Is anyone else living in a secondary school admissions bermuda triangle?

[atriskacademic]

Posting this as we had to appeal two years ago to get our older DS into our preferred secondary school (and won!). Am currently on a number of appeals threads to try and help others.
We have 2nd DS to place at secondary school in two years time. If the school our older DS is now in still has sibling privilege we will be fine. If not, we are even more screwed as two years ago. Situation is:

School A (the school we appealed to and older DS is now going to): great school, closest school door to gate, good access with public transport. In 2024, furthest allocated distance was 1.2km, 2025 it was 1.6, now it is 1.5 (so has contracted again). We live 2.8 km away.

School B: much further away (think 4km), but huge school. Unfortunately before the distance criterion, there is another criterion privileging children for whom this is the closest school. Therefore hoovers up a lot of children from outlying villages. We are in outlying village, but School A and C are closer. Admitted children up to 2.1km away this year, so we wouldn't have made it.

School C: our 'saftety net' school and the one we were originally allocated two years ago. Has really improved in last few years, but we were unsure two years ago and it is also really difficult to access. Just a bit further away than school A. In the last few years, we would have easily been admitted by distance. This year, furthest allocated distance was 2km away, so we wouldn't have made this one either.

The next two closest schools that struggle to fill places are schools that have a rubbish reputation, bad academic results and the council sends all the kids to that are excluded elsewhere. Really difficult to access too.

If School A removes the sibling criterion, we are screwed or up for another appeal. Anyone else in the same boat?

Is there a reason to think that School A will remove the sibling criterion? Is there a consultation open?

We had this at infants. We were too far from the nearest (excellent, and oversubscribed) school so were allocated the second closest which was a 20 minute drive away - it turned out to be a great school so it was just the commute which was a PITA. The 'good' news is that rolls are collapsing - that once-oversubscribed infants school only admitted 15 this year, and the one we settled for only admitted 12 (against a PAN of 60). The same pattern of collapsing rolls is starting to assert itself in juniors and secondaries too as the cohorts move up - I really wouldn't worry about any secondary schools being oversubscribed in two years time, in fact for many schools under-subscription and the lack of funding and threat of closure that comes with it is going to be a much more serious issue.

No, there isn't (to my knowledge), But I have heard this happening elsewhere. Unfortunately, school A is the next best thing in town to a private school, and with the VAT on private school fees, it will remain oversubscribed for the time being. There is a lot of population density in areas very close to the school, which makes it more difficult for us to get in. But we can only hope for the best!

There is not much evidence of collapsing rolls yet here I think. Our junior filled all its places last year. Oh well, only one year to wait until admissions criteria for 2028 are published. And it should be ok. It's just worrying that school C may not be a secure choice any more. It was not the school we wanted for DS1, but at least it is close, improving and not failing as badly as the other two, undersubscribed schools. Must be a real worry for other parents in my village who don't have siblings in school A, B or C. Anyone living around my side of the village this year will have struggled!

@FernandoSor
We were too far from the nearest (excellent, and oversubscribed) school so were allocated the second closest which was a 20 minute drive away

What would parents who don't drive do?

Generally, transport is considered to be a problem for parents to sort! School C, though close, would have been a real problem for us. Only one bus a day there and back, and the one back is not right after end of school, so DS would have had to do a club every day to fill the time (he hates clubs). Walking / cycling possible, but paths get very muddy in the six month rainy season. Which would have meant parental pick up many afternoons... tricky as we are both working!

Will sibling priority definitely be applicable- what year would your older one be in by then?

Apply to the council for travel assistance - the council has a legal duty to provide transport for schools more than 2 miles walking route (3 miles at secondary). In my experience they will do anything to wiggle out of this, but if there is really no other option then they will organise a taxi.

DS is now at secondary which is 7 miles away - there is a bus so it's not inconvenient but the council refuse to pay for a bus pass as they have arbitrarily (and probably unlawfully) decided that they will not pay for any transport to a school that is more than 6 miles away, even if it is the closest school. Luckily it's only £15 per week so not too much of an issue for most people.

Where we live now in London has become a bit of a black hole. Not a problem for us as my oldest is at Uni and youngest in Y12. Our closest school, which is as the crows flies around 0.65 miles from us is heavily oversubscribed and have changed their admission to include 2 feeder primaries. We put this one first when the oldest applied and didn't get in. We got into another heavily oversubscribed around 3 miles away via the church route.

If we were to apply today, we would get one of the undesirable ones, which probably wouldn't be a disaster and I can only see those schools getting better as they will get more pupils that won't get the desirable ones but one of those is another Christian denomination school so perhaps a bit of a stretch for someone without that background. (Greek orthodox)

Even though we go to a CoE school, I totally think it's ridiculous that some schools are still church schools.

Older one will be year 10 when applying, year 11 when younger DS starts. That won't be a problem, luckily!