READING secondary school in year admission

[user85]

Hi everyone... we are moving to Reading from UAE. We will reach UK only in April.My DD is year 8 and would like to join school in April. we couldnt apply for school as we still dont have a adddres there. Would like to seek for your valuable advice.

1. How can i know about the waiting lists in school?

2.Can someone please advice which schools will usually take kids in year? 3.My husband will be working in Wallingford ..what are the other options for a good place to live?

You can ask the school directly about waiting lists, or phone the admissions office at the local authority. Unfortunately the admissions allocations for September 2022 entry have been released this week so both are likely to be very busy with those queries for a week or two.

You can apply to any school for an in year place, if they have a place they will offer it to you. If there is no place you can appeal, many secondary appeals are successful, but not all. Alternatively you can go on the waiting list but this is a risky strategy as a) there may be others on the waiting list in front of you b) places might not come up.

Wallingford itself actually has a very good secondary school. I don't know if they would have in year spaces but you could ring and ask them.

I may have to travel to London for my training later.. it's one of the reasons why we thought of Reading...If my daughter didn't get admission in any school, what should I do?

If the local education authority can't offer you a place in any school, ask them to use the Fair Access Protocol. This is sometimes used for pupils arriving from abroad and means the LEA will create a place in whichever school is best able to accommodate an additional pupil (which isn't necessarily the school you would choose).

They are required to offer you a school place. It might not be at a school you want, but all they are obliged to do is offer somewhere.
Forget about schools this week and next. You won't get anything sensible out of them right now as secondary offers went out yesterday so they will be swamped with queries right now.

The LEA let me know where had spaces when I messaged them just before we flew home. If a school has spaces, it can be a quick process. If there is a shortage of spaces, it could take longer.

Good luck.

Depends on your budget. If you go East of Reading to Twyford, you are on the Elizabeth line. Slightly cheaper than Twyford, you have Woodley, where you could bus into the centre of Reading or drive to Twyford, both are in Wokingham District and a selection of good schools around. To the West, outside central Reading there is Tilehurst (some bits in Reading others West Berks). Personally, except the Grammars in Reading, the secondary options in West Berks and Wokingham overall are better, if taking the chance of being allocated where there is space. In Oxfordshire, South Oxfordshire has Langtree, Wallingford and Gillotts. There is lots of pressure on Oxfordshire schools as there has been lots and lots of house building over the past few years.

Contact Reading, Wokingham and West Berks UAs. Some of the schools on the outskirts are West Berks and Wokingham and not Reading.
Schools in Reading itself are patchy, there is a bulge working its way through and although there are very likely to be places, they are the much less desirable schools. (I’d go for Newbury/Thatcham personally, it’s a bit of a longer drive to Wallingford but you’re still on the main train line and the schools are better.

But I can apply for the school admission only after renting a house in Berkshire ...can I still call them before coming to UK to ask about school places?

Yes, same as anyone moving within UK, you are asking for info - however any spaces may have gone by the time you arrive. Most schools are full and those with spaces may be the less popular. Reading I believe has more spaces than Wokingham or West Berks, but that is because the Reading schools are not as good generally and Wokingham and West Berks educate a lot of Reading pupils. If you move to West Berks, the schools with lots of spaces are generally Theale Green or John O'Gaunt, so if you loved to within West Berks council, you will likely be allocated one of these. In Reading, prospect or Madejski are most likely to have spaces. However, when you arrive, you may be lucky and a space is available at a more popular school, because someone else has moved.

If your husband is going to work in Wallingford and you might need to go to London, why not look at Didcot or Wallingford or Cholsey to live. Fast trains to Paddington from Didcot and Cholsey. Secondary schools in Didcot such as Didcot Girls might have a place

I'd take a look at Theale Green. I believe it's been a bit mixed in the past but we've been thinking about secondary schools recently I've had a few people tell me it's improving quickly. It's a large school that mops up a lot of the surrounding rural areas so I think likely to have spaces. It's about half an hour from Wallingford.
I guess North of Reading would be more convenient for you but I don't know what school places are like there. I know if you're in the North of Reading Borough (I.e. Mapledurham, Peppard, Caversham, Emmer Green sort of areas) demand for school places is high and you could end up being offered a place elsewhere in Reading in a less popular school.
Not sure what the situation is if you're over the border in South Oxfordshire.

I emailed schools before moving to see if they had spaces, one did

When I emailed they are asking for the UK address, which we don't have yet. Can I put my sister's address in Langley as temporary address?

Only put an address at which you will actually be living. The LEA will almost certainly ask for proof of address - rental agreement, exchange of contract for sale etc - and might not be willing to act on the basis of a relative’s address. It’s probably better to explain that you will be moving to wherever there’s a school space and get their advice on what the most likely options will be.