Rights on choosing school place
 

Hi,just a quick question, what are your rights in choosing a school? do you only have a choice of schools within a certain distance from where you live or can you choose a school say 25miles away?thanks

I don't think distance is allowed to figure at all.
That might seem completely stupid, but I believe it is part of government policy to stop people buying houses near nice schools etc.
Bit like bussing in the US to counter what had become, basically a racially segregated school system.
The obvious fact that most of the people it is deemed might be assisted by such a policy couldn't give a sh1t where their children go to school seems to have escaped them however.
Should be good for 4x4 sales though:thumb:

You can list ANY SCHOOL

Of course if that school has distance as one of its admissions criteria you are wasting your time

Unless you want to buy another house.

It certainly is distance related in our borough. You can choose 3 in order of preference but if its miles away then there is less chance of getting in.

There are a few criteria as well as distance - siblings and special needs being two

You can choose any state school you wish to.

The problem only comes if they are full.

the whole system is a sham

This is a section from my schools admission policy booklet


Community and voluntary controlled secondary schools
The Local Authority determines the Admission
Policy and oversubscription criteria for all
community and voluntary controlled schools.
When a community or voluntary controlled
secondary school is oversubscribed the
following criteria will be applied to determine
which pupils have priority for admission:

1 Children who are in public care.

2 Those children who are considered to have
an exceptional medical or social reason as to
why they should attend a particular school
(parents will be required to submit evidence
to support their application under this
criterion - please see note below).

3 Those children living within the geographical
priority area for a school who have a sibling
at the school, in order of those next nearest
to the school.

4 Those children living within the geographical
priority area for a school who do not have a
sibling at the school, in order of those next
nearest to the school.

5 Those children who live outside the
geographical priority area with a sibling at
the school, in order of those next nearest to
the school.

6 Those children who live outside the
geographical priority area without a sibling at
the school, in order of those next nearest to
the school.

TIE BREAK CRITERION
It is possible that at some stage of applying
the above criteria, a school becomes
oversubscribed with requests for places. In these
cases, parents who live closest to the school will
be offered the remaining places. These
distances will be calculated using the two data
points of home post code and school post code
using a straight line measurement.

EXCEPTIONAL MEDICAL OR
SOCIAL REASONS

If parents are claiming that there are exceptional
medical or social reasons why their child should
be prioritized above other applicants, they must
give reasons for this claim which must be
supported by evidence from a registered
professional, such as a doctor or social worker.
The evidence must demonstrate the reasons
why the school in question is the most suitable
school, why an alternative school would not
meet the child’s needs and the difficulties that
would be caused if the child had to attend
another school. That evidence will be assessed
by a panel of at least three senior officers. The
School Admission Code 2007 states that
admission authorities must not give higher
priority to children under this criterion if the
required documents have not been produced.

SIBLING LINK
The LA accepts that in some family units (1 or 2
parents/carers and children), the children may
not be natural brothers and/or sisters. Older
children from the same family unit, living at the
same address, can be considered as a sibling
link under this criterion. Checks will be made
with the relevant schools that siblings do live at
the same address.

PERMANENT ADDRESS
The only address the LA can consider is the
permanent home address of the child. The
permanent home address is considered to be
the address of the adult/s with whom the child is
permanently resident. Where a child stays with
another parent for part of the week, further
enquiries may be made in order to determine
where the child is predominantly resident.

CHILDCARE ARRANGEMENTS
If a childminder, grandparents, or other family
member cares for the child on a daily basis at
another address, the LA cannot consider this
address for the purpose of the school admission
process.

LOL i thought it would be like that,seems i have my work cut out trying to get my daughter in a good school, there is only one secondary school within 15miles of us so not much of a choice there,will be applying to exeter schools early have to read through there criterias first. Thanks for replies. AL

Do your homework and move if needed - education of your child is a one-shot thing.

My son is 7 weeks old, and Im thinking about schools already. Some good schools have a 2 year waiting list !!!!

Any advice to a new father about what to do, how to choose a good school ??

SBK

The only schools that have waiting lists are private, or nurserys etc. When applying for the 1st year of any school, its a complete lottery, no preferences for those that get their application in 1st - in fact the forms aren't issued until a set time so you can't get in early anyway. Believe me I've been there!

But regarding nurserys, if you are thinking of using one then do the research now and put his name down for all of them now, you can always remove his name from the list. There certainly can be 1 year+ waiting lists for the choice nurserys, then along comes a mediocre Ofstead report and everything switches to the new one in favour, lol

Yes, read the current OFSTED reports on schools you are interested in and then move to the catchment area of your preferred choice. :)

School entry experts - do I have to send my children to school in my own local authority? I live right on the border (it is literally at the end of our garden) and there is a great school just over the border?

You'll be at the back of the queue behind children who live within the catchment area.

But it is possible? :-)

You may have seen a thread I started a while back about primary schools and about the disappointment of not being offered one of our preferred schools first time round (although we did get lucky and eventually got our 2st choice from being on their waiting list).

In answer to the OPs question, you only have the right to state a preference to a school, but as other posters have said, it will ultimately all come down to the entry criteria of that school and the availability of places.

Have a look here as a number of people made comments:

https://www.scoobynet.com/non-scooby...placement.html

You can send your child to any Private, Public or Independent school you like if you can afford it and your child can meet the academic requirements. If you're considering a state school, I'd just send little Johnny off to start queuing outside the benefits office now. :D

Yes, it is.

I live in the countryside roughly 2 miles from the town where I went to school, but because I am across a border, I was supposed to go to a school 20 miles away. How crazy is that?

All my friends were in the town 2 miles away, so my parents managed to get me into both the Primary, and High School there. Can't imagine how different my life would be now if they hadn't done that.

So it is possible, and this comment isn't totally irrelevant as I'm only 21. :lol1:

you can list any school but they will send you to the one that suits them not you