School have revoked offer - not sure what to do next.

[Anxsi]

I'd like some advice and guidance on school admissions and appeals please.

My child is due to start secondary school in September, but the school revoked their offer on the basis that we were not living at the address used in the application.

We had been looking to buy a property in a particular area and completed the purchase earlier this year. We kept the council informed, and once we completed the purchase, our child was placed at the top of the waiting list for this school.

However, we haven’t moved in yet because the house needed repairs, which are longer than we anticipated & it would have been difficult & unsafe to live in the property while the work was being done.

The school discovered that the house was vacant and called us to clarify the situation. I explained that the house required refurbishment and that we had not yet moved in.

The school then withdrew the offer on the basis that we were not currently living at the address. The school said our child would remain on the waiting list and would move up once we had moved into the property, but couldn't give any indication of when he might be admitted, as it would depend on a place being available.

The school has said that we have the right to appeal, but I’m unsure whether it would be worthwhile. I don’t want to damage our relationship with the school any further.

I’d really appreciate some advice on what we should do next. Please be kind - my DC no longer has a secondary school, and its very stressful.

I have always thought it is odd that the application is based on where they are living 6 months before the start of the year. It should be based on where they are living the day they start school. On the first day the parents need to sign a declaration that the child is living in the address they had specified and the council reserves the right to check.

Schools presumably check these things - if one of you had set up council tax payments at the new address, and registered on the electoral roll at the same time, then that should of been enough.

Can you borrow a friend's caravan and pop it on the drive and live in it while the work is finished?

What about people who have been living in a house then start doing renovations so move out for a few weeks whilst say the kitchen and bathrooms are being done.

it’s still their residence. Does it make a difference that the OP has never lived there? I’d tell them it’s your house. You live there but have moved out for a few weeks whilst work is being done. I can’t believe councils would see temporary moving out fireworks would render you ineligible

They know because someone has told them that you know

But it seems the OP hasn't ever lived there.
So that address doesn't yet count for admissions purposes.

I'm amazed that people are surprised that the school found out - If there's high demand for places, some parents will try to cheat the system by giving false address, using parents/friends addresses, or renting a flat out then sub letting it etc.
Schools will run checks to combat this, dare say they can access databases for council tax/electoral roll etc.

What address does the primary school hold for you?

I would officially move in before the summer holidays.
We moved my sons school just before the summer because we moved but noone was available to process our case from the last two weeks of term until they came back.
We had to wait about 4 weeks then for them to process it and he missed 6 weeks of term. It was a nightmare.
Be prepared that noone will be available to deal with your case from mid july to september.
We were also told we were bottom of the priority list for the council as over summer and early september they prioritise the high need cases, children moved due to care arrangements, or moved for safety etc. So you go to the very bottom of the pile. Had to eing them every day.
Council are working over summer need the school to sign off so nothing gets done until september, then they deal with priority first. Then deal with your case and if there are places then you can get one. But thry said there are movements with kids higher priority over summer so the waiting list expands and then you just have to hope for the best.
We were actually living i n thehouse too

Over-subscribed schools are very strict about their admission rules. Local ones to us ask you to confirm your offer with proof of address (bank statements etc), proof of registration with local GP, ID etc.. and you have to do this in person within 48 hours of receiving the offer. Sorry, you have fallen foul of their stringent processes, but after the scandal of families renting tiny flats close to outstanding schools, the whole system has had to be tightened up.

There were places at your school though. OPs school sounds oversubscribed. She will have to wait for a place to come up and that depends on someone dropping out.

I imagine OPs problem is that she has two addresses. That looks very suspicious from the admission team's point of view.

OP you need to make a plan.
Phone the school, tell them you are moving into your new house, and ask them what evidence they need to prove that. You will also need to speak to them about what other schools have places that your son can attend until a place comes up at your preferred school. (or home school till then if that is an option for you).
Get all of your mail, banks/ driving licence etc, switched to your new home.
speak to you builders about accommodating you living there whilst they do the work
Get your existing home on the market/ give notice on your lease etc depending on where you live,
Contact a removal company to move the furniture you need in your new home and arrange storage for the rest.

Why are you not answering the questions about where you are living now? and where is that, just out of catchment?

Of course it makes a difference. People who move out for a few weeks/months will have all their admin, post, electoral register, etc at that address. They can prove they have been living there normally for X number of years. OP has never lived in this house.

