home education has meant our child is not able to access secondary school

[woodlandwonder]

I am wondering whether there is anyone who has had a similar situation happen. We are in Manchester and the admission criteria for oversubscription places anyone at a state funded primary school and academy before anyone else. This has meant that our home educated daughter has not got in, is 87th on the waiting list and on appeal we have lost. We are awaiting their reasons. Despite the admissions code stating they are not allowed to disadvantage a social group our appeal has failed. We are considering ombudsperson, judicial review etc. Has anyone done this? Children at independent schools are also caught by this criteria.

All true but Manchester LEA is small. The no of Private schools can be counted on fingers. Manchester comps are good but not amazing ...

And most schools have wrap round 8-6 min and holiday provision is plentiful.

I have to admit that i don't know manchester schools. In my area I know of people who have chosen to send their children to private primary and then state secondary. I know people who have had to pull put of private primary because of a change in circumstances.

I feel that private school children should have the right to apply to state secondaries. The only exception is grammar schools where private school kids have an unfair advantage in entrance exams.

Interesting criteria. But Manchester children can go to Trafford schools, but the Manchester criteria totally rules out the other way?!

True but but Trafford have defined catchments at primary and over subscribed in many areas.

Manchester is an odd situation - Greater Manchester it's self is very big but it includes several LEAs all with different admissions systems (some have catchments and feeders, some not) and one that operates selective state grammars. Admissions distances for Manchester primaries are typically about 0.5 miles often with popular ones much lower. That plus the long thin geography prob led to the policy

Just an update for any future lurkers, although it's too late for the OP.
Manchester have changed their entrance criteria and dropped the 'need to attend a Manchester state primary' bit. The MEN says the change is due to parents complaining.

It is because a parent complained to the LGO and they have re-considered the admission criteria and decided that it does not meet the guidance.

Why did I say LGO, it was of course the Schools Adjudicator who was considering a complaint about Chorlton High School, who use the same admission criteria as Manchester LA does for all community secondary schools.

LGO is IMO biased towards keeping the peace with LEAs.

In your shoes I'd cynically enrol her at any available primary school, and then sit back to wait for some churn to open up places.

I wonder what happened to the OP. Good news on the dropping of the criteria for people like me who live on the Manchester border!