Admissions logistics query

[TheWoollybacksWife]

I'm just musing although I must admit I have given a great deal of thought to waiting lists and school allocations in the past week.

I live in an area where you list three preferences on your senior school application form. It is possible that people can choose schools from two neighbouring counties.

How are allocations coordinated across multiple counties?

As an example a family lives in County A and lists a school in County B as first preference with two schools from County A as second and third preferences. The child meets the entrance criteria in both the first and second schools. What happens?

Also what about numbers? In the scenario above say school 2 has 180 places. Does child 181 get offered a place on 1st March as they have already taken the other county's first preferences off or does that all get dealt with as the waiting lists move?

In our LA they publish and use their “coordinated admissions arrangement” policy. The LA’s work together so that it’s all fair.

Also it’s nothing to do with which county we live in. Just the individual schools admission criteria applied to each applicant.

In your example, the child gets the place at the school they placed highest on their CAF, regardless of where it is.

All Admission authorities have to operate an equal preference system and award places based on each schools criteria. They cannot give preference above this to children who live within their local authority boundaries.

Each individual’s applications go via their own LA. The school in County B will inform the home LA of the applicant that they are able to offer a place. The LA will note that the second school in their own county has also offered a place, but decline it as the offer from County B is the applicant’s top choice.

There is no priority given to in-County applicants.

I understsnd the principle of how it all works, I can’t begin to understand how complex the computer programme and process must be. Since every time someone is offered a place, it sets of s chain reaction of freeing up places in lower preference schools that could have offered. A huge computer task!

As a matter of curiosity tiggy - can you ever find out if you would have been offered a place at one of your lower placed schools (in London we get to list 6 as you know) once you’ve been offered a higher placed one? Just out of interest, it’s not a real issue for us.

No I wouldn’t bother contacting them. But I might check the last distance criteria for School 4 . . It’s a popular school! Thanks tiggy.