If I say no to school place offered...

[Mayhemmumma]

What happens?

My DD has been offered none of our preferences nor the catchment school (there is only one in catchment)

The school she has been offered is inadequate and I am genuinely concerned about her going there, it is formally documented that there are 'frequent incidents of prejudice and discrimination', she is of mixed ethnicity and i am loathed to send her there. It's also strongly religious which I object to. DD is a high achiever/gifted and talented and the academic outcomes in the school are dreadful.

I am appealing and on waiting lists but can I say no to this school? If so would we be offered somewhere else - right now if feels ANYWHERE would be preferable.

Is there a reason why you didn't include the catchment school in your choices originally?

You can say no, but there is no requirement for you to be offered anything else. You would be choosing home education or private school until a space opens up.
Basically, rejecting a place won't force an offer you might prefer.

Risky to turn down the school before you have heard anything from the appeal

You've been offered a place. The LEA won't do anything else.

If you want a different school place, you need to find out where there are spaces locally, get on waiting lists and/or appeal for other schools.

You shouldn't refuse the place you already have unless you are prepared to home educate. You may need it as a backstop while you wait for something more preferred to come up.

I said no to the school I was offered - I didn’t get any of my choices and the school I was allocated is truly awful. I was told if I didn’t accept and then couldn’t get a place at another school there may not be a place still available. I told them I’d take my chances. The school was very undersubscribed due to no one wanting their child to go there (42 pupils started the year before with a PAN of 120).

I asked for a list of all the schools in the county that still had places available and then picked one of them. Admittedly it was 25 miles away and we ended up moving house but I’m very happy with how everything has worked out.

There is no benefit to rejecting the space for now. Get on lots of waiting lists and ask if there are other undersubscribed schools. If you turn down the place, you will be at the mercy of waiting lists, which hopefully will work out but no guarantee. Do also remember you can apply in other local authorities, so if you are nearish a border, it might be worth finding out about places at other schools too.

If you reject the place and you lose the appeal and don't get a waiting list place, your child won't start high school in September because they won't have a school place.

The LEA is only required to offer a place. If you decline it, they will assume you will home ed or go private. Having no school place will not give you an advantage at appeal if that's what you were hoping for.

In your shoes I would accept the place and go on the waiting list for any other acceptable school. This can be a school that you didn't apply for originally.

Appeals are about why you want the school that you are appealing for, not why the offered school is unacceptable

Legally it's your responsibility to arrange for your child's education, so if you don't want the place offered you can:
Find another state school place - by asking the LA which schools still have places
Go on waiting lists or appeal for schools that don't have spaces
Go to a private school
Educate at home

The LA have responsibility to make you an offer. They've done that. If you want to secure a place elsewhere you'll need to get yourself of waiting lists & appeal for those you want to.

It was a risk not putting your local catchment school as one of your preferences.

The LA have a duty to offer a place at a school, which they have.

Either you accept the place, accept the place and appeal to other schools, you go to an independent school, or you home educate.

You won’t be offered anywhere else simply for turning down the place you’ve been offered. The LA is only obliged to offer you one school place and they’ve done that, so having no place won’t give you any priority on appeal or waiting lists.

You won't get catchment school if you don't put it down. So they've given you what's left. Get on wait list for it

Why oh why didn’t you put your catchment school down? We have a fairly awful catchment school but I still put it last on the list as the other school I would have been allocated Otherwise was even worse than that!

If you don't accept it you will not necessarily be offered another place and are no more likely to succeed at appeal or from wl. Are there any undersubscribed schools you may prefer as a back up?.

Every year it’s the same mistakes being made - people not putting catchment school down as don’t want to waste a preference and think they will get catchment school if none of the preferences or people that just put one choice down as that means ‘ they have to give you that school’ etc etc. people need to be aware that you should alway always use your last choice for your safety school - the one you are most likely to get into - a rubbish school on your doorstep is better than a rubbish school 20 miles away!

As others have said, if you reject the place, the LEA is under no obligation to make you a second offer. You therefore run the risk of being without a place for September unless you win an appeal or gain a place from a waiting list or can home-educate or find a place in an independent school.

Blimey don't bite my head off I only asked, thanks to those who gave a clear response it's helpful to know what we can do. I will get a list of schools with spaces and consider different LA where I work.

Appeal or waiting list might work out but otherwise will consider private option.

Catchment school is not something I'd consider either and purposely didn't choose it.

But that's the problem. If you don't put the catchment school down you will end up at an equally worse school miles away. They always give priority to people who but the catchment school down over people who don't bother. Don't reject the place otherwise you could end up with nothing in September. Get your names on lists and speak if need be

I think even private will be filled by now most of the have interviews and exams before accepting

It doesn’t change your situation, but generally, if parents don’t list their catchment school or another school at which they can be sure of getting a place, they run the risk of being allocated one of the remaining schools with spaces. That could be an unpopular school, farther from home than the catchment school they don’t want.

Parents sometimes overlook that the application form is for preferences, not choices.

Private schools finished their process back in January, with the offers given out in February. You could apply for a casual vaccancy and homeschool in the interim.