Upset for my nephew and angry with my sister

[BretonLeopard]

I am very close to my nephew (don't have children of my own) and my sister. When she applied for secondary schools, we went to look at two schools - both in the catchment area but the first choice (A)always oversubscribed and DN is not from the feeder school. His primary is a very good Catholic school. Her second choice (B) is closest to his home but again, his primary is not the feeder school. Another choice would have been the local Catholic School (C) (I work at this school but she decided for various reasons not to send him here). His school is the feeder primary to this school.

This morning, my sister messaged to say that she is on the waiting list for school A. The offer she has is for a different school (D) which is a terrible school. I couldn't; understand this, as her second choice (B) was so near.

She has since told me this morning that she only put down school A and did not put down any other choices.

I am absolutely devastated for my nephew and livid with my sister. I think she has been completely reckless and I fear there is nothing she can do.

Does anyone have any advice?

Tell her to ask for her DS to go on the waiting lists of any schools she prefers over and above school D.

(Her case needs to serve as an example to parents who think they can beat the system by only putting down 1 school, or listing the same school 3 times.)

She can ask to go on waiting lists for schools she didn’t apply for. She can also choose to appeal for School A (or others). The letter/email she received should have the details on how to do that.

Above all, she should accept the place at School D for the time being whilst doing any or all of the above.

I wonder if primary schools need to explain the admissions system better. This misunderstanding about how it works seems to be extremely common.

Oh dear. She has done one of the things that MN appeals people always, always advise against. By putting down one unrealistic choice she has ended up with a place at the nearest school with a vacancy and not one she would have chosen.

She needs now to get on the waiting list for any school she’d be prepared to accept. She should also visit the allocated school - it may be better than its local reputation suggests and she needs to have something in place for September.

The LEA is only obliged to make one offer. If she turns down the allocated school they won’t make an alternative offer and she may have nothing in September. That’s fine if she’s in a position to home educate.

There’s a lot of information out there about how school admissions work - LEA website, brochure, information sessions at primary schools, even MN - but sadly it passes some people by or they disregard it and think they can buck the system.

Your sister has already gambled once by naming only one school and it hasn’t paid off. Turning down the allocated school is another gamble since, if nothing materialises through a waiting list, her son may have no place at all in September.

I was really surprised at a couple of people i know in RL who clearly didn't understand it from things they said. People who'd been thinking about schools for years and did the 11+ in another area. I think it's really widespread. The message isn't getting through at the moment.

Hamster I don't think it's anything to do with the information primaries (or anything else) give out.
It's more parents who say things like "I put only one school down" or "I put the same school 3 times" "and that's why I got it" who perpetuate the myth. People want to believe they (and only they) have this wonderful way of manipulating the admissions into doing as they want.

She just needs to accept the offer for school D and then get into the waiting lists for all the other schools, and then just hope they get a spot in one of them. Otherwise her choices are home school or school D.

There will be a deadline to respond by (assuming it is a LA which expects you to formally accept, and not an accept by default area) but why wait? It makes no difference except it heightens the risk she will either deliberately or accidentally miss the deadline and not have any school place at all.

I don't have any advice but following with interest because our LA only allows you to appeal or go on the waiting list for schools you named on your original application.

She has to accept the place for school D or else won't get any school, since the council will have done their duty. She can be on the waiting list for other schools and then take any old place that comes up which is better than D.

I still can’t get my head around what the state admissions system actually is/why they’ve made it so complicated. Is it purely to make it easier for middle class parents to game the system? It just seems unnecessarily complicated.

I would also advise accepting the school place she has been given and at least asking for reconsideration for the school she did name - and any others, if that is possible. If she refuses the school place the council don't have to offer anything else and the good/nearer schools are likely to be full now.

Good grief, it's NOT complicated. Put down the schools you want in the order you want them, that's all there is to it! Middle class parents can't game the system, what rubbish. It's true they tend to be more likely to be able to move house/pay for tutors, but everyone ought to be able to do the research on schools and fill in the application correctly.

Completely disagree with Frat. It isn't as simple as that, you can not just choose the three schools you like and expect to get one, nor only put down one and expect to get it. They say that there is a choice but that is not strictly true, you only get a choice if there is space, if not feeder schools and catchment all come into play.

Although I do agree it's not that difficult if you actually read a few posts on here.

Is it purely to make it easier for middle class parents to game the system

I don't understand this comment, why would a middle class parent be able to game the system any more than anyone else? And it's hardly complicated you simply list your schools in order of preference.

The issue comes in when people don't do that. Like the ops sister, as then the child is found a place at one with spaces as there is no preference to go on.

Our LA for example says this on the website:

Your school preferences

You can name up to six schools.
You must name the schools in order of your preference (this information is not shared with schools so does not disadvantage your application). If your child can be offered a place at more than one of your named schools, the offer will be for the one that is listed highest on your preferences.

*We recommend that you:
Name six schools if you can.
Name schools that your child is most likely to be offered a place at.

This will increase your chances of being offered a place at one of your named schools.*

Naming fewer schools on your list of preferences does not increase the chance of you being offered a place at one of those schools. Places are allocated according to the admission criteria of the schools, not how many schools you have named. If you name fewer than six, you increase the risk of being offered a place at a school that you have not named, which may be further away.

Check each school's website or our admissions booklets for the admission criteria of each school to see how places are allocated, and how many children applied and were offered a place last year. Many children will be offered a place under the distance criteria (based on how far they live from the school). You can see the maximum distance that schools offered to last year in our admissions booklets (but note this is only an indication – the maximum distance will be different this year depending on how many children apply to each school).

Whilst we have a responsibility to make a school place available to each Surrey child, it may not be at one of your named preferences or at your closest school.

The information is there. If you read it and don't understand it, you have plenty of time to ask the admissions team.

Oh for goodness sake. There is nothing complicated about the school allocation system in this country and no one, middle class or not, can play the system. You simply put down 3 schools, in order of preference, that you would like your child to attend if the spaces are available. You may get into one of those schools or you may not. I don't understand the confusion at something that is so simple to understand.

And as another poster said, the problems arise from other parents thinking they can play the system and spreading that myth. Any responsible parent would research the process to understand the system rather than rely on word of mouth at School pick up time.