Advice needed - relocating from Australia to York

[Digsby13]

Hi everyone

I will be relocating to the York area with a 12year old and 14year old after Christmas and have zero idea about the education system here and how I even find a school place. To add to my confusion we will probably be in an Air BNB for the first couple of months whilst we sort out a rental etc.

I would love some advice on schools North/North East of York and how oversubscribed they might be etc. is it a real nightmare getting your first preference ??

The York rental market is absolutely nuts.

Get in touch with north Yorkshire education authority about the school places. There is lots of info online, and you can speak to them about the process of enrolment. Also scope out the schools themselves, there aren't many, and drop them a line.

When are their birthdays? That will determine the years they go into. The 12 year old will be in either year 7 or 8 in January, and the 14 year old either year 9 or 10.

Our academic year runs Sept 1 - Aug 31; so if your child will be 13 before Aug 31 next year, they will enter Year 8 in Jan. If your eldest will be 15 before Aug 31, they will enter Year 10 in Jan.

The local authority will find you places, but they don't need to be in the same school - they will just be in schools that have spaces in the relevant years. Year 10 will be the biggest issue if that's the year they are in - that will be the first of 2 GCSE years (possibly second of three if the school does a 3 year study programme) of GCSEs, so she/he will be starting studies late and may have limited options. Ideally you need a school that does them over 2 years if they are entering in Year 10 - year 9 will be less of an issue.

One of them will be going into Year 10. I hate the idea of them potentially being at separate schools. Thank you for the advice, I'll get on the phone and start making some calls

You make an In Year application to the local authority. They may be hesitant regarding a temporary address but you may find that they are allocated schools not that nearby ir of your choosing anyway as it will be wherever has a space.

www.york.gov.uk/InYearApplications

I used to work as a Relocation agent Pre Covid.
my advice is contact all potential schools and find one with spaces.
Then rent as close to that school as possible, might not be easy as the York/N Yorks rental market is nuts.
Apply to the school/s. They may allow an application from outside the area/country, I did it for clients in Harrogate from The USA, but they may not
Do you have to be in York?

I can’t advise on specific schools, but just some food for thought;

• Air BnB’ing for the first couple of months might not be as easy as you hope. York is a real tourist mecca, accommodation books months in advance. When my DD was at Uni here we used to have to book weeks in advance, just to find something for a couple of nights
• Travel around York can be very congested at all times of year, especially if you need to use the ring road or go into the centre. The A64 is also very difficult in the summer.
• A good place to start in considering schools and accommodation is an understanding of where you will be working.
• Once you understand your commute, start talking now to the rental agents about the best places to live and start investigating schools.
• Don't dismiss living outside the ring road. Only commute into or out of central York at rush hour if you have too.
• There are fantastic schools in York, both Private and State, but the gloss can wear off any school if your DC struggle to get there. It takes my GD 1.5 hours each way to get into her school. So depending on where you will be working don’t dismiss small villages / towns and some of the schooling outside central York.

Good luck @Digsby13 feel free to PM if you want to ask any specific questions. My DD is well beyond school age so I no longer know which schools are considered the best, but I do know my way around York relatively well

That’s true about the rental market.

York is not part of North Yorkshire council, so if you’re moving to York itself, City of York Council is the education admissions authority. The villages on the outskirts of York are part of York Council, but the villages further out will be in North Yorkshire.

This is the School Admissions website for York.

York school admissions

My daughter is only in primary school, so I don’t know much about the secondary schools. The schools to the north of York are Huntington School and Joseph Rowntree school, and Archbishop Holgates is in the east of York.

So many fantastic replies and advice ! So, we aren't planning to be in York city itself. We would like to be semi rural - so looking at the villages North / North West of York. I will be working remotely and partner can also pretty much work from anyway so would love to hear any suggestions on Towns / Villages. We like the look of Huntingdon??

Is that not still within the ring road? Not really rural.

No useful advice except to say I hope you like Vikings!!

Sorry - I meant,We're also open to other locations. We won't need to travel into York itself just be based within a reasonable commute for when I do need to go in which will only be once every couple of months

If you want a village to the east of York there are lots of lovely ones. Everingham, Elvington, Dunnington, Catton, Sherriff Hutton, Sutton on Derwent…all really nice, and you’re off the dreaded ring road. I think you’d be in the catchment area for Archbishop Holgate, which got outstanding in its last Ofsted inspection, I believe.

A bit further out is the town of Pocklington, which is nice and has a good school.

The city gets so congested that there are Park and Ride facilities. Will you both drive?

I just googled Pocklington. It looks fabulous.I'll have a look at work out which senior school would be in the catchment

Knaresborough is a lovely market town

Woldgate is the senior school for Pocklington. Pock is in the East Riding of Yorkshire so yet another different local authority to phone! The catchment runs to Kexby, just east of York (there are dedicated school buses).
The next villages along towards York are Elvington and Dunnington which, being inside the York boundary, send kids to Fulford (unlikely to have places I think.
Stamford Bridge is catchment for Woldgate but about 50% of kids choose Archbishops because the public bus service is good.
For y12, there are buses to York College (or they can stay at school).

Also there is Malton, which is lovely and has a train service to York. No idea what the school is like. It’s in North Yorkshire.

Huntingdon is just inside the ring road, but a good 6th Form. You could look at living in Haxby or Strensall and just nipping the children in from their.

Pocklington is interesting. It has seen a lot of house building and growth over the last few years and I am not sure whether the infrastructure has kept up. But it has a very good Private school.

Someone has suggested Malton up thread. It is a sweet little town with an interesting range of shops in the centre. It holds a food market twice (or possibly more now) a year. The school prides itself on it’s Maths focus and there are lots of really lovely villages, Slingsby, Hovingham, Terrington, Bulmer etc close by. All are a really easy commute into Malton. It also has a station so your children will have the ability to go into York easily as they grow older.

Sorry there, not their

I appreciate you might not have a choice but if the older one is going into Y10 after Christmas, he/she will already have missed at least 20% of the teaching time for GCSEs so I'd prioritise that school and make the place for the younger one work around it.

I live in Pocklington, OP, so PM me if I can help.

Oh that would be great if I could ! Will PM you tomorrow

If I don’t reply straight away, it’s because I’m flying long-haul. I will get back to you though.