places went to siblings. However I know of probably about 10 students whose parents moved into the area after applications closed (one at the end of the summer term) and got in. You do have to be prepared to appeal, and don't just choose desirable schools but ones which have good reasons for you to argue why your child should go there. If it is an area where a lot of kids go to private schools then that should increase your chances.

Thanks Mummytime, I hadn't even considered the sibling aspect! It is the best comp in the area by miles and always oversubscribed, so I know there won't be a place waiting - I suppose my question really is how much movement is there in waiting lists? And if you end up sending your child to a second or third choice school but then get an offer at the first choice after a year, is it worth the disruption of moving them again, having to make all new friends again, etc?

Phone them or the council up and ask how many got in off waiting lists last year, and how far out the last successful applicant on the waiting list was. If 20 get in off wait list each year then you should too as long as you're near enough.

There is nothing stopping you applying for a place at the desirable comp from your current address as a bit of a flyer. Yes it is probably not likely to succeed but next year will be one of the lowest entry numbers to secondary. You could put it down as first preference and then your local school as second preference. Given that all allocations are on equal preference putting down the local comp second will not affect chances of getting an offer of a place but just gives you that slight chance of getting a place a the new desirable school.
By the time you move you will be in admission appeal times and therefore can argue that you are just moving into the area, knew that, which is why you expressed a preference for the school. Of course that does assume you move in time and move well into the catchment. It does not guarantee a place but at least it gets you a foot on the ladder!

Thanks admission. I hadn't even considered putting this school on the list because it is in another county. Does your answer change if I say our relocation will take us into the next county and is 50 miles away?

Find out how many are on the waiting list and how they allocate vacancies to people on the waiting list. In my experience, admittedly some years ago, your position on the waiting list wasn't fixed and depended on how close you lived to the school. So if a new applicant came along living very close to the school he or she would be given priority over the other waiting listers living further away, who would be shifted down the list.

You can apply to any school in the country, just that it is your responsibility to get your child to school say if you apply to one in Newcastle and live in Penzance. Of course being closer usually gives you a better chance.
When you move you can give them your new address and get moved up the waiting list.

Sometimes a school might have a better idea of how many they lose to private schools, so I'd probably ask both them and the LA. My DCs school loses about 10% to private each year, sometimes they have been allowed to over offer by 10% to allow for this. A Comp in the next door town has very little movement, and you have very little chance of getting in unless Catholic and your child went to the right primary school (and you live in the correct Deanery), I'm not sure if this will change at all next year.

Move on to the doorstep of the over-subscribed comp, but also put yourself on waiting lists for the less-over-subscribed.
Because you willneed to be v close to be at the top of the 'favoured' comp whereas you could possibly get inb from further away for the other?

I would have thought that in a big comp at least a couple of kids would leave each year as a result of parents moving house. But it could take a while.

If it is 'best' state school a number of people may use it as back up for an independent school. People then hold on to the back up place for a surprisingly long time so being on waiting list and checking where you are on the list may work.