Applying out of area in advance of relocation

[ClaireJB81]

Hoping someone might be able to offer advice or reassurance as I’m finding this very stressful.

DS starts High school in sept but we are relocating. We already have an address in the new area but the local authority won’t let us use it to apply since we don’t yet live there full time. Fair enough, I guess.

We’re making the permanent move in July, and our application is for a school In the new area but made through our current local authority (Salford). I know the school in the village our new house is in is oversubscribed, so there is no way he’ll get offered a place from Salford and I know we’ll have to appeal. If this isn’t resolved before the end of July he will have missed out on all of the transition events at the end of Y6. He's a very good student but quite a sensitive introvert and I’m already freaking out at the idea of his transition to high school being disrupted because the system seems to make no allowances for people who are moving area.

Thought we were doing the right thing by finishing Y6/sats etc before we moved but it seems like there’s nothing the new authority will accept as evidence that we’ll be there full time as soon as he finishes his Y6.

I doubt you would win on appeal if your only reason is the house move. If you're moving close to the school you'll be on the waiting list but he will probably need to go to a different not oversubscribed school until a place becomes available.

Thanks - are you basing this on experience/knowledge of this circumstance or are you just speculating?

Local authorities have a duty to provide school places for children in their area. They won’t offer you a place based on a potential move as it may not actually happen.

How far away is your new house from your current house? Is it possible to move house but drive your son to his current school?

What grounds would the appeal be based on? You'll only win if you can prove the LA should have provided you a place and didn't. I can't see what your grounds would be?

Why are you moving? Can you commute him from your new address back to his old school?
If you can't commute him because of distance then it's obviously not a move just to get a better school.
If you can then why not move into the new house by about allocation day (or as soon after), and do something about letting out/selling your old address. That way it doesn't seem like fraud, and you will be at the new address early enough to hopefully get a senior school place from the waiting list.

Is it possible to move earlier? Then he could make some friends in the new area before he has to start secondary school. I wouldn't worry too much about SATs, he can do them at the new school. Or as others have suggested, move house and commute back to old school.

getting a place at a good high school is much more important than finishing year 6. I would move asap and get your application in based on your new address asap. options for the last 6 months of primary would be to:
->accept a place in the new area for 6 months
->commute back to old area if possible (include option to pay a childminder to do the ferrying)
->home educate for 6 months (there are online schools you can register with)

he won't miss much as the majority of the time in primary between now and May is very boring SATs prep.

Agree. If you have the new house then move now.
As you have already applied, if you are lucky they will accept the change of address without turning it into a late application (will be dependent on local rules), but even if they don't you will be much higher up the list for spaces when the places are offered and some get rejected.

He can go to any local primary and slot in with SATs practice and get to know a few kids and the local area.

My point about appeal is because the new LA don't have a responsibility to you until you move. And even then they don't need to offer you a place in your preferred school so may offer you a place in an undersubscribed school in the area.

By not moving till July you are creating your own problems.
The admission guidance is clear that you have to apply for a school place from the address where child currently lives for the majority of the school week. So at present you can apply for a place at your preferred new location high school from your Salford address and you should have done that by 31st October. As you say if it is usually oversubscribed then you are unlikely to get an offer at the preferred school. Salford will offer you on March 31st a place at the school nearest to current address, it will not be in your new location.
You can appeal and that appeal to the new admission authority will be before the end of July, however realistically if you have not moved into the new accommodation then any appeal panel is going to be sceptical about your ability to move. You will need to have convincing evidence that you are moving and secondly and even more importantly good reasons for wanting to go to the preferred school over and above the house move.
If you can move then I would move now. You are too late for the new admission authority to accept you as being an on-time application but by moving now and informing the admission authority that you have moved then you will after the 1st March be able to use the new address. That hopefully will mean you are well up the waiting list for the school - there is always some movement in places in the time from March to September. It also means that you can go to appeal, with a sensible address and argue both that you have moved into the area but also come up with some good reasons for wanting the school, for instance clubs in the school, particular subjects that the school has that would interest your child etc.
If you move in the period from now to March then you should inform the admission authority that you have moved but only to use the new address for administration purposes only. That keeps you application on-time on the slight chance that the preferred school is not oversubscribed. Then immediately after 1st March you inform the admission authority that you want to appeal using the new address. I would also at this point consider other schools that might be appropriate and a apply for places at these schools as well, so that you can also appeal for these.
I am afraid you are in a difficult situation, made worse by not moving till July.

There's nothing I can add to the excellent advice already given by @admission

I work for a school and am familiar with the admissions process for secondary, it doesn't differ much between areas.