Sibling admissions when youngest child has an EHCP

[Gemsquash78]

Hello,
I have a question that I cant find the answer to anywhere. My youngest son has an EHCP. The secondary school that I would want him to go to is about 0.7miles from me but the admissions catchment is 0.4miles, so unlikely that his older brother will get in on distance. So how does the sibling policy here work as Id really want them both at the same school for convenience ....?
Has anyone experienced this?
Thanks

Sibling priority applies only when there is a sibling on the roll at the time of proposed admission. It usually applies to younger siblings of an older child (and can be restricted to that - check how the specific school defines a qualifying sibling - or it can be either older of younger. It won't apply for a sibling in respect of a first DC who has not yet got a place

So once your younger child has a place you could apply for an in-year transfer, and probably leapfrog up to the top if the waiting list.

I'm nit sure what you mean by convenience, but things like travel arrangements won't be taken into consideration as secondary age pupils are expected to be able to travel independently, also the need for wrap around care falls away.

When you say 'on the roll at the time of proposed admission', does that include if I have named the school in the youngest ones EHCP and the school have excepted? You can name a school when the EHCP is issued, so at the point that I am applying for the eldest, the school will have already accepted the youngest, even though he wont be starting until 2 years later.

They aren't on the roll until they have started. Even with all the paperwork in place now, a lot can change in two years.

If the school has an exceptional social need category, it might be worth trying that way

@prh47bridge - any thoughts?

You can name a school when the EHCP is issued, so at the point that I am applying for the eldest, the school will have already accepted the youngest, even though he wont be starting until 2 years later.

This isn’t the case. The primary placement will be named in the EHCP, but the amended EHCP doesn’t have to be finalised to include the secondary placement until February of Y6. So, the youngest DC’s EHCP will not name the secondary placement when you apply for secondary for your eldest.

There are several problems here:

• The EHCP will name the primary school. It is highly unlikely that the secondary school will be named at this stage.
• Sibling priority rules usually specify that it only applies where the sibling will be attending the school when the child starts. That clearly rules out sibling priority in your case as your youngest would not be attending school at the time your older child starts.
• Alternative wording such as being on the roll similarly will exclude your child.
• Many admission authorities are clear that it is only possible for older children to give younger children sibling priority, not the other way round.

So I'm afraid that your oldest will not get sibling priority. He may still not get sibling priority when your youngest starts at the school. However, if he does, an in-year transfer application at that time would put him at the head of the waiting list as @meditrina suggests.