Enrolling at 6th form on Friday after results day due to being a late applicant

[eveningqueen456]

My son is currently in year 11 and has applied to stay on at sixth form at his current school and also applied to college. However we were informed at the beginning of term that 2 of the A levels he wanted to do will no longer be running due to low numbers so if he wants to stay at his current school in 6th form he needs to choose different subjects. I know he has the college as a back up but this is for a BTEC course rather than A levels which is what he really wants to do and he wasn't keen on the college on the open day.

So last week we frantically looked at other school sixth forms and have applied to a different school but as a late applicant as end of March was the cut off. He has now had an interview and been offered a place but he cannot enrol until the Friday as he is a late applicant. My worry is that if he can't enrol on the Thursday -will the courses that he wants be full up and he won't then get a place. He can't enrol at the college (his 2nd choice) on the Thursday as a back up because if he does then he can't enrol at the other school as well, therefore he could potentially lose both places.

Has anyone else been in this situation and got a place fine by enrolling on the day after results day? The school say they have so many people who don't take up their places that there will be a place available for him but I am just a bit dubious. He is autistic and so worried because he can't now stay at his current school and he really really wants this other school but all though he has a space provided he gets the GCSE results if it is full on the Thursday (which apparently is very very unlikely) he will have no where as he has given up his space at the college by not enrolling.

Your first paragraph is wrong. Failing to mention how late applicants will be treated in the admission arrangements does not mean they have to be treated the same as on time applicants, no matter how often you say it. Having a deadline for applications means that anyone who misses that deadline will be processed after the on-time applications, otherwise there is no point having a deadline. Many LAs do not specify in their admission arrangements that late applications will be processed after on-time applications, but that is nonetheless the case. No appeal panel will agree with your position.

@prh47bridge I think you have mentioned before that sixth form admissions is not your area of expertise. "Processing" a sixth form application is very different to processing a year 7 application because all offers are conditional until results day. Students tend to get multiple conditional offers from multiple schools. Most schools manage the uncertainty by giving offers to all who apply. On results day, the offers become firm if the conditions have been met. However, the most popular schools are now in a position of having dished out more firm offers than places available. They manage this by enrolling external students in the order set out by their admissions arrangements. They give them timed appointments ordered by (for example) distance. Students who have later appointments are more likely to be told their course is full and they have to choose another course or reject the place.

I am not suggesting that the op appeals, because I know it's not possible to appeal a place until you have been refused a place. The op won't ever be refused a place - her dc will be offered a place, just not necessarily on the course he wants.

I am suggesting that she reads the admissions policy to see whether the late processing arrangements are set out. If they are not, then I would question that with the school.

No, I have never said that sixth form admissions is not my area of expertise. Yes, offers are conditional and many schools make more offers than they have places. Yes, students may get offers from multiple schools because sixth form admissions are not co-ordinated by the LA. But the Admissions Code still applies to schools (but not to sixth form colleges).

I understand what you are suggesting. However, I disagree that late applications have to be treated in the same way as on-time applications unless the school specifically says so in their admission arrangements. That makes having a deadline pointless, since it makes no difference whether you apply before or after the deadline. The only way OP could enforce your idea is via appeal or through the courts after being refused a place. Neither appeal panels nor the courts would agree with your position.

OP could try to enforce this right she doesn't have by arguing with the school, and it is possible the school would cave. However, it is more likely that they wouldn't, and she would get herself an immediate reputation as "that" parent.

Last year my son changed his mind about what he wanted to do - he had a place at a college. He had no trouble getting a place at a different college but there was not a chance of being able to enrol at his school 6th form, or the local 6th form college after results. We even checked again a few weeks after term started in case of drop out/movement but both were full.