Admission proceedures

[cakesaway]

If a school yeargroup has three children over it's maximum intake (already) then one of those children leaves does this free up a place for another child?? Has anyone had any experience of this? We are waiting to find out if dd can get a place - we are moving to catchment at halfterm .We have been made aware of a place coming up about the same time as we'd need to start.

[BakewellTarts]

Hi this happened in our local school. Council missed a road out at the last primary allocation. All the families affected took it to appeal and quite rightly won. Meant that the school had to take 66 pupils in 2 classes of 33. By half way through the year 4 children had moved out of area and the school were fervently hoping that 2 more would go too so that by the time the second lot of reception starters began school they were not over number. As I understand it class size at infant level is by law meant to be 30 or less. My local school certainly didn't offer any of these places to the 40 something children on the waiting list. So I think you'll be out of luck.

[cakesaway]

Thanks for message - I'm not living in hope but at the same time there is a space for my older ds and younger ds due to start reception next year - so if two can get in perhaps there is a chance for dd!

[BakewellTarts]

A very good chance...in our area siblings have priority over distance. In fact if you get your older DS in you'd be top of the waiting list (assuming no other siblings are waiting) for your younger DS.

[mooworc2]

Hi, I have been reading up on everyones expert knowledge on the admissions procedures. My daughter was turned down for her catchment school yesterday on distance, couldnt believe it, devastated as everyone is, she is next on the waiting list I am told, great!!!! but, they then tell me the bad news, there were some "late applications" which havent been checked for distance yet, if these people decide to put their children on the waiting list and live closer to the school than we do, they will bump my daughter down the list, (unless a place comes up in the next two weeks) how can this be right???

[ShoshanaBlue]

For the catchment area children in one of our local primary schools which is always oversubscribed - the names of the children in that category are always placed into a hat and it's pot luck.....they don't do distance within catchment - only outside it, but