Confusing situation

[Norpeth]

I'll try and make this as easy to understand as possible re DD years.

Old house was in an area where we had first, middle and high school. High school starts year 9. (DD due to start year 9 this September) Applied for high school and offered a place in outstanding feeder high school.

Moved house recently. This area is normal primary, secondary. DD moved schools from year 8 middle school, to year 8 secondary school. School is awful.

We are out of catchment and no longer attend the feeder school but I've noticed on the council portal that it's still showing as 'place offered' for outstanding high school.

Do you think there's any chance she will still be able to attend the high school in September?

You need to check the admission criteria and check if the place was offered due to living in catchment on the date of application or if it says living in catchment when she starts as if the latter I'd worry that when you update your address with them the place will be removed. All you can do really is update your address and see I guess (you can't leave the wrong address with them).

Thank you I've updated our address so I guess I'll just wait and see.

If you felt that you had to move your DD for the remainder of this academic year due to your house move, is the high school originally offered within a sensible distance from your new home?

Sorry to add to the confusion but we lived rurally and the high school was actually 16 miles away. But because of it being the 3 tier system and being a feeder school, our village was in the catchment even though closer towns/villages aren't.

We now only live about 5 miles away from the high school but 19 miles away from dds old middle school/our old house, which makes it too hard to get to.

So the high school is now just a bus ride away.

Sorry I hope that makes sense!

Since its only a term, would you move her back to the middle school? (I've read your other thread) or home educate for this term if you can keep the high school place?

If a place has been offered and accepted, they cannot lawfully take it away. Some LAs still try to do so, but an appeal should sort it out if that happens. Any admission criteria that require someone to be living in catchment when they start are unenforceable.

It would be nearly impossible for me to get her to her old middle school. I don't drive and due to it being a rural location, the buses aren't very frequent.

Could you argue that you moved especially to be closer to it? (If it does go to appeal or even if they try to withdraw the place?)
You could say you were confident of the place so wanted to live nearer

@prh47bridge Isnt the issue here that OP’s DC was in a feeder school for the high school and has moved schools? Presumably (although it isn’t clear) that was the criteria on which they received the offer (assuming the school is oversubscribed). Can the LA remove an offer in that situation, ie if a child no longer attends the feeder school?

Once an offer has been made, there are only three grounds on which it can be withdrawn:

• The parent has not accepted the offer within a reasonable period of time
• The offer was made in error
• The application was fraudulent or intentionally misleading

The child moving to a different school does not fall into any of these categories unless they attended the feeder school briefly to get a place then moved to another school as soon as the place was secured.