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 !

Sliw typing means I x posted with others, sorry

Where does your DH need to travel to for work?

Thank you everyone for your guidance...lots to do I guess to make this work for DS.. If you have any first hand experience with any good comprehensive school (anywhere within/outskirts London), do suggest and then I can follow the procedure for checking the vacancies with the council. DH is wfh as of now and will move to hybrid so commute isn't the criteria as of now.

I cmt help on the London side of things, but we have moved internationally needing school places.
You can't apply until the child is in the country - we were asked for flight tickets to prove it. Then you will get offered a school with spaces.
Basing yourself right next to a fantastic school is likely to cause headache. Find an area with a number of good schools, and excellent transport links, and go from there.
Are you going to home school April - July? Or will you also want a primary place? We had 3 weeks from offer to being in school or place was withdrawn.

Ofsted is the English school inspecting body, but br careful. Some excellent schools haven't been inspected for 10 years, and so much may have changed. Also, poor schools aren't aways bad - it depends on why they are bad, and if that affects you.

Sorry OP but none of the school's will have vacancies. They are in the process of allocating next year's places now.

You will have to move and apply to schools, and get on the waiting list. You will then be allocated a place on the list dependant on how you meet the criteria. These are normally:

Distance from school
Attendance at a'feeder' primary
Sibling at the school

There are others, but obviously you will only get in on distance grounds.

So you need to find a school, move literally next to it, apply and then hope there's not people who meet higher priority than you.

I really don't think you are listening to how this works, at many a good state secondary there are children who live in the same road who don't get in as there are others ahead of them in priority order, you will have to look at each school's admissions criteria and ensure you meet them.

Not being here is going to be a massive disadvantage as it is delaying applying.

Can you afford private fees? That may be a better bet as other than with the very selective ones you may have a better chance of a place and proximity to school is less of an issue. And you dict need to be physically here to apply

@nextchai1

Thank you everyone for your guidance...lots to do I guess to make this work for DS.. If you have any first hand experience with any good comprehensive school (anywhere within/outskirts London), do suggest and then I can follow the procedure for checking the vacancies with the council. DH is wfh as of now and will move to hybrid so commute isn't the criteria as of now.

Your DH may be wfh at the moment, but he will have a commute at some point. London is vast, and the difference in commute from one side to the other can be hours. I really think you need to add this to your list of criteria. And it will help narrow down your search. There are hundreds of schools in London, all with different issues such as next door to a grammar, entrance criteria, pastoral care etc. It just isn't as simple as picking a school and then pinning all your hopes on that. Please listen to the advice on here - the timing of your move is a real issue. As are housing budget, work commutes, other schools in the area you are targeting etc.

@nextchai1

Thank you everyone for your guidance...lots to do I guess to make this work for DS.. If you have any first hand experience with any good comprehensive school (anywhere within/outskirts London), do suggest and then I can follow the procedure for checking the vacancies with the council. DH is wfh as of now and will move to hybrid so commute isn't the criteria as of now.

Thing is, OP, schools will not have vacancies for year 7 in Sept just now; as several posters have said, the applications process is happening and any good school or one that is well thought of will be filling its places with children who applied in October. These offers go out in March. If any are rejected (which I imagine happens in London perhaps more, because of the number of popular fee-paying schools) then that place is offered to the next eligible child - usually one from a waiting list who didn't get a place in the first round.

This all happens in March. By the time you move here in April (you cannot apply till you live here) I would think any spare places will have been filled and you will have to go on waiting lists.

The local authority will offer you a place but it will be in a school with spaces, in other words an unpopular one. You can then go on waiting lists for schools you prefer. So I think the advice from posters to move to an area with a number of decent schools and go on the list for all of them is good.

I don't have knowledge of where that would be but as I understand it there are many good schools in most areas of London and outer London. If I were you I would not focus on one or two schools and "are they excellent?" as you may be disappointed.

OP you will be applying at a tricky time, but one for your list might be Marylebone Boys’ School. It is a good school which is undersubscribed (due to being in an non-residential area) and attracts boys from all over London.

Be aware that it does feel very urban - the site having more of an “office block” feel than a traditional school setting. Some sports take place onsite, indoors or on a rooftop pitch, but others are within a short minibus ride.

I am not a parent there (though we did view it) but you may find parents on here who can give you an insider’s view.

Thank you @HighburyHope