Experts Please - Admissions Advice Required

[chopchopquick]

I am needing some advice please. We applied for our DCs secondary school place last October as part of the usual process for year 6s. We were living in an area that we had been living in for most of our adult lives, all be it we were renting. After we applied for dcs school we had the opportunity to purchase a house but 11 miles from the area we were living in. Sick of renting we decided to grab the opportunity to buy with both hands. We moved in the last week of February and then on 1st March dc got offered his first choice school place, which we were all pleased about but in the area we originally lived. Obviously we need to tell the Council and school we have since moved. Does this mean there will be grounds to revoke the offer as dc will only officially be joining the school September 2019 or does the offer still stand as that is the area we were living in at the time of application? Ideally we want to keep dc at the new secondary school offered as our other dc is at a school in the same area and as our youngest’s childminder and my job, meaning we will all be at schools/childminder/work in the same town, making logistics easier for pick ups/drops offs etc. The schools in the local area to the new house are all very over subscribed with long waiting lists so getting places in them is unlikely and we would then potentially face both dc being allocated other schools that could be further afield and in different directions then the 11 miles of the town we were originally living. Husband doesn’t drive so getting the 2 older dc to school, the youngest to childminder and me to work would be a logistical nightmare if all in different areas. I should add the new area is a much smaller village so there are limited transport options for older dc to get themselves to school. I am not sure what the official stance is on things, I tried to take a look at the local council website but didn’t seem to be anything to refer to that was relevant. Advice appreciated.

Ok, the answer is all tied up in dates. When you applied and expressed your preferences based on the fact of where you lived at that time. I assume that this was before the 31st October as you have had an offer. When you moved in February, this was well after the time for changing any preferences based on the new address. If you had made any changes you would have been classed as a late application and gone to the bottom of the pile. The guidance is clear that it is the address child was living at on application and at the 31st October which are taken into consideration.
What the LA admission guidance will say is that you should inform the LA as soon as you have moved to a new address. I think in terms of your timeline of not moving till sometime late in February, it is perfectly reasonable to not have immediately informed the LA, given that there is no way they could and should change anything when places were allocated 1st March
You will not loose the place but you do now need to tell the LA that you have moved but intend to retain the offered school place.

Thank you Admission , this information is helpful and the guidance I was trying to search for but couldn't find.

Indeed, we applied on time, before 31st October.