Offer day - change school?

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My son wanted a particular secondary school (school b) but I didn't feel it was convenient for many different reasons, I left it up to his choice but really went through why I thought school A was better.
We applied for school B then an hour before application close he said ok put school A, so I changed it

The next day he said actually I want school B 🙄 I explained that the application was done and we can't do anything now so on offer day I will go about getting his name down for school B. He will definitely be offered school A as his sibling goes there.

Does anyone have any experience of this? everything I've seen says about being on a wait list for a school listed higher than the one you were offered but the school we now want to go on a wait list for was our option 2.
Am I able to get his name down for school B despite it being ranked as a lower preference than the one we will be offered.

I hope this makes sense, any advice appreciated.

Unless he doesn't have any friends going to school A or something equally big, I would stick with what you think is going to be best for him. He won't be able to fully consider factors like travel time etc and if you know school A is a good school due to his sibling and you think he will be happy there, I would see how he settles in. I doubt he would want to move after being at school A for a month or 2 anyway

We need to wait and see but I know most of his friends are going to school B.
To be honest I don't have great opinions on school A based on my older child going there but my older child isn't the best behaved so I'm aware that he is probably the issue rather than the school.
It's so hard as I just want him to be happy which is why I'm willing to switch to school B despite it being so inconvenient for me.

School A is in the town I work in, he qualifies for free school transport, all his new friends will then be local, I know the school and how it runs. I also saved blazers, pe kits etc from his brother.

School B is in another county (we live on the border), to get there you go over a motorway junction so there is traffic, his new friends probably, for the most part won't be local to us. I can't afford the council run school bus pass so it means a 25min walk to the public bus stop and still a £50 monthly bus pass to get him there.

I think a child will do well in any school if they're willing to so it's the external factors that matter to me. Saying that, his happiness rules over everything for me. I feel stuck over what to do.

You need to speak to your LA about this but I suspect it would be quite risky to try to change now. In your shoes I would encourage your son to get on board with A and go for that.

My understanding is that if you get a place at A but want one at B, you would have to reject the place at A outright - I’m not sure you could hold onto it while waiting to see if you can get a place at B. It may be possible to submit a late application to B (having rejected A) and then go on the waiting list for it. However I don’t know if B would process your application along with the continuing interest rounds or not, or turn to it only when they’re done.

Unless B is undersubscribed then you may well not get a place there, and then you’d be left with whatever school does have places.

Do speak to your LA but I think you will need to accept A and then potentially apply later in the year for an in year transfer to B, but again unless it’s undersubscribed then it’s unlikely a place will come up.

Yes that is my worry that I'd have to turn down A to then go for B. Will speak to the LA this week , thank you both.

School B commute sounds like a pain in the backside. Can you tell your son a little lie, say you are on the waitlist for School B then do a practise commute for both and ask him does he really want to do the School B journey every day vs A?

Please DO NOT turn down school A when offered this week - if you do that the council have fulfilled their obligation to provide you a place and don't have to sort anything else out for you.

For most LAs you can be added to the waitlist of whichever school you like - you just ask them to add you asap. You'll then be ranked in order of priority (according to the schools criteria) after offers day.

But it sounds like your best bet is to stick with school A due to the transport situation. Can you find out if any of his friends are going?

My understanding is that if you get a place at A but want one at B, you would have to reject the place at A outright - I’m not sure you could hold onto it while waiting to see if you can get a place at B.

NO DO NOT DO THIS. This is not how it works at all. You absolutely must accept the place, then go on the waiting list for the other school.

Different schools manage their lists differently so you need to find out what you need to do from the school.

If you reject the place you have been offered, the local authority have done their duty and you are out of the system.

Please read my full post - I certainly wasn't suggesting OP did this!!!

To the contrary, I was explaining the pitfalls of turning down A to get B, and concluded by saying “you will need to accept A.”

My understanding of the national regulations on schools admissions is that you can accept your offered school on allocation day then request to go on waitlists for any other school. You have to make a request if you have been offered your first preference, but if your offered school was not your first preference you will automatically be added to waitlists for higher preference schools. If you then get an offer from the waitlist you can reject the original school and accept the new offer instead. If you get no offers from the waitlist you stick with original school. You are also under no obligation to accept an offer from the waitlist if you change your mind.

This is information gleaned from previous threads on the subject on MN posted by regular posters known for their expertise in this area.

Hi,

Speak to your LA - they will advise you.

In our LA you can go on the waiting list for the other school, retain the one you have been offered and then if offered choose between the two.

In other LAs it is not always the case. Please see that they say.

Talk to your child, talk to the LA and make your decision based on the facts of the situation.

How independent is he? Can he currently do a 25 minute walk on his own in all weathers ? Carrying a PE kit and food tech ingredients never mind remember to take them when he gets off the bus? How many buses an hour ? Is the walk safe and likely to have other children walking it?

Accept A and consider going on the waiting list for B but it sounds like A is a better choice because of the commute.

You don't turn down A, just request wl for B

When changed primary after offer but before September due to a house move. I had accepted the offer school initially. I was then told by the council to email admissions requesting a change of preference. Further complicated as it cross county and different councils. He then got a place at the primary in the village. Don't reject any places. If you're unsure how to change it contact admissions in your council they will tell you what to do. Tbh you can't guarantee all friends will be at any schools no places are guaranteed. My son is now year 8 is not friendly with anyone who joined from primary. There are a couple he keeps in touch with but they went to other schools. You can't choose a school because of others, it's gotta be suitable for them. Worst case you can move them mid year. Putting them on a waiting list if no spaces. What ever you do, don't reject the place offered initially.

My understanding is that if you get a place at A but want one at B, you would have to reject the place at A outright - I’m not sure you could hold onto it while waiting to see if you can get a place at B. It may be possible to submit a late application to B (having rejected A) and then go on the waiting list for it. However I don’t know if B would process your application along with the continuing interest rounds or not, or turn to it only when they’re done.

This is NOT CORRECT.

The correct way to go is to accept the place at school A and then ask to go on the waiting list for school B.

But I would encourage him to make school A work, as the transport to school B sounds awful.
Sometimes we need to help our kids make the decision which is going to work

Accept the school you’re offered and go on the waiting list for others if you and he feel that you need to.

I agree that the transport issue will be a definite factor.

schooladmission · Today 13:18

Hi,
Speak to your LA - they will advise you.
In our LA you can go on the waiting list for the other school, retain the one you have been offered and then if offered choose between the two.
In other LAs it is not always the case. Please see that they say.
Talk to your child, talk to the LA and make your decision based on the facts of the situation.

@schooladmission is right.
Firstly, as others have said, you need to ACCEPT your offered school (A).

Then check whether, if you go on the waitlist, and a place at school B becomes available, whether the LA would automatically replace school A with school B OR would give you a few days to choose whether to stick with A or move to B.

Our LA in London gives you that choice rather than automatically swapping them out but other LAs will make an automatic swap, meaning you are then allocated B instead of A regardless of what you actually want at that point.

If your LA gives you the choice and time to decide in the event of a place at B becoming available, then you have nothing to lose by going on the waitlist of school B while you do some more thinking about the practicalities.

If the LA swaps out automatically if a place at B comes up, then think very hard and carefully before adding your son to the waitlist of B in case you inadvertently lose A.

Hope this helps!

Stick with A. Go local