Comprehensive school options for my DC

[nextchai1]

Hi , I am new to the UK and looking for secondary school options for my ds for year 7. He did appear for few independent school interviews but without bursaries, it seems difficult to pursue. I need to know if there is any option of finding a seat in a good London school (location is not a constraint). Ds is bright academically and very interested in sports as well !

If he is currently in Y7, you’ll have to make an “in year application”. The local authority can advise on the process, and which schools have Y7 places available (I imagine it won’t be many).

Applications for places for current Y6 pupils to start Y7 in September 2022, were made last autumn, but places have not yet been allocated. I think in this case, you’ll still need to do an in year application, but maybe once place are allocated next month. Again, the local authority can advise.

If he is Y5 or younger now, just apply through the usual process in the Sept/Ocf of Y6.

It is usual for children to go to school in the borough in which they live. Some schools have ver small catchments.

Y7 is the usual entry point for secondary schools, via applications made the previous autumn, and available places can be difficult to find after this point. You may not get a place in your preferred school, but you can go on their waiting list. Each school will have a set entrance priorities.

Good luck

Thank you so much for the information. He is currently in Year 6. My question is where to start in terms of locations for applying to comprehensive schools. Is there any ranking table or just consolidated list with the facilities ?

Where will you be living? Most people have a choice of perhaps 2 or 3 near their area. The qhole of london is vast!

Maybe South /South west london/West London (had stayed there briefly 10 years ago).

You don't just get to choose any London school, it will largely be based on where you live, then you can rank local schools and hope you get your first option.

There are an enormous amount of schools in London. You really need to narrow it down. Do you need to live somewhere easy for you to get to work? What housing budget do you have? Some of the best non-selective schools are in quite expensive areas so that might be a factor. Do you want single sex or mixed? Are you religious and considering faith schools?

@nextchai1

Choose the school and then ensure you live next to it, especially if you're in the process of choosing to where to live anyway.

I would focus on the school you want from research and then soon as possible get a rental close to that school. Make sure you choose somewhere where you can choose a collection of local schools.

Thanks all...in terms of research should I refer to gov.uk website or is there any separate list/table for the comprehensive schools.

Do you need to be near a particular tube line for work or anything? There's literally 100s and 100s of schools.

I would go for more mixed areas because the schools are less likely to have the brightest kids creamed off for private. That said, the best state schools are typically oversubscribed so you are unlikely to get an in year place.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.standard.co.uk/homesandproperty/buying-mortgages/10-of-the-best-london-boroughs-to-move-to-for-good-state-schools-a125451.html%3Famp

The article above details the best boroughs to move to for schools. If I understand you correctly, you want to know where to move to in order to get into a good school. If your area is already decided, as PPs have said you will have to choose between your local schools.

I wouldn’t recommend that you move to an area known for being heavily into the grammar system eg Bexley as you’ve missed the deadline for the exams so you won’t get in, and grammar schools have a devastating impact on the comprehensives in the area.

@DragonMovie

www.google.com/amp/s/www.standard.co.uk/homesandproperty/buying-mortgages/10-of-the-best-london-boroughs-to-move-to-for-good-state-schools-a125451.html%3Famp

The article above details the best boroughs to move to for schools. If I understand you correctly, you want to know where to move to in order to get into a good school. If your area is already decided, as PPs have said you will have to choose between your local schools.

I wouldn’t recommend that you move to an area known for being heavily into the grammar system eg Bexley as you’ve missed the deadline for the exams so you won’t get in, and grammar schools have a devastating impact on the comprehensives in the area.

And the first line of that article is: There are 10 times more applications for good state schools than places available in the capital.

Each local council will have a list of their local schools.

The housing search website rightmove (rent or buy) also has a schools tab so you can see what schools are the nearest.

Once you have narrowed down areas that will work for the rest of your set up (budget, commute etc.) you could call the local councils and ask what schools are likely to have vacancies once they have allocated for the year. It is a bad time to enter, as in general London schools have a fair amount of churn, but that won’t have taken place yet for the next school year especially as people will be trying not to move when their children are at this point because of schools admittance.

You will not be awarded a place at a state school until you actually have an address that would make your son eligible to attend it. A private school should be happy to take you from anywhere in the world, then update.

Schools with spaces for year 7 entry may not be where you want your child to go. Councils only are obliged to offer you a school place where they have space. They do not have to offer you your local or preferred school. I would be mentally preparing to do home schooling for a term or so.

