It’s one for the admissions experts please!

[wewillmove]

I have previously posted and got the most helpful advice from all the admissions experts out there. Honestly can’t be more thankful! whilst that was for primary I am now looking for secondary applications and so stuck!

we will be moving and have found what would be the dream house. Issue is it is right on the edge of previous distances allocated for what would be our preferred school…for the past 3 years we would have got in but who’s to say this will be the case in a couple of years. For context the distance is 200km closer than the furthest offered this year and looking at the Surrey school place improvement plan the year we will be applying is set to have a peak in demand for secondary school places.

i know that a definitive prediction on distances can not be predicted but I have a couple of questions please….

can/would surrey school admissions tell me the exact distance of new address from the school (despite not completing yet) so I can be sure of the distance that would be applied? I see that the schools maps online states it’s just a guide.

with regards to appeals, does a school with a strong facilities and opportunities for extra curricular activities of a particular sport that my child is actively engaged with warrant grounds for appeal? The nearest school which is what I think we would be offered does not have these facilities/extra curricular opportunities.

can anyone shed any light on the school places plan and what this peak in 2027 cohort actually means?

thank you so much in advance

https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools/admissions/about-map/find-a-school is very accurate and what the council uses - the point about travel distances is because that's not a straightforward as the crow flies calculation.

Some Surrey secondary schools have designated feeder schools and fixed peiority catchment areas too - have you checked the one you are targeting?

Surrey also just publishes the Offer Day stats - you should ask the school if they have Sept stats too.

The published ‘last distances’ are on National Offer Day not the beginning of September, so that should give you a contingency

Thank you. And just on the September stats, is that where there has been offers not accepted so the distances could be different?

being so close of we didn’t get in would there be a fair chance of waiting list is what I’m thinking.

does availability of extra curricular activities hold weight in appeal?

thanks

Is this a London commuter town?

Usually a highly mobile population and waiting list places become available with people going private, moving house over the summer, accepting a higher offer themselves if they are on the waiting list for another school

Availabiilty of extra curricular does have currency yes, if there is evidence that your adv is actively engaged, and if it is not available at the offered school.

Not cast iron guaranteed success at appeal though,

Yes it is a London commuter town. I think there is a lot of movement in and out of the area for sure.

It's hard to say how much weight the appeal panel will put on extra curricular activities. The decision is one of balancing the difficulties for the school of taking an extra pupil vs the disadvantage for the child of not attending this school.

Many of the schools I hear appeals for are really maxed out in terms of physical resources, numbers of pupils with special needs, class sizes well above average size etc. If we are hearing many appeals, then obviously the ones who get places are the ones with significant needs - such as serious risk of ongoing bullying from pupils attending the offered school, or a bereaved child needing continuity of support from peers.

However, there are other schools who could quite easily squeeze in one or two more children, and in those cases, extra curricular activities might tip the balance in your favour. Many of us on here can help you put together a good case, but at the end of the day you have to just give it your best shot, as you'll never know the situation of any others appealing at the same time.

Bear in mind waiting lists can go up or down. If new families move in after Offer day and live closer, they will go higher up the list.

Also check whether any significant new housing has been built since the last available stats. Any other secondary schools opened or closed in the area? Any schools gone up or down the Ofsted ratings?

All could have an effect on competition for admissions.

I’m surprised there is a predicted peak in places in 2027 - as far as I’m aware birth rates have dropped and many of our local primaries (I’m Guildford /Woking area) are under subscribed. Our closest and much sought after secondary has gone further out distance wise in the past couple of years than previously. Make sure the school you want is the closest to your house if that’s the top admissions criteria - people have been caught out by that before thinking they’ll get in on distance but not realising they’ve got another school closer so that drops them down the criteria for the school they want.

Secondary places are at high demand due to the mini baby boom which centred on 2012. 2013/14 were still high but should be a little less than 2011/12, but perhaps this is different in Surrey due to eg extra people moving out from London post Covid.

Primary school places demand has dropped a lot and is still dropping.

As pp have said, the relevant distance for you is really the furthest distance as at September, after some have turned down offers (common if many go private in your area) and those places been offered to waiting list. This may be why the distance for this year (March data) looks smaller than previous years (Sept data). So you may be fine - albeit have to wait for an offer from WL.

Appeal: It’s a balancing decision between downside to your child of not going vs downside to the school of taking an extra. If the school is very crowded, old building small classrooms etc, or very stretched resource wise, then the language point may well not be enough to outweigh that. As pp say the appeals that win this balance for the more crowded schools tend to be fairly exceptional circumstances with a child going through difficulties that would clearly be exacerbated if not awarded the place. I wouldn’t be banking on winning an appeal, most do not succeed.