Moving for secondary school

[headofchaos]

Hi, looking for advise and support!!
I am contemplating moving house for around the time my child starts secondary school. The move would be a relocation of 1 hour. How on earth do people do this smoothly between year 6 and 7?! Is it actually possible to apply for secondary schools in an area that you are not currently residing in, but looking to reside in for the start of term!! How on earth can I make this a possibility and a smooth transition?

You can’t. Your application is based in where you live at the time of applying.

we moved in year 6 to get an outstanding school in an affluent area.frustratingly the move took us past even the point of appeal, however we got in anyway on different criteria.

I would contact the school you want to apply to and the local authority and explain the situation, and ask to go on the waiting list for the school. This may be run by the school or the LA - it varies according to region.

If I were you, and the move is to get your DC into a specific secondary school, I would make sure you are in the new home by October of year 6 – so as to apply for the school from your new address.

I am presuming it is a popular school, so an application from a long way away, or a late application, or going on the waiting list, are all less likely to be successful. You can apply to any school anywhere, but since most have distance as a key criterion, you will only get a place from a far distance if the school is under-subscribed.

Is the move solely for the school? Will your workplace move or are you still able to commute to the current one? Are any other DC involved (I mean younger ones with more years at primary)? If other factors don't apply, the only thing is moving your DC's primary for year 6. But that's not a terrible idea IMHO anyway as they will then have a year at primary with DC who will move up to the same secondary with them.

We did this. Moved to a new area 45 mins away from where we previously lived for the secondary school and the secondary school only.

As PPs have said you need to be in situ in the new area by the first term of Y6 to be able to apply to the school you want. We decided in year 4 that we would move for what we felt/hoped would be the right secondary for our child. House went on the market in the 6 week hols between y4 and 5 and then moved in October y5, DC started new primary after Oct half term. The following year we applied for the school we wanted and got in no problem as new house was well within catchment.

DC has maintained friendships with kids from her original primary which has been nice. The move hasn’t been easy and I wished we hadn’t felt it necessary but I still feel it was likely the best thing to do.

@AndCallMeNancythanks so much for your message. Can I ask how you found the move to not be easy ? Was your daughter happy to go? Are you happy in the new location?
it’s so hard to know what the best thing is to do with schools as they are all so different and you want to make sure you’re setting your child up for success and happiness

My DD did not want to move at all, and me and DH didn’t really either but the secondary options were really poor where we lived and we felt strongly she would be very unhappy in the catchment school there. There is no doubt that the school where we moved to is way more suited to her and she does like it. It’s giving her the school experience and support that we wanted for her, so all positive on that front but none of us have settled in the new area all that well and we miss our old friends and community.

Financially it’s been tough because house prices are higher here and the move coincided with DH’s business having a tough couple of years. Previously we were mortgage-free so that’s been a bit galling!

So yes it’s been tough but DD does understand why we made the decision we did. She is now reasonably settled here. Me, not so much.

Problem is, none of us have a crystal ball, we all just do our best. We had no work or family commitments keeping us at the last place we lived, we just really liked it but we felt that we had the freedom to move for schools so that’s what we did.

We may well end up moving back where we came from in a few years!

The easiest and quickest option would be to rent your home out and rent in the area you want to be in before you need to apply for year 7.

You can apply to schools in new area via your current LA but are only likely to get a place there if it is undersubscribed. Bear in mind you apply by October so you need to be really sure of your move. You can update address and any waiting lists once you have moved .

Many LA would not recognise a rented address while retaining another property.

@AndCallMeNancyI can completely relate to exactly everything you have said. The reason for me wanting to move is to enable us to get back to our original “home”. We moved an hour away from “home” for good primary schools and work reasons and I’ve just never settled. The secondary schools here don’t seem to have the best name . I’m trying to search for good secondary schools closer to “home” to enable us to get back but also be happy with the school.
like you say, you can only do your best can’t you - parenting is hard and you end up sacrificing so much for the wellbeing of your children .

Ah OK this sounds a bit vaguer than your OP. I read it that you lived in place A but place B had a great school you wanted DC to attend but you were too far away. But sounds as tho it's not a simple as "there is a great school in place B".

Moving back to where you feel is home and somewhere you want to settle though is a good idea. But I would still stress that you need to do it before the start of year 6.