Are you currently in London or not yet on the country? If the former, you needed
to have done an application already!!

Your application for state schools will be address dependent so you need a house first then you apply for schools. If he is already in yr 6 you have missed the application dates for state schools so it will treated as a late application. First concentrate on your housing.

You may well find that the cost of renting within the catchment of a desirable London state school is comparable to renting in a cheaper area and paying school fees, especially if you only have the one child.

I say this as someone who has 3 DC doing well in lovely state schools!

Thanks for the last bit-sounds a very logical option. @GU24Mum I am outside the country and my DH flied yesterday to join his job in London. I will be moving in April so literally have all the options for housing. I need to find a job so location/school cannot be dependent on that. Can start from any location as will have to rent for a while. Currently cannot afford a very expensive catchment but a middle class kind of grounded environment. Would love to start with 5 good options for schools and then decide on the location but I guess the system is opposite. South/SW can be an option but is there any other recommended area for staying ?

Chose an area with good transport links and a variety of good schools. Secure accommodation ASAP as the allocation date is in a few weeks and you'll want to get on waiting lists quickly to maximise chances. Waiting lists go on distance.

If your husband is in London already I'd get him on the case of looking for convenient accommodation and then checking the schools nearby.

What is your plan for rest of Yr6?

You have missed the deadline for year 6 applications, secondary school places will be notified to parents in a few weeks. It does make it a huge amount trickier moving here in April. You will be making a late application
so may not get the school you want. Options would be to find out which schools still have spaces, likely to be the less sought after schools or move very close to a good school and go on the waiting list and/or appeal.

If you're not arriving til April (and presumably your son isn't arriving til then either), you can't apply yet.

As others have said, the process here is that applications were submitted in the autumn and the allocations are announced on 1st March. There is then a few weeks of people accepting (or not) the places and getting themselves onto waiting lists before the councils/schools can give a meaningful answer about their waiting lists. If a school has places on 1st March though, it's fairly likely to have them when you come over in April.

You'll either need to start somewhere so you'll need to decide whether you work through a list of secondary schools (though if you start with the "best" (very subjective of course....) ones, they will invariably have long waiting lists or whether you pick an area and contact all the schools in that area which you think you'd be happy with.

Where in London is your husband working? Is he's counting to an office somewhere, that will have an impact on where it's practical to live for his commute.

@DragonMovie , Thank you for sharing the article...looks good in terms of options...maybe Sutton, Kingston and Harrow as first options. Any feedback regarding Kingston Academy school(Kingston), Whitmore High school(Harrow) and Glenthorne School(Sutton) ?

Glenthorne is a very good school. Complicated entry though - they use a banding system so not as easy as just renting close to the school. You could look at Cheam High?

A thing worth nothing about Sutton is the number of SW London independent schools means plenty of people turn down their state school offer, which has a knock-on effect on grammar and comprehensive places as the waiting lists move.

What I don't know (maybe somebody else can confirm) is at what point your application gets treated the same as everyone else's. You may not be able to get on the waiting lists until August if it treated as an in-year application.

www.sutton.gov.uk/-/in-year-admissions

Glenthorne is a great school, however it is hard to get a place as it's so popular. Their admissions process is complicated, but everyone has to sit a banding test. They then give proportionately equal numbers of places in each band. I don't know if you can be added to the waiting list if you didn't sit the test. You would need to read the admissions details in depth or contact them. They also have other priorities, which means sometimes people living on the same road don't get a place.

As you are making a late application, your best bet is renting as close as possible to a good size comprehensive that admits primarily on distance, but with other reasonable schools nearby. You will then need to wait for a place on a waiting list. PPs have pointed you in the direction of some boroughs with good schools as a possible starting point.

Will you also be needing a yr6 school place?

Op you may not be aware (some posters gave said thus tbf) but applications for places at state secondary schools in England for children currently in year 6 are now under consideration. The deadline was 31 Oct last year and offers will go out on 1 March. Your application will be classed as a late or in-year application. Once you gave a UK address, you can apply for a place, but you are unlikely to have any kind of choice. Basically unless a school is undersubscribed (and good ones are not as a rule) you are waiting for someone to leave or reject their place, which is less likely for yr6 to yr7 than other years. You can go on waiting lists for all the schools you like, but unless you are happy to home Ed, you most likely will have to take a place at an unpopular school. Sorry if this is not what you want to hear.

Places do come up, even at popular schools, as London does have a lot of churn. But you will have to wait.

Sorry if this isn't what you want to hear.