Applying from Australia for Year 7

[sammy11480]

Hi lovelies
We are UK citizens living in Australia and are planning to return in 2026 for my DD to start Year 7 in a Lincolnshire secondary school.

As we will need to apply from Oz because applications open soon, we only have our Oz address to put down. Will this place us at a disadvantage when applying for schools as of course we are not in the catchment (only 10,000 miles out!).

I am worried that this will go against us, but am hoping the fact that we are international applicants will be taken into consideration?

Many thanks for any advice on the process.
Sammy.

Contact pupil and student services for the Local Authority. They should be able to help with the process.
If you don’t know where you will be living yet that might be an issue for an over subscribed school with a set catchment area though.
Look at the admission policies for your chosen schools to see if you meet any additional criteria.

Good luck.

Where do you plan to live when you come back? You seem to know the area but do you now an exact address you plan to live at?
It might be worth emailing or calling the local county council for advice?

Take into consideration how? The admissions criteria for each school are published and followed. If the schools use distance as a method of ranking applications your dc will obviously be disadvantaged by not having a local address. However if you apply for a school that is undersubscribed you would get a place regardless or the LA will allocate you one with vacancies after preferences are met, although Lincolnshire is large and rural so you may find it not close to wherever you eventually live. Check the LA website for how they treat overseas applications and residency in terms of timing applications.

Where in Lincs? South Lincs or a good deal of it has the grammar school system which is a further hurdle. Speaking as someone from there tho I hope for your sake you’re not moving there!

Unless you are in Australia working for the Crown (diplomat, army etc) then you won’t get special consideration.

If you want to be treated like local applicants then you need to have a local address by the deadline (31 October?) or you’ll be treated as a late applicant. Many LEA do not consider overseas applicants until they are physically back in the UK, email them to check if this is the case and ideally return to the UK sooner or make alternative arrangements like staying in Oz.

Always check the admissions criteria for your target schools. Some could have criteria like attending a specific primary or passing a test (grammar)

https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/downloads/file/8584/secondary-co-ordinated-scheme-2025-26

this document shows how overseas applications (with the exception of service personnel and crown servants) are dealt with. Your current address will be used, which essentially means you would be looking for normally undersubscribed schools as you would be considered under distance; there is no special consideration for other overseas applicants.

what you also need to be mindful of is that Lincolnshire say they will not allocate another school if your preferences cannot be met - so if you don't qualify for one of the three schools you put down, you will not get an alternative (until you are here and have a local address)

when are you returning? If you can be back by Dec
13, they will treat the application as on time.

I had the same problem as you and started my son at a school at the start of year 6. This meant that he got the secondary that we wanted.

I felt guilty starting him at a new school in year 6 but there were other new starters and he started year 7 knowing some people from primary so the positives massively outweighed the negative.

Hi Clary, that sounds ominous!
Yes we are planning on returning to Lincolnshire around the Louth area but have never visited there. Any tips on areas of Lincolnshire to avoid? Thanks!

Hi Patricia

Thanks for your help. That document is very useful.
We are not going to be back until next August so right before school would start.
Does that mean that if we aren't accepted for any of the three schools, we won't get a place? What would happen then?

Hi
We won't have a UK address before the deadline in October. Why would be treated as a late applicant if we are still applying on time? What does being late mean for your application?

Many thanks!

If you don't get a place at one of the schools you apply for, they may tell you to wait until you are here. You would then do a new application in August, probably after asking which schools have spaces. This may be OK if there are schools with spaces, although it is likely to be last minute. It's not uncommon to have to wait until staff are back in the office at schools (August being summer holidays) and getting a place a day or 2 before term starts. If there are no local spaces, you may end up in the situation where your DC misses the start of term whilst they look for places, as it's reasonably common for some kids to not turn up to their new school. Unfortunately this can take several weeks, as they need to definitely confirm if these children no longer need places.

If you don't get a place in the original applications, I don't know whether you could make another application in, say, May/June for an undersubscribed school. In theory if there is a place, they should give it to you regardless of where you live.

I’m from Spalding in south Lincs. It’s not the greatest place to live (which is why the housing is cheap) – under-resourced, no facilities, not even very scenic! The grammar system is across most of south Lincs but not Louth as far as I know, so that’s probably a bit easier for you.

Why Louth tho if you have never been there? It’s also not a place I would choose – again, pretty isolated from decent resources (I am thinking things like hospitals, shops, decent leisure facilities). Louth itself is quite attractive but I wouldn’t want to be a teenager there any more than a teenager in Spalding.

If it’s bc you have great family support and you will be working locally then ignore me.

Bear in mind that waiting lists are kept in preference order not “time on the list” order.

So you might be 100th on the list after applying as you are the furthest away, but if someone moves into the area, they would go ahead of you. The plus for this is, once you move to the town, you would shoot up the waiting list!

https://www.st-hughs.lincs.sch.uk/our-school/county-wide-transport if it's important to you that your child is in school immediately on arrival then I think you may have to pay for the first year (you can then make a considered choice of secondary rather than rushing into the first one that has a place). Lincs has relatively low population density/incomes compared to further south and I can only find one independent (linked) but it does offer minibus transport from Louth.

