Divorced parents can't agree on a secondary school - What happens next?

[TheGreenDiary]

Hello,

I am posting here as I was advised to by the step-parents board. I am not a parent or a teacher; I hope this is okay.

My friend and his ex share custody (50-50) of their 9 nine year old.

When the girl started primary, both parents lived close to the school. The mother moved out of the area (about a 20 min drive away) two years ago. She has been (unsuccessfully) trying to change her daughter's school since her move.

The parents are now deciding which secondary school they will apply to, and they can't agree. The mother wants her daughter to go to a school next to her house. My friend just wants his daughter to go to a good school (which the one near her mother's house isn't). The two schools near my friend's house are rated as "good" and "outstanding" by Ofsted.

If they can't agree on a school, what will happen?

The dad gets the child benefit (as even though it's a 50-50 split, he usually has his daughter slightly more), which I believe makes a difference?

Thank you.

Different authorities use different criteria, so they need to look at the admissions policy for the Authority they are applying to, but yes, some use child benefit, some use main residence, so they need to check and be aware, it can change.

Which school does the child want to attend? Friends are a key factor at that age so they may want to go to the same school their friends are applying for.

They will need to apply for a school based on the address that she spends most time at and is registered at the GP with. Well that’s how it is with my local authority.
Have they visited the schools yet? I would t write anything off before visiting and the girl herself will have opinions about where she’d like to go.

In my area, the Child Benefit wouldn't have any impact in this situation (that is, it might affect which address needed to be used on the application, but it wouldn't determine which parent applied for a place). If both parents have PR for the child, then either could submit an application. If they both submitted applications, listing different school preferences, then the LA would contact them both to ask that they resolve the dispute between them. If they couldn't agree, then the LA would refuse to accept either application, and would not offer the child a school place. Ultimately, if the parents wanted a school place but couldn't agree, then they would have to go through the courts to make a decision.

Ask the child where they want to go.

Sorry, to clarify further. Is the address the deal breaker here? That is, if the mum's address needs to be used on the application, would it then be pointless to apply for the schools your friend prefers, because the daughter wouldn't get in - and vice versa? If so, then that's actually an 'easier" problem, as the LA should be able to give a categorical answer to the question of which address needs to be used on the application. The greater difficulty arises if, once the correct address is confirmed, there is still more than one realistic school option, and the parents can't agree.

Honestly, grown people who shouldn’t have kids if they can’t be reasonable.

Give the kid the choice. It’s their future.

There are two issues here.

One is which address would be used as the girl's home address. As others have said, that is down to the LA's policies. However, that does not resolve the question as to which schools should be named as preferences. The fact that one parent's address will be used on the application does not give them any greater say over which schools are named.

If the parents cannot agree, they will have to go to court for a Specific Issue Order, which means the courts will decide. It would be preferable if they can arrive at an agreement between them.

This is a situation where looking carefully at the chances of getting a place at the schools involved may help. If the application must use the father's address, for example, and that means there is no realistic chance of the daughter getting a place at the mother's preferred school, he can agree to that school being named as first preference with his preferred schools as second and third preference, knowing that the outcome will almost certainly be a place at one of his preferred schools.

Do both parents drive and have cars?

Is there a school that’s equidistant, rather than nearest to one of them?

It looks like a no-brainer for the dad (Ofsted, friends) but it can’t do any harm to find a way to make it more manageable for the mum.

What does the child want?