OP, is there a reason why you are ignoring many people asking where you are living at the moment or whether you have made any effort to do any change of addresses to the new home? It's beginning to look like you are still in your original home and as far as the school is concerned this property is just a ruse to get you into the reception class, particularly as you are expecting them to believe that it suddenly needed more work once you purchased it.

Our current house far from the school, we moved because we wanted DC to go to this school, and its close enough to our new house, so he can walk to school. No need for buses etc.

Our current address - not our new address.

As others have said you need to move in straight away.
Have you spoken to the school? Do you know if your child’s place has already been given to someone else? If not, then maybe you could explain you have just moved, that their information about the house being empty is now out of date, and maybe they can reconsider. Obviously if your child’s place has already been given to someone else then you’ll have to go through the usual appeal process and hope for the best. But either way, the sooner you move the better.

I understand that but we have purchased a house, a house we can just about afford. We have been looking for well over a year. There is no intention on our part of play the system. This will be our forever home. Its the right size and location We wouldn't have to worry about school runs or anything else.

There you go.
You haven't moved house yet.
For all they know you've bought a property to do up, use it for school admission, and sell on without ever moving in.

School admissions are controlled to try to ensure school places go to local children. They can be very strict. Moving after the 31st October deadline was always risky.

If you haven’t actually moved it will look like you are trying to commit admissions fraud and have purchased a house solely to use the address for admissions and then sell it on again.

Sounds insane and I’m not saying that’s what you have set up to do but believe it or not some people really do do that.

You should start working on your appeal now, it may be worth starting a fresh thread for appeal advice. You’ll need to make a case separate to this address issue.

And to add to that while you’re sorting out the appeal you need to find a new school asap, or be prepared to homeschool.

I don’t think there’s any point appealing unless you’ve moved in. Until you’re living their you don’t meet their criteria.

Even then, if you weren’t living there when they offered you a place, according to their selection criteria someone else should have that space not your DS so you might well lose, but it would probably be worth a go.

If you’ve been living in temporary accommodation (family/airbnb/etc.) you might be able to make the case it was your DS’ home and he’d only “moved out” for the renovations. But if you’ve been living in the house you had before you bought this one, then that would be less convincing.

I would move in today (taken plenty of bottled water and “camp” if you need to) and see if you can join the waitlist again and also appeal. I wouldn’t do anything sneaky like lie about living there but really go back to your old place, you’re on their radar now and you probably can’t afford to get caught out.

They clearly have some waitlist movement if you were offered a space off it and, assuming the waitlist criteria is based on your address, you’ll be right near the top of the list straight away. So you may just get offered a place, based on living in the new house, and not have to worry about an appeal.

No, sorry.

You can win an appeal two ways: there was an admissions error which meant you lost out on a place. Or, there is some very strong reason why your child needs this particular school rather than any other (example: they have a hearing impairment and this is the only local school with a specific acoustic design) which is sufficient to outweigh the problems caused to the school from taking an extra child. Neither is present here, unless you have a special reason for your child to go to this school that you haven’t mentioned.

Not realising you had to live at the address applied from won’t cut it. I imagine your local admissions websites say clearly that you are supposed to put down the address where your child resides at the time of application.

It is a shame you didn’t move in at completion and get the offer sorted right away. But do it now. Appeal is not going to help you fix this.

You need to leave there, and some secondary school require you to have lived there for 3 years but this is mainly for grammar schools and I'm sure word would have circulated if it was the case

You hadn't moved in so weren't living there. That's why the offer was withdrawn. Most people couldn't afford to do what you did.

The only thing to do is move in and appeal! Even if it’s just you and the child concerned. Whoever turned up, the builders will have told them you weren’t living there. This happened to my DS’s school friend. The mum and her DS arranged for a caravan to be parked on her house building site’s drive and moved in there for 3 months! They would only go back to the rented accommodation at weekends and the builders, during the week, had strict instructions to tell anyone who asked that she was in work and would be back by 4.30. She had a couple of people turn up unexpectedly, once she had won her appeal, so she was glad she’d made the effort. It was a nightmare for them but well worth the effort because the alternative was the worst performing school, in the area, rather than one of the best.

Oversubscribed schools will always check whether an address is real or not. If you’re lucky your appeal will succeed, if not then you’ve learnt the hard way.