An independent school will let you make arrangements from Australia. They're not bound by the same rules.

Not preference order, ordered according to Admissions criteria for the school. If none of your three preferences can accommodate you you would either be allocated an undersubscribed school at random, given you have no local address, or no school and reapply when you arrive. A random school may not be close to wherever you end up living, is there a reason for picking Lincs? if you only arrive in August you may start the year with no space or only at last minute and need to get uniform etc.

Not preference order, ordered according to Admissions criteria for the school.

Sorry, yes, I meant this.

Ok, I think there's a few confusing things going on here. I know north Lincs well, with family there including in Louth and over towards the sea.
Firstly, Louth definitely has a grammar school. Here is the link to the grammar schools page for Lincolnshire: Lincolnshire Consortium of Grammar Schools – Promoting Academic Excellence I assume there are arrangements to sit the test if not in a Lincs primary school (the test will be sat I guess this September for 2026 entry).
Secondly, you said there are three schools (asking what happens if you don't get into them). But to my knowledge there are only two secondaries in Louth, unless a school has completely passed me by (possible since I live in London! though as I say have family there):
King Edward VI Grammar
Louth Academy - officially non-selective, but really more like a secondary modern since many (most?) of the brighter children will be at the grammar.

You need to be Ok with this system if moving to this part of north Lincs, most of the UK doesn't have a grammar/secondary system. If you are aiming for the grammar you should probably start preparing your child for the test now.
Historically Louth Academy has been undersubscribed so I don't think there would be an issue getting a place. In fact another secondary in Mablethorpe (Tennyson) closed some years ago now due to falling roll and a lot of the kids from there were transferred over to Louth Academy and I believe it still wasn't full. Somercotes Academy on the other hand, over towards the sea, has been oversubscribed. I think that King Edwards is oversubscribed, would need to look at some recent data to see if still correct.

In terms of area. It is really beautiful and close to Louth you have the wolds, so not as flat as some of the rest of the county. Plus 15 mins drive to absolutely stunning beaches (thought the sea is cold!). However, public transport is woeful (maybe you are Ok with that if coming from a part of Australia where you have to drive everywhere?). Louth, and much of the surrounding area has no train station, the nearest one is probably Market Rasen. There used to be national express buses from London, but they stopped serving this area after COVID. Coming from London we either need to take 3 trains from Kings Cross to Market Rasen (if you get up at 5am you may be able to do it with 2 trains! but most of the day its 3), or hire a car and drive. Louth is also quite a pretty town and property reasonable. Do you both have jobs you can do from home? As the work situation there can also be a bit tricky and to commute to anywhere is far with many job prospects. Also, hospitals are far away, probably not to much of an issue when young, but turning into a problem for my elderly relatives.

This is why the private schools are full of returned expats

Thanks for the better intel on Louth grammars @BananaDaiquiri i wasn’t sure.

Still intrigued as to why Louth? Also sorry, but I am not convinced about either really beautiful or stunning beaches (Mablethorpe??) And I am from Lincs. There are bits of England that are much more beautiful tho maybe property costs more.

Basically, you can apply from Australia but ultimately won’t have a hope in hell of having a ‘choice’. I think you need to do a lot more research and possibly be prepared to come back earlier or pay for private. Unless the area has had a huge fall in birth rate for this specific year group. I personally wouldn’t go somewhere that had the grammar system

No I obviously wasn't referring to Mablethorpe! My kids love it there and have great fun when we visit, but isn't particularly pretty as a town, no offence to anyone from there. (OP, if you aren't aware of Mablethorpe, it's basically like a smaller version of Skegness).
I was thinking coming straight to the coast from Louth you end up at Saltfleetby / Theddlethorope where the beaches are sandy and unspoilt. The Wolds which Louth is on one side of I also think are quite nice. Louth is an attractive town, a million miles from places like Mablethorpe and Skegness. I mean I'm not sure I would choose to live there due to transport, amenities etc, but some people like the quieter parts of the country.

@clary any idea where you find the data for Lincolnshire on how school places are allocated? Can't see it on their website was trying to look and see if schools are currently oversubscribed up in north Lincs. I'm sure it must be there and I'm blind.

OP, I noticed that King Edwards seem to have dropped their admission number by one form per year recently. This suggests to me that they have also (as well as the other school Louth Academy) had an issue getting enough kids through the door, meaning there are possibly spare places for people moving into the area late. But I still think you need to consider the implications of moving to a grammar school area.

Thanks so much everyone for your replies. Super helpful. Just for info I have family in Louth hence the slightly random location lol.

Havent lived in Lincolnshire for many years but when I lived there the Grammar school in Louth was from Year 9 so no 11+ in Year 6. No idea if that is still the case. I got into another grammar school (many years ago) in Year 7 without the 11+ as I came from an area with no 11+. I had reports from teachers and I was in top sets. St Hugh's is a long way from Louth.

I don't know Lincs but Google maps says it's a 40 minute drive.

Where I grew up in Kent that was a completely normal journey to school. A short one, even!