Moving out of catchment after applying for catchment senior school

[KatieHB]

We live in the catchment for a very good senior school and are hoping our son gets in next September. We need to apply by the end of this month. We are looking to move and have found a house, although it's only be a couple of miles away, it is outside of the catchment for this school. I am checking with our local council but does anyone have any experience of this? I had always thought it went on where you lived when applying (we have lived here 18 years), so I assumed it would be OK, but now think I should check. If it turns out he might have his offer withdrawn if we move we probably wouldn't risk it. Thanks

Honestly just look at the admissions rules for your area and see what they say about addresses. Your area may be one who needs an address late on in the process, or may be one where end October is sufficient. You won't know unless you read the rules.

Be careful - we are having issues with a neighbouring borough who will withdraw an offer if the fmaily move further from a school any time before September - even when all clearly above board.

This is at odds with what out borough does and we have advised the family to appeal.

I have a question around secondary school applications. Me and my sons father are separated, and the father was living in a flat for 18 months or so before applying for secondary schools. His flat was nearer to our preferred school so we put that address down on the form as son split time between both places equally and not likely to get in from my address. Father was still living at the same flat at the time of allocation in March and continued to do so until the end of May, so lived there for 2 years in total. When his lease came up for renewal, he decided not to as wanted to buy a house, so has moved back in with his parents temporarily while he looks for a house within the schools catchment area. Issue is now, july, I’ve had a call from the school saying there is a discrepancy with the addresses between the council and what they have (we had informed them of dads address a long while ago and was on file), I said to the school both addresses should be on there as he was living with both of us. But obviously at the moment dad is no longer at that address while he looks for a house. I wanted to know if the school can now withdraw the place as my son is no longer at the flat, even though at the time of application he was, and allocation and for two months after. And if this is grounds to do so, as people do move between allocation and starting the school sometimes?

@ACS198213 you'd be better off starting your own thread as posters might only read the first post and not see your question

How do I do that? I was trying to but couldn’t figure it out!

@SoupDragon how do I do that? Was trying to but couldn’t figure out how to!

Are you on the website or the app?

@ACS198213 you have 2 potential issues here. One is whether your son's primary address is at his dad's house and the other is whether they think the dad's rental was one of convenience i.e. he rented for a school place.

The fact he lived there for 2 years is hopefully a positive, as it is a decent length of time. Have you been separated a long time or did he move from yours straight into this flat? If so, that may look more suspicious. Is he on the council tax records at his parents to prove he lives there and not with you. (Some people will lie about separation for school places).

I hope this all gets sorted for you without too much stress. I would advise starting a new thread as the PP said. You will get more advice that way.

@SoupDragon on the website

It's here

From my own experience i think just move and you will be fine. Our local authority made decisions on what you put on the form... no evidence needed
However some of the non state schools did ask for council tax bills which are still not great evidence imo.

a local authority near us will withdraw a place if you move after offer and before you have started.

please check with the local authority and explain to them what has happened.

Has your ex moved to another borough? Do you live in another borough?

In my area you need to be in Situ on allocations day. I know someone who applied then imed moved and lost the place

We are both in the same borough and not far from the school but not within the max distance

The father was there on application and allocation day, moved out at the end of May

Each LA will make own decisions

talk to you LA - it will be clear from fancy etc that you are leaving at the end of a 2 year lease - not moving mid tenancy. Only your LA will be able to give you proper answers.

If a child spends 50:50 time with both parents, that doesn't mean the parents get a choice about which address to apply from. Each LA will have a policy about how to identify the correct address, so you will have to check with their written policy, but it is frequently defined as the address of the parent who receives the Child Benefit. Find out whether that or some other criterion applies, and establish whether or not you were correct to apply from his dad's address.

If it was correct to apply from dad's address then no fraud took place, the address was legitimate and correct at the time of application and at the time that places were allocated and the move took place in good faith. You should be able to retain the place, though you may need to fight to make them accept this.

However it is entirely possible that your application using the dad's address was incorrect and went against the LA's written policy on how to make applications for children who live at more than one address. If this is the case then it is legitimate for the place to be withdrawn as the application was incorrectly made. They will still find your child a place, but you will have to accept that it will likely not be at your preferred school.