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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Stupid question - how do I find out catchment area?

31 replies

ElizaPancakes · 19/09/2019 22:32

Or is that not really a thing? Is it just those that are closer are higher up the list than others?

Looks like our top choice school is potentially a couple of miles away, and considering we have three others much closer, now I've found another thing to worry about!

OP posts:

LadyFuschia · 19/09/2019 22:35

Is it in the council website? You can look at various bits of information on there regarding admissions.

popehilarious · 19/09/2019 22:35

Go to your local council's website and the schools admissions section. They should have a list of the schools and their admissions policies which should help!

PatriciaHolm · 19/09/2019 22:36

You need to look at the exact admissions criteria for each school. Some may have specific catchment areas, many will not. Your local LEA site will probably have details with how places have been allocated in previous years so you can get an idea, for example, how far out the last pupil offered a place lived.

popehilarious · 19/09/2019 22:37

"Catchment area" may not mean anything really if it goes by distance as it will depend how many in the year apply - if hardly anyone nearby applies then they'll be able to take pupils from further away until they reach their limit or number of people applying.

BackforGood · 19/09/2019 22:37

DEpends where you are in the country.

Where I live, there is no 'Catchment Area' - as you say, they take pupils, when they get to that point on the admissions policy (ie, after LACs and SEN/D, and sometimes siblings or sometimes faith), purely in order of how far they live from the school. Therefore the "furthest point the last child was admitted from" varies year on year.

At the open evenings there is usually a map to show you how far away the last pupil was admitted from over the last 3 or 4 years.

"A couple of miles away" means nothing really - depends on how populated the area is, and so many other things.

ArsenicChip · 19/09/2019 22:39

We have a theoretical catchment area, but in reality the distance from school is what matters because it is full long before area comes in to it.

Lindy2 · 19/09/2019 22:42

We have very defined catchment areas.
On each of our schools' websites there is a section about admissions and a map showing the exact catchment area.
We are not in the catchment area for the second that is actually the second closest to us so catchment isn't always just about distance.

anothernewusername1 · 19/09/2019 22:45

I look on Rightmove at houses and click on the 'schools nearby' tab.

starlingsintheslipstream · 19/09/2019 22:49

Feeder schools come higher in priority than distance here so you could live right next to the school but if you're not at the "right" primary school you've no chance of getting in. You've got to look at the individual schools' policy really.

Zinnia · 19/09/2019 22:56

Whatever you do, don't go by Rightmove. The information on there is meaningless. As PPs have said, you need to read the schools' admissions criteria carefully, then cross-refer to the data issued by your local authority on recent years' admissions. Even then, you can't take previous years as any more than a rough guide, admissions distances (where distance is the primary factor after LAC/ECHP) can vary significantly year on year.

Original poster

ElizaPancakes · 19/09/2019 23:01

Oh damn, I'm guessing it must be on the individual school websites, although I confess I just used the search function on the council website.

Would I find the feeder school info on the secondary school or primary school sites?

God I'm so clueless.

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MoodLighting · 19/09/2019 23:03

You're not Eliza it's just so nightmarishly complicated!!

Zinnia · 19/09/2019 23:08

If there are feeder schools (and this isn't all that common, not in my area at least) they will be listed in the admissions criteria on the secondary school's website. By law they have to publish the full criteria each year so you should have no trouble finding it. You did the right thing by looking on the LA site, just need to combine that with the specific info for each school.

The Mumsnet Golden Rules of secondary applications:

List schools in your genuine order of preference. I cannot stress this enough. Trying to game the system will get you nowhere (not for a moment suggesting you personally would, but it's incredible how many people think they can)
Make sure you list at least one school at which your child will definitely get a place. This is in order to avoid unnecessary distress to your child as well as to yourself!

Good luck, it can be a stressful process but everyone gets through it in the end!

Original poster

ElizaPancakes · 19/09/2019 23:17

This is so frustrating!

We've looked at 4 schools so far, have two more next week and hopefully another that can accommodate us.

The favourites so far are 2 miles away - we're central Liverpool so pretty well populated.

I can't find any info on feeder schools on either our primary school site or the secondary sites - but I know they're a thing because a) I was told our school is a feeder for the one school I absolutely don't want them to go to ; b) this particular school offers 'taster sessions' to feeder schools - but doesn't say what the feeder schools are.

The council website has a document which outlines the allocation procedure....except it doesn't, because academies and church schools have their own. Top choice school helpfully says they follow the council allocation - of which distance to school is noted. Which is us.

Our closest school is Catholic which we are not and the next one is the shit one.

I could scream.

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Original poster

ElizaPancakes · 19/09/2019 23:19

@Zinnia oh believe you me, I will definitely not be trying what SIL tried last year - put one school down in all five spots - didn't get in even on appeal and now her daughter has to go to a not very well rated school at all. And it's not even their closest one.

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popehilarious · 19/09/2019 23:23

The Council website has a list of all schools. Find your top choice one and at the bottom it will tell you the furthest distance allocated last year. They should also really give you the figures for other years so you can get an idea.

Original poster

ElizaPancakes · 19/09/2019 23:28

Well...goddammit

Although it does also say that all 174 kids who put it down as 1st choice got in so I suppose that's something. Although I'm really confused that in 2017 they were admitting 270 a year and now they're only admitting 230 a year I wonder why?

Stupid question - how do I find out catchment area?

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maternityleave234 · 19/09/2019 23:32

I wouldn’t worry too much about feeder schools unless it’s your catchment area school. Even if your child attends a primary which is a feeder for a secondary you still have to meet the admission criteria.
There should be a breakdown of this year’s admissions too on the coucil site,it will tell you how many if any they accepted from outside the catchment area

Original poster

ElizaPancakes · 19/09/2019 23:34

I'm a little bit less up the wall having seen that at the boys top choice school was actually undersubscribed last year...which is not what the head said!

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BubblesBuddy · 19/09/2019 23:35

Because more people chose other schools! There is also over supply of places if the number of DC attending has reduced. Possibly a school opened elsewhere or expanded? It might not mean much but ask other parents for possible reasons why the school isn’t as popular.

BubblesBuddy · 19/09/2019 23:36

Head didn’t have accurate info. It’s best to check for yourself.

Original poster

ElizaPancakes · 19/09/2019 23:41

I know why that one wasn't as popular - it was in special measures last year, but latest Ofsted is now Good in most areas with a couple of Needs Improvement, which were all in key stage 4 so I'm less worried at this time as I'm sure with the boost they've had it'll improve by the time they get to that age.

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maternityleave234 · 19/09/2019 23:41

Did it get a bad ofsted that year? Or did a school nearby get a glowing ofsted report? That impacts massively on the subscription for the year, the primary my DS was at was under for a good 3/4 years - those out of catchment could always get a place as it had an average ofsted. Last year glowing report and reception intake was over for this year, 60 places and 190 applied!!!

maternityleave234 · 19/09/2019 23:41

@ElizaPancakes cross post sorry just seen your update!

Original poster

ElizaPancakes · 19/09/2019 23:42

My top choice is consistently good for the last 5/6 years; my boys top choice is the one that has recently been in special measures I mean!

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