Anyone else get NO OFFER?!

[cocoloco11]

Anyone else didn’t get any offer at all and been told to wait till the second round?!

flippyfloppy you may want to ask @admission @panelchair @prh47bridge for advice if you think they are not following admission criteria (hope they don't mind me tagging them in)

flippyfloppy you must be near me, it is a horrible situation. We were fortunate, but there were many a tear at school today apparently. I really hope they have something up their sleeve.

They are going to be overrun with appeals, because not only is there that massive group of children who haven't got in, there are a whole load of children with unhappy placements.

That sounds really dodgy @flippyfloppy - I am not an admissions expert at all but unless there are specific catchments for the schools you applied to, which stop at the county boundary, surely it must be illegal not to follow their own admissions code? Must be dreadful for you.

Thanks both, the next few weeks are going to be a long few weeks. I'm going to speak to admissions again on Monday, keeping everything crossed x

“we have been told preference given to pupils within authority

Isn't that illegal? Or is it just illegal in London?”

Unless they are talking about a defined catchment, that is defined in the admissions criteria, it is not legal in England.

The Schools Admissions Code is statutory and applies across England (and Wales?). Different LAs cannot make up their own rules.

N.B, for the avoidance of doubt, as lawyers like to say, I am not a lawyer of any kind, despite MN name.

flippy I have no idea where they expect children to go, the schools that have places in the neighbouring authorities are not going to be easy to get to and will be the ones others didn't want. (as the closer ones will be full as they are all over subscribed at the best of times)

They build all these houses (and plan more) in a narrow corridor and then seem surprised when this happens as they aren't putting the infrastructure in and paying a little bit of lip service to needing more school places.

We are lucky, we moved last year right next to the school and I have an older dc at the school, but none of his friends got in, yet every other year at least 1/2 a dozen have gone from that school (it is out of catchment for the primary area)

Funny enough I did think (prior) if he doesn't get in then there is a massive issue with school places - little did I know I guess.

@flippyfloppy - one of our local schools (with the backing of the LA) tried to prioritise children living in the borough over children who might live nearer in a neighbouring borough. It was referred to the Schools’ Adjudicator, who told them to think again. Might be worth a complaint?

@rustybear interesting. I will speak to admissions Monday for clarification and see where we can go from there.

flippy It’s 100% worth a complaint / appeal.

This sounds like a case for @prh47bridge !

Unless it’s stated that they give preference on the schools admission policy, then no they cannot use it and you would have a strong case at appeal, if it got that far. They must apply each schools aidsion policy. They cannot add to it as they see fit.

*admission policy

@flippyfloppy "we are on the border of 3 LA's so two closest schools are in different LA to where we are and we have been told preference given to pupils within authority."

Unless there is something in their oversubscription criteria that states that children within X area are prioritised, or children within the borough of Y, or children attending the following primary schools ...., any "prioritisation" that is contrary to their published oversubscription criteria is against the Admissions Code of Practice and should be challenged at an appeal. If the panel find that you would have got a place if you were treated as if you lived in the same LA, i.e. your distance from school was within the distance of the last place offered on distance grounds, then you should win your appeal.

Thank you, you have given me some hope x

flippy if that does turn out to be the case and many have been rejected because of that, it would go a long way to explain the lack of places overall as that would have started a ripple effect down the other schools.

Maybe not a long way, as I think there are other factors at play, but certainly some way.

One thing to bear in mind, though, @flippyfloppy, is that it lots of parents appeal, and it's found that the LA have done this to all of them, then they will have to work out the distances for everyone and work out who would have got a place fairly. You only win if the mistake cost you a place. If they find that you wouldn't have got a place anyway, then the fact that they've made a mistake isn't enough to win you an appeal.

You can also appeal on prejudice grounds - that is, that you think your DD really needs to attendthat school so much that they should go over number to fit her in, and that denying her a place is worse than the difficulty it will cause the school to take her.

Thanks for your comments once again everyone. @Lougle I believe if it was applied fairly we would have got a place although I realise this will need to be proved. The man on the admissions telephone line today said that people 4miles away had been given a place but that is because they pay their council tax there!!! I don't think this happened in previous years as it is common for people in our street to go to the school.

@Lougle one more question do we have to wait until appeal to raise this or is it worth me emailing admissions of our LA and the schools LA to flag it ahead of the potential recallocation at the end of month? TIA

I would flag it up Monday.

Thank you @Dothehappydance got nothing to lose xx

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/education/2004/mar/23/schooladmissions.schools

Worth a read...Camden were unsuccessfull...

My son is in bits he didn’t get any schools we named and the school the LA has offered doesn’t even have sets which he needs/wants as he’s very good in maths and in an accelerated class at primary. Just today I was at the school having a meeting with head about him saying he’s getting frustrated with school partly because he likes things just so, like everyone to be quiet, listening to the teacher.. the school they have picked is so not like that. I’m at a total loss as to what to do. The annoying part is his 3rd choice school he was in the top band but clearly there were many more top band boys that was closer. I want to appeal but I don’t even know where to start

@BHStowel, if the Camden has gone through the approved process of advertising its proposed change in admissions criteria to prioritise Camden pupils, then published the new criteria in accordance with approved timescales, that is absolutely fine. Islington applicants may feel upset, but they have followed due process.

However, if @flippyfloppy has applied to a school that has no published priority for applicants in the neighbouring LA, and has applied according to the oversubscription criteria, with the expectation that her application would be dealt with fairly according to that criteria, then she has been placed at a disadvantage if it has been downgraded because it is 'out of borough'.

Therefore, she should appeal, on the basis that her application has not been dealt with according to the admissions criteria, which has cost her child a place.

@flippyfloppy you must telephone the LA on Monday to alert them to their mistake and ask them to rectify it. Ask the person you speak to for their name and their email address. Follow this up with an email, outlining your conversation and confirming that you are requesting that they rectify their mistake without you having to take it to appeal, but that you will appeal if they are unwilling to do so.

That Camden case was in 2004, it's literally a historic case.