Secondary allocations questions!

[Sprookjesbos]

Hi all.
Eldest is in Year 5 so getting head around secondary allocation system!

We are in a feeder primary for an excellent secondary we would like her to go to (school A). We are not in the catchment for the secondary so if she were to get in she would get in as Out of Catchment Feeder. The criteria goes EHCP, Looked After, Children of Staff, Catchment+Feeder, Catchment, Out of Catchment Feeder, Out of Catchment. We're about 1.8 miles from the school and the distance allocated to has gone above this in two of the last 4 years (as far back as I can find).

Our catchment secondary is OK (school B). It is part of a MAT with a bad reputation locally but the school seems well regarded and has a good Ofsted. I'd be ok with her going there, but would prefer the other school and most her friends will go to the other school because most of them live in catchment. It has the same allocation criteria, so this puts us in the position of getting in as Catchment. She isn't in the feeder primary for it.

Worst case scenario, is school A goes no further than Catchment (likely) and School B goes no further than Catchment+ Feeder.

To get a grasp of how likely this worst case scenario is of happening, I've been going through the lists and figuring out whether we'd have got in each year. In one of the years I looked at we'd have got into school A and all others we'd have got into school B, so that's good.

Question is, does the allocation information get updated with final numbers once all waiting lists/ appeals etc have been taken into consideration? Or are they just the initial allocation? As this might change everything, I imagine. The data for September 2025 hasn't changed since March. Are further lists released?

My DH has suggested moving her to catchment for school B for year 6 so she's guaranteed a school. But it would be brutal for her at this stage, I fear (and they currently don't have a space anyway)

Any thoughts appreciated!

We have a similar set up re admissions criteria in our area i.e. you are fine if you are in catchment attending feeder school, but not necessarily so if you satisfy one and not the other.

I think you are right to look at past year's attendance figures. I would also use local information. Not suggesting here that you go out with a clipboard and canvas other parents, but you probably have a good idea based on talking to others and just living there.

So things like - what is the local population like in terms of secondary school numbers? Is the number increasing because there are a lot of familes with current primary school children? Or did most people move in years ago and not move out, so there are fewer children? What is the mobility rate like? Is there new housing being built and/or change in catchment boundaries?

For example, you used not to be able to get into our catchment secondary if you didn't attend a feeder school but these days, there are fewer secondary school children in the catchment, and a new school has opened up which some catchment children now prefer - so the odds of getting into the catchment school have massively increased even for those quite far out of catchment.

Also consider how many places at feeder schools versus places at the corresponding secondary? How many feeder school children are likely to go to this secondary? how many of them are out of catchment? Do you have a sizeable exodus to private schools?

What happens if you don't get School A or B? Is that a palatable option?

To answer your actual question, our LA does release the criteria of final admissions after the second round of allocations and once appeals have been heard. But there is still movement between then and September, and I don't know if this is universally done.

I think in most councils the published data on previous admissions is as of allocation day. Subsequent appeals, declines etc are not included. You could ask the council or schools though.

Thanks. That's useful to know, and means the picture can only be better than it appears (I think!)

Thank you! Really informative. You're right, getting the data in your third paragraph would be so useful. I wonder how -council maybe? I'll look into it.

That's the difficulty, of the eg. 180 places allocated, how do you know how many in each category. So in one year school A went to 'Out of Catchment Feeder'... But that could mean they took only one child from that category who was much closer than we are. Would the council have this breakdown?

I don't really have a palatable third option. We're in one of those areas where if you don't get your choices you're sent 15 miles away to a village. I do think we would get into school B as it still had available places after the first round and we live less than a mile from it. I think honestly we'd sit on the waiting lists and hope for the best.

We have similar criteria.

In DDs year, they had more children in catchment than places in the school. They were permitted to go over PAN for those children. However, in their area, the furthest village is miles away from any alternative school (they are bussed 5 miles to the school!)

I am worried too. We are outside catchment for our preferred school (Church of England school). DD is a chorister at a nearby church and currently would get a place on church attendance. However, I have heard that the government are planning to change the rules so academies have to follow the local authority admission rules, which don’t give preference to church attendance. Does anyone know if this is the case?

@ZebraFthe Proposed Children's well-being and schools bill does change things for academies in some ways: amongst other things, it will require more co-operation between local authorities and academies in setting admissions rules; essentially it will require academies to enable and help the local authority to fulfil its obligations in providing school places. In practical terms, it means that academies will have to pay more attention to the local situation, other local admission policies and PANs, et cetera, and look to the combined effect of admissions policies when setting their own policies.

The bill does not say that academies have to follow local LA rules - they are still in Liberty set their own policies, but now they must have more of a care to how they impact the local situation. It is yet to be seen how exactly that will happen - whether the local authority and the school will have to consult together, before the actual formal consultation for changing admissions, or in some other format.

Thank you, that’s very helpful. I’ll call the school to see what they can tell me. If the criteria change we will have to look at moving house into catchment as our two nearest schools are unsuitable for my DD as they have no music provision at all outside of core lessons. I don’t want to risk having to go to appeal to try to get her in.
How far in advance are admissions criteria set for an academic year?

@ZebraF Schools must publish their admissions criteria no later than March 15 of the year before admission (So the policies for Sept 26 Admission will have just been published at latest six weeks ago).

To change criteria, they must consult for at least six weeks, between 1 October and end of January, with agreement on final criteria by end of February.