Advice for CAF form please

[Namechabgeforthis]

Please help me I have no idea how to even complete the CAF. They are asking me on the CAF “provide reasons why you are applying to this school”. What do I even write? No sibling link as it’s for my eldest child. Please tell me what kind of things I should be writing, my brain is blank!

You don’t need to write anything - it can’t be used in the admission criteria. However you could highlight the fact that you and child are (presumably) in the parish of St X and have attended St X church for then last ten years or whatever.

Actually sorry I assumed you were filling in a supplementary form. In which case there’s nothing really to add.

Is this a free text box (in which case, if there is nothing relevant to say, you can just leave it blank), or a drop-down for each school and you have to choose something before you can submit your application?

The relevant legislation around school applications requires that parents are given the opportunity to give reasons for naming a a school as a preference on their CAF, but as per the Admissions Code, only reasons which relate to the published oversubscription criteria are relevant and can be taken into account. So e.g. 'Sister, Freda Bloggs, currently in year 9' is relevant information if the school has a 'sibling' criterion, and the admissions officer will check the link claimed, but if it doesn't, although trying to have your DC at the same school may be something that is important to you, it is irrelevant when it comes to the school ranking your application, so will be ignored.

Agree with others. They are required to give space on the form for parents to give their reasons for wanting a particular school. However, unless there is a reason your child should be in a higher admission category and there is no space elsewhere on the form for this information, it makes no difference what you put in this box. They aren't allowed to make subjective judgements as to who has the best reasons for wanting a school.