pawre

Hi there,

Looking for advice and wanting to rant.

My goodness! applying for schools in the UK seems to be so stressful and soul destroying!

We are moving back next September in 2017. We can basically live anyway even! Of course all the school I have looked at are oversubscribed (in the North).

It's a catch 22, the local authority wants an address and for us to be in the UK which I can't give them till I know which schools my kids will get into. How else can we decide on the house to buy?

How have you sorted out the "address" issue when being abroad?

Many thanks, I know there are other posts on this....will check now..

MoshiMoshi

I'm not sure how it works in other LEAs (Local Education Authorities), but for primaries here in London you apply the January before they start, receive an offer in April, and start school in September. AFAIK you can't apply without a local address, and when the offers come out in April you have to prove that you actually live at the address (massively oversubscribed schools, here, so competition is hot).

You can't know for sure which school your kids will get into. But you can maximise your chances by living as close as possible, in a road where, in previous years, many applications for that school have been successful.

The other things that bump your priority (in this LEA, at least) are having siblings already at the school, being in foster care, etc. So address is the only thing you can really control. The schools around here have no absolute catchment areas, ie you're not utterly guaranteed a place if you live within x distance, but the closer your are, the higher your chances. This is usually a big consideration when people move to the area.

There's usually data about catchment on each school website, and if you Google it there are several websites which can show your chances. When you search for property online, it'll often give you information about school distances. Basically, if you're looking for a house, get one as close as possible to the school you want, and research how many people in that road or postcode got their kids in.

Having said all that... you'll have to contact schools directly to discuss how it's going to work if you're not moving back until September and won't have a UK address to apply from before then. I have the feeling this will count as a mid-year admission, and you may have to go on a waiting list for a place if the local schools are really busy. Hopefully someone else will chime in with personal experience.

And just a heads-up... it's 'national offer day' for primary school places on April 18th. This means all offers for September 2016 places will be sent out to parents by the end of Monday. Some have already gone out. Anyone working in school admissions is likely to be very busy fielding enquiries and probably complaints for the next week or so.

Spacecake799

Hi
When we thought we might move back we emailed schools, set up dialogue. We asked about likelyhood of places etc. It was good just to get a feel for how interested the school was.
We then rented a house while still in NZ and when we had booked flights and had been accepted for the house we applied for the school place.
We got a place, we didnt apply till around July it was pot luck. It can be done.

googley2

Most school are totally full, the Local Education Authority is responsible for handing out places not schools. There is no chance of them accepting someone from abroad and you may even find they wont give you a place when you get here!!! The usual comment is "go back to where you come from" even when your English. It can easily take up to 6 months to get a place when you have a permanent address and proof you are paying council tax at that property. Without a council tax bill in your name now many places will simply not listen or entertain you. The other option is to do Home Education while you are waiting for a school place, there is loads on info on the web and all areas have local groups. Its just so difficult to get a school place anywhere/any age now.

Best option is chose which school you want and buy a house as close as you can to it, sooner or later you will get a place.

brits1

Hi, Do you have any idea of where your will be returning to in "The North" if so do you have family that could help with the address situation? We returned back and stayed with my Dad for a few weeks (we were not looking to buy in that area) until we looked for Colleges and areas we liked the "look of" we returned back to the UK in March just so we would have time to do this before the School/College year started in September. We had a rough idea of which areas we were interested and while in Australia I emailed the Colleges and opened up "dialogue" with the headteacher and staff (we eventually settled in an area we had not even thought of and our son attended a college we had not contacted etc prior to our return and he was offered a place without any problems. Where we currently live we have families from Canada and South Africa even a few Australians and they seemed not to have had any problems with places for their children at the local primary schools. If you have a rough idea of where your looking to live then also try an area with more Primary Schools in the area, maybe a town or larger village if your not looking to settle within a City. Good luck I know how stressful it can be where education and children are concerned.

brits1

My ex sister in law has had no such problem with settling her children into a school after years overseas and she was never told "go back to where you come from" she had to stay in a hotel while she looked at areas/rentals and schools and even then she still was offered places for her children, for sure it might be difficult in certain areas to obtain school places (this can happen the world over) but it's not "anywhere/any age".

christmasoompa

Agreed. Sweeping generalisations aren't helpful IMO! We've had no problems getting our children in to schools in two of the most oversubscribed areas in the country (Bucks and Berks) after moving.

Pollyana

I think most people who have asked abut schools on here have been successful in getting children settled. Certainly never come across anyone being told to go back to where they came from

googley2 as you aren't yet an expat (so it can't be personal experience) can I ask where your info is from? Is it from friends coming home, or do you work for an Education Authority maybe?

old.sparkles

How long did you have to wait to get places?

Oldest grandson wasn't able to get a place in Bracknell after returning from up north and now he is living with his dad, can't get a place in Slough either? He's only been in Slough for about a month so far but it does look like he may be out of school until the new school year at the moment so any positive news would be good.

bert07

Google fair access protocol - schools can (not will!!) be forced to increase their pan and nor if there is a child in catchment without a place and others within reasonable distance are also full. Each local authority implements it differently but there will be guidance on their webpage and this will explain what to do next - some las are not forthcoming and if they think you will roll over and homeschool they will let you, problem solved. Be a pain, ring regularly, put things in writing and it will be sorted - might not be school of choice but it will be a school.

Tr1boy

If he's living in Slough then avoiding school altogether might not be a bad option.

Bermudashorts

Wow. I always thought there was a legal requirement for education authorities to provide school places for every child.

old.sparkles

There is I think but when all schools are full it takes time I think so just wondering how long if anyone knows.

old.sparkles

- they are not that bad and Slough still has grammar schools although that's not going to help right now

old.sparkles

Thought I would update that my son finally heard from the LEA and grandson is starting back at school today

Think the wait for a place was around 6 weeks if that helps anyone out