how to find a place in oversubscribed school mid year

[Spanielmad]

Hello, we might be moving house in the coming year - to south Buckinghamshire. My kids are about to start Y6 and Y8. If we move in the middle of the school year how are we supposed to find school places? Pretty much ALL 'good/outstanding' secondary schools and grammar schools are oversubscribed. So even if we find a house near a good school how do I get my kids in??
thanks !!

Maybe stupid suggestion, but how far are you now, and how happy are you with your house, life, schools?

Lots of people near me keep with children in school, and their other halves do a weekly commute.

Have you actually looked in detailed at the 'in need of improvement' or 'inadequate' schools. They might actually be ok generally and have already improved or the rating was a blip in the history of a usually good school.

The reason I say, is because if your plan is to go on waiting lists for good schools it might backfire if you never get a place in these good schools. And then your stuck in a failed school not of your choice for 5 years.

How many years can you stay in a school, settling down, making friends and integrating before moving them to a 'good' school would actually be counter productive? Maybe its better to get all your children into the same under subscribed school that is at least ok to stay at and then hope/try to get something better.

thanks all. Yes been looking at rightmove - very useful with school checker on there! Good to know it relates only to Y7 intake, Greentulips. That gives hope for later years. My kids are about to go into Y6 and Y8. obviously it would be ideal if my youngest doesn’t need to go to the local comp here but we find something over there before Y7 starts, but I am going to have to figure that one out.

We are about 2 hours away, so SittingintheSun, a weekly commute might be an option. Not the preferred option, obviously, but it is an option. We are happy where we are. The comp here is ok, has a ‘good’ rating. Not mad about the school but it sure ain’t bad.

Thanks Fresh8008, at the moment, still early days, I am not planning on going on waiting lists. I don’t want to put my kids through 3 secondary schools. I think stability is at least as important as a good school. But I am still thinking about all the options.....

For the year 6, it might be worth looking at entrance criteria and seeing if any have ability out of catchment places and how they are allocated. For some it depends on their score and not distance. I know one of dd classmates who got a grammar place like this and the whole family moved from south London to south Kent for him to attend.

ah thanks Lacebell10 - yes, I think I noticed a few of the grammars go by test results, I will double check. I imagine if the test results are really good they might want you more, LOL. No idea how my kids would fare in those tests though...we never had any need to look at them.
Thanks for the tip!! Maybe we can play it that way. Sudden move when places are allocated.

Are you sure Chesham Grammar will be oversubscribed? It isn't usually.

Don't rely on the RightMove school checker - it's not always accurate...

Mid year places for year 8 & above often move fairly quickly.

I taught at a v over subscribed school in the UK for years. When a place in year 8 or above came available, our office would contact the next family on the waiting list.

Often that family would have put dc down after failing to secure a year 7 place, but the dc would then have settled happily in the school allocated & parents would decide against moving them a year or more later.

Schools do want to be full, if only so they can resist taking on 'managed moves' or excluded kids from other schools, to be blunt. Your y8 could find a place quite quickly & then you have a 'trojan horse' via the sibling rule.

I'd prioritise moving to the catchment area for your first choice secondary, & getting your y6 dc into a primary which feeds to a secondary you like/are in catchment for. Are the primaries equally over subscribed?

Mind you, I'd also take ofsted ratings with a definite pinch of salt!

Venusfytwat - not sure, will double check! thanks.
thanks, OlennasWimple - good point!
CrowyMcCrowFace (LOL, what a name!) thanks for your thoughts, that is really helpful. yes, the trojan horse thing is a good idea. But I would really want to avoid putting them in an available comp, (moving them from their current school) and then moving them again when a place becomes available; that would be two school moves and 3 schools! And I can’t sign off on a house unless I know they will get into a decent school....

I think the primaries are less hard but I wasn’t really looking at that as we’re not ready to move until spring maybe and by then my youngest will have nearly finished primary.....
If we do go down the waiting list route - I would hope it would be an extremely short wait, otherwise I really don’t see this happening, there’s no way I am moving them around all the time. I can only envisage unhappiness and getting behind with learning if we move them around too much.

By the sound of it, it might be easier to get my eldest into an oversubscribed school as later years might well have spaces. My youngest would then move up the waiting list as his sibling is in already. That would still probably mean my youngest will have to go to a different secondary school first before joining his brother. And my youngest is the one who needs stability the most. mmm...plenty of food for thought. Thank you so much everyone!

and yes ofsted and pinches of salt , I so know! But its the first port of call - second step will be to visit and have a sniff around... ;)

What about turning the problem on its head and moving now if possible? Could you rent short-term? It might mean your youngest could do the usual Year 6 application on time to preferred choice school and you never know, you may find that a place is available for Year 8 too for your other DC (with families moving probably doing so to avoid in-year moves if possible).

Teddygirlonce, that sounds ideal - to move now and beat the school application deadlines. But we can’t yet. Jobs not ready yet, house not sold, we must wait....

But I have learned from you all that sooner would be better than later as even a late Y6 application is better than a mid-year7 application. So as soon as we can - I’ll try to be ready. Now is the time to figure everything out... where to move to, which schools to aim for, finding out what an 11+ test is and whether we could pass it, what to do if schools are full, considering to stay where we are, etc etc....

Grammars to consider are Burnham, Borlase’s, Chesham, maybe Henry Floyd. But no idea whether we would pass the test - both kids pretty bright though, both either top or near-top sets.
Some comps that might be worth checking out: Clement Danes, Vyners, Great Marlow, Gillots, Chalfonts Comm.

I will try to avoid at all cost to having to move schools twice, one upset is enough for them. Staying where we are (2 hours away) is still an option.

You guys are a goldmine of info. thnks

I live in south bucks and have 2 boys yr 8 and 10.
My advice is to look at Hertfordshire or oxon.
Avoid Bucks!! If you've missed the 11+ you are just making life too complicated

Remember Bucks take the top 25-30% (after appeal) so you do not need to be a certified genius. However children do benefit from prep and you are competing with some (but only some) people who have tutored and prepped for years. The main transfer tests are sat next month (needed to register by June) but there are procedures for those that move into the county - see the Bucks website and the 11+ forum.

When I say Year 6 application, I mean for secondary school.

If you're youngest is the one who needs security more, work to accommodate his needs first and you may just find that those of your other DC just fall into place (stranger things have happened).

Good luck!

Thank you! Yes, we are working to accommodate the youngest mostly as he needs stability. He is extremely bright though so am hoping that the right school will get that genius out of him, ahem, LOL

Yes, LowlandsUni, I have heard stories about extremely competitive parents who tutor and prep their kids for years. Sounds very scary.... Have looked on the county site and it seems there are some late admission tests and some mid-year immediate tests to do.

Intuition - really?! gosh, well, yes I will have a look but the whole point of the move is to reduce commuting time so I doubt we’ll get far across the county borders and I imagine the same problems arise if you’re close to Bucks? we might look at Berkshire (Reading way) and Surrey (Woking) or Henley (oxfordshire) but so far seen just more of the same oversubscribed schools...

can’t afford private I’m afraid. Yes, it seems Chesham is not oversubscribed although their website says Y8-9 are oversubs...

Good to know its a decent school!!
thnks.

I'm sure you have worked this out already but Bucks only allocate by distance, not score. A pp suggested this and some areas do work that way, but in Bucks if you meet the magical 121 score then you are just as qualified as someone on 175 (subject to sibling or looked after children or whatever else rules).
Bucks is a long narrow county so being over the border doesn't necessarily mean being further away for commuting purposes.

WH smiths sell the books that help with entrance exams - looks really difficult! I was surprised a time the leave they need to know.

Worth a browse if you consider that route. I can see why they tutor.

Yes, indeed... I just realised that Henley is actually Oxfordshire already.
Reading area maybe, or Woking, but that is a bit further out. Work is around Beaconsfield/Gerrards Cross and we don’t want to commute more than around 40 mins max. Ideally less...

Yes, I have seen that catchment and distance is what will work. I saw Borlese’s goes by catchment/distance and then score. That’s why it s so hard as its clear we need to move first, but I don’t want to move without knowing they can go to a good school. Which seems an impossible wish, LOL!! Crazy county, Bucks!

Greentulips, I read in many places that the 11+ is now ‘tutor-proof’ (as far as that is possible) and it seems more like an IQ test going by the council’s brochure. The council says that prep tests sold in the shops are no good but they would say that wouldn’t they .

As I recall Borlase and Windsor boys have yr 9 intake so could be an option for Sep 2018

Herts is pretty close to GX and St Clement Danes is apparently excellent.

In south bucks most parents tutor to death for 11+ from at least yr 5 if not 4. It's a nightmare and if you can't afford the tuition, even with a very bright child, you are unlikely to pass. It's totally unfair.