Tips - What to do if you aren't happy with your school place

[PatriciaHolm]

OK, so it's National Offer Day for Secondaries today so I thought it might be useful to do a quick summary post, primarily on what to do if you aren't happy, as I know it will come up a lot today....(FWIW, I sit on Appeals Panels, and also a Chair of Governors. There are several other panelists around too.) Hopefully this will be helpful.

What to do if you get a school you don't want?

1. Accept it. This is does not signal to the LA that you are happy, it just locks in a "last resort" option. It has NO impact on waiting lists - you get no preferential treatment on lists or at appeal if you turn the place down, nor are you negatively impacted if you have accepted a place.
If you turn it down, the LA no longer has an obligation to find you a place, so you will be dependent on waiting lists/appeals. If they don't come through, you could find yourself with no place in September. So ONLY turn it down if homeschool (or private) is definitely an option......

2.Get yourself onto Waiting lists for schools you do want. In some areas you are automatically put on lists for schools higher in your preferences that you don't get into, in some cases you need to ask, so check - your LA website, email, or login portal will probably tell you what to do. You can also add yourself to lists for schools you didn't apply for (some LAs limit the amount of lists you can be on though.)

3. Check there has been no mistake. If you are genuinely surprised and you think a mistake might have been made - wrong distance used, sibling link ignored etc - it's worth checking. Your decision letter/portal is likely to have the criteria you were assessed under for each school and, for example, the distance used in the case of distance criteria, so check all is well. If it doesn't, check with the LA. But be patient, lots of people will be calling/emailing today and tomorrow....

4. Think about appeals. You can appeal for any school you applied for and didn't get into. I won't go into depth here as each appeal is different, but essentially you need to show that the detriment to the school of taking another pupil is less than the detriment to your child of getting a place. If you decide to do this, post and ask for help! A number of us here are happy to do so.

If you are happy - great! Accept it, if you need to (some LAs will auto accept for you.) And be patient - most secondaries are a bit busy right now (!) so it may be a while before you hear from your chosen school re. induction etc.

Any questions, do ask. Sometimes it's easier for someone not emotionally involved to figure out the answer or find a detail.

Thank you . But how do places ever get released if everyone is advised to accept the initial offer ? Apologies for so many questions - it’s been a long day !

Nearly everyone accepts, but some will refuse because they’ve left the area, have accepted a place in an independent school or whatever. That creates a few vacancies, which will be filled from waiting lists, and then the pupils offered places from waiting lists give up their original places and so it goes on.

Can I get some advice on my situation please?

My DS was given his first choice, BUT as time has gone on I know deep down this isn’t the right school for him. I chose this as the first one because it’s the closest so was playing it safe really as I didn’t want to mess about choosing others further away and then not get him in any close by if that makes sense.

DS has suspected asd. Tried twice now to get a diagnosis for him. He would thrive more in a smaller school. The school he is going to is MASSIVE. I think he will find it very overwhelming.
The school I chose as his second choice, just slightly further away, would be much better for him and I feel he would be much more settled there. It’s a lot smaller.
His younger brother who is two years younger has asd and has an EHCP. I will want him to go to the smaller school too. All things considered, if I was to appeal, what are my chances of them letting DS1 have a place at his second choice? He has a lot of additional support and SENCO involvement at school. He has social difficulties and prone to letting his emotions get the better of him. He needs to be somewhere he feels comfortable and happy these next 5 years.

Do I have a shot or not?

Yes, possibly.

First of all, speak to the LEA about joining the waiting list for the other school. (They won’t have put you on it, as you got your first choice).

For a successful appeal, you need to persuade the panel that this school will meet your son’s needs in a way that the offered school can’t, and that any prejudice (ie detriment) to the school in having to accommodate an extra pupil is outweighed by the detriment to your son if he doesn’t get a place.

Assemble as much evidence as you can about how the preferred school will be better placed to meet your son’s needs. Does it, for example, have support programmes for pupils struggling with transition that the other school doesn’t? Ideally, you need letters from the professionals working with your son, saying that in their opinion (not just yours) he needs a place at this school. Look for other things too that would benefit him and aren’t available elsewhere - particular subjects on the curriculum, co-curricular activities, pastoral care or whatever.

Appeals based on social difficulties can be hard to win, because the LEA will be arguing that all schools are able to cater for pupils with these difficulties, so you need to persuade the panel that the second choice school can cater for your son’s needs in a way that the first choice school can’t. There’s no guarantee that you’ll win - much depends on how strong the school’s case is not to admit - but with plenty of supporting evidence you might.

funinthesun My DS was given his first choice, BUT as time has gone on I know deep down this isn’t the right school for him. I chose this as the first one because it’s the closest so was playing it safe really as I didn’t want to mess about choosing others further away and then not get him in any close by if that makes sense.

A small comment. If you had put your closest school last and listed in your true order of preference you wouldn't have risked not getting the closest school. They only take your order into account if you qualify for more than 1, in which case they give you the higher up one in your list.