Catchment area for schools

[Khtchkn]

Hi - this is a v silly question but I have no idea about application for schools. I have a 13 month old and thinking way ahead about primary/secondary schools.. we are looking to move and buy a place in tunbridge wells in the next year or 2. when I look on the school catchment area for the properties on Rightmove, there are always 1 or 2 that are within a mile so “within the catchment area”,,, others are over a mile... how can you secure a place for your child?! I read online you choose 3x (or 6x?) schools, and if you don’t get accepted for any of them then the council chooses for you which would be the least popular school... I just don’t understand if ppl live within 1+ miles of schools how they get their choice.. as that’s just one of the criteria and even if you live within the catchment you’re not guaranteed a place. Others have more priority eg children with siblings, parents working at the school etc... is it common to get rejected for all your choices or is it rare ? I’d hate to buy a house and not end up getting any of our school choices!

Those rightmove catchment maps aren't 100% accurate I wouldn't rely on them. Look at your councils website schools admission section. They have info on the application process usually with catchment area maps and, the schools admission criteria and historic data on admissions applications. The ones in our county show how many kids got a place if they were in catchment and all the other categories. I guess with Kent you have the 11+ but it should all be detailed on the school website or the county council website.

Your local authority will publish each year the cut-off distance for each school, so you can see what chance you have of getting in. They should also publish what percentage of applicants got their first preference school.
If you want to know for an individual school, ring them (in term time!!) and ask how many applied, and how many places they offer (what their PAN is).
Be aware that schools can change greatly over time, and what is desirable now may not be in nine years when you're applying for secondary places. Catchment circles will vary with popularity and birth rate changes.
Some schools have very specific catchments (i.e. defined streets/wards etc), but I'm sorry I don't know Tunbridge Wells at all to advise on that.

Ah, Tunbridge Wells isn't under a separate council authority? Then 11+ will skew everything won't it? Everyone sits in Kent don't they?

The advice above about checking the council websites rather than Rightmove is key but do also bear in mind that a school can change for the better or worse over a decade. Our local secondary was the local sink school and a decade later it was oversubscribed!

Note 'catchment' can mean two different things.

In some areas (eg where I live in Hants) each primary school has a pre-determined 'priority admission area' which is often an odd shape (ie not a perfect circle centred on the school.) If you live in that priority area you get priority above other similar families who live outside the area, even if they actually live closer to the school. This priority admission area is sometimes colloquially referred to as the 'catchment area'.

In other places there isn't this priority area. In those cases 'catchment area' just means the rough circle around the school where children applying tend to get in on distance. This 'catchment area' grows or shrinks each year dependent on demand.

Your local authority should hopefully publish 'last admission distances' on their school admissions website somewhere.

As others have said, there really isn't a lot of point thinking about secondary schools yet, as a lot can change in 10 years. Focus on the primary schools.

Most primaries do not have a catchment as such. But they have oversubscription criteria, often based on siblings and distance. Some are faith. There should be information available about last distance offered in the past, if it is a single form and a popular school you may find it only goes out quarter of a mile or less, it can depend on how many siblings take up spaces that year too, it is all very movable but can be a good guide.

In Kent the grammars operate two systems, one is just a pass and the other is based on score, with preference given to parishes defined in the admissions guidance. You could live next door to a grammar but if the child doesn’t pass then it isn’t an option open to your child. Kent also has a good swathe of religious schools that have faith based admission.

If your child is only 13 months old, you should also bear in mind that catchment areas and the basis on which children are admitted may change by the time they get to school age!

15 years ago, you basically couldn't get into our local infants school unless you lived within the catchment area (handful of out of catchment places offered). Now there are fewer young families in the area and you can live quite substantially out of catchment and still get a place!

Like Teen says, it’s i portent to understand the difference between a true ‘catchment’ in that it is a defined area on a map within which you have priority over those outside, and catchment in the sense of the rough area within which you are likely to be offered a place (and which can change year on year). People use ‘catchment area’ interchangeably for both.

How likely you are to get offered one of your preferences depends on where you are and and how sensibly you choose your preferences. If you only list schools that you haven’t a hope of getting into based on previous admissions data, then it’s likely you won’t get offered any of them. If you follow the MN advice of including a ‘banker’ somewhere on your list (a school you are likely to get offered, even if it is not your favourite) then you’re more likely to get one of your preferences.

Where people often run into problems is in not listing the local school they don’t like on their preferences. If you don’t get any of your preferences, the council will offer you a space at the nearest available school, after everyone else’s preferences have been sorted. So if the local school is full of people who did list it, they won’t offer you that and you might get a school you equally don’t like, but even further away.

When the time comes, there are lots of very knowledgable people on MN who are incredibly generous with their time. It can seem daunting and not an entirely intuitive system, but it does make sense when you understand it, and very, very few people live I true admissions black spots.

These are the admission criteria in Kent:

www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/schools/school-places/admissions-criteria/admissions-criteria-202021

And this website has all sorts of stats so you can compare how successful academically the schools are.

www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/schools-by-type?step=default&table=schools&parliamentary=Tunbridge+Wells&geographic=parliamentary&for=primary

Thanks very much all. Will research all the advice you’ve given

@W00t, no the 11+ in Kent isn’t compulsory, it’s a choice whether you put your child in (or not!). In our school, parents were called in during Year 5 to let us know basically if our DC were up to it or not. Other parents might choose to opt out for political reasons (less common) - DH is a socialist and didn’t want DD taking part.

TW is a lovely town OP - Tonbridge would have given you a broader school option of schools but if you don’t go down the 11+ route, Skinners Academy is performing much better than it did historically and Uplands in Wadhurst take quite a few TW children.

Dear All, I am confused about the term "catchment area". It seems to me that only distance is taken into account. How about different districts? I mean different councils. If I live in council "A", and 0.1 miles away from a school in council "B". Can I apply? If yes, I have the same priority as other applicants live in council "B"?

Thanks in advance

Otot
See my previous post re catchments.
Some schools have priority areas, some just use distance.
You need to check the school's admission criteria.

If you live in a different council you can still apply to a school, but you must apply through your council on their form.

Check out each school’s website re local admission criteria (some state districts) and where historically pupil‘s have come from (quite a few will have this on a map).

@SJaneS48

Check out each school’s website re local admission criteria (some state districts) and where historically pupil‘s have come from (quite a few will have this on a map).

Thank you very much

@SJaneS48

Check out each school’s website re local admission criteria (some state districts) and where historically pupil‘s have come from (quite a few will have this on a map).

Thanks a lot!!