Secondary School Applications and Moving House

[NameChanged13145]

One for the school applications experts...

We are about to sell our house after living there for many years. We need a bigger place, but haven't found what we want yet, so will rent for a while.

We are also about to apply for secondaries for oldest DC. There are two nearby schools in the picture. Both are very good. Right now we are in catchment for one (call it school A) and not the other (call that school B).

We will probably end up buying somewhere near to both A and B, but we won't manage any move before the (11 Dec) cutoff for address changes applicable to National Offer Day on 1 March.

So it's where we rent that will be on the schools application - assuming (as looks likely) we complete our sale before the 31 October deadline for applications.

We have, I suppose, two choices:
a) rent around where we are, stick with school A
b) rent over by school B's catchment instead

We need to pick one or the other, there is very little overlap between the two, and we need to stick in catchment for one of them!

My question: do I actually have a choice here?

Because my gut feel is that I'm wary about even considering doing (b); that it would be safest if we rented as close as possible to where we have a long-term history of living, rather than make a last-minute move in a pattern that the LA might view as creating a fraudulent application.

Or does it not matter which of A and B we choose, as long as we've genuinely sold our house?

It doesn't matter so long as you have sold your house

If you don't sell your current house before the applications deadline you will have to use that address. If you do sell it you should can rent wherever you want and use that address. The concern is that this will be a short term rent which may look suspicious to the LA. I would make sure that you tell the LA what you are doing and why. If you are completely open with them they are less likely to think you are trying to fiddle the system. Put everything in writing (email will do). If you have any telephone conversations with them send an email confirming what you have discussed. That way you will have a paper trail if you need it.

To answer your question, it shouldn't matter which you choose as long as you are open with the council. However, if I was being really cautious I would go with option A.

Thanks prh.

Think we will go for the cautious route and stay in our current catchment - in particular if we do get challenged and have to appeal, we'll be on solid ground.

(I probably soind paranoid but we live in an area of London where a lot of people try the owner-renter trick and the councils are understandably inclined to treat October rentals with a great deal of suspicion.)