Admission into primary school run by different LA

[jellybean777]

I stay literally a few feet away from School A which is an "Outstanding School". Unfortunately that school falls under a different Council. School B whose catchment we fall under is about 0.7m away (not saying that its a lot) and is rated "Good". So for more than 1 reason, I would want to put School A as first choice and School B as second choice. My queries are,

1. Is there any chance I can realistically get into that School A or will I just be wasting an option?
   
   
2. By putting School A as first choice, will I reduce my possibility of getting at least School B as there may be many who may put School B as first choice?
   
   Many thanks in advance for your advices.

[AuntieStella]

Which of the home nations are you in?

[jellybean777]

@AuntieStella , I am in England.

@tiggytape, the catchment map of School A doesn't include our street. The school admissions of School A simply says apply to your LA even if the school is in a different council.

[jellybean777]

Also Our LA (Reading Borough) seems to say that all options will be treated equally and that putting one school as first option doesn't matter to them as they look at all 4 options equally.

[Toohotforfishandchips]

Does school A give priority to those in catchment? If so you need to see if anyone out of catchment ever gets in. The relevant LA will know. You should still put it as first choice but manage your expectations

[jellybean777]

@tiggytape, that is a very good clarification. Thank you. I am not sure what the criteria are for School A other than the catchment area. They have said people outside catchment will go into oversubscibed list and be treated according to priority (looked after children, siblings, etc.) but if more than one person qualifies then the distance to the school will be considered. So I guess that is our loophole.
Anyway will apply and keep fingers crossed!

[MrsKCastle]

Contact the LA for school A (or look at their website). They can tell you how many people outside the catchment area were admitted last year (and in previous years) and also what the furthest distance was. That will tell you whether you realistically have a chance at a place. Either way though, it is worth putting school A as 1st preference and school B as 2nd.

[RustyBear]

Is the neighbouring borough Wokingham? If so, this document shows how places were allocated for the coming year - it won't necessarily be the same next year, but it does give an indication. If you're on the other side of Reading, Oxford CC may have a similar document on their website

www.wokingham.gov.uk/schools/primary/policies/?assetdet6360345=272972&p=2

[jellybean777]

MrsKCastle, that was a wonderful piece of advise. I called up the LA of School A and they said they had 8 placements from our council this year, the farthest being 0.34 miles and last year the furthest was 0.40 miles. We are 0.30 miles so apparently we stand a good chance although of course its not guaranteed. Thanks a lot for your advice.:))

Thank you for that link, Rusty Bear. Will check out that doc from our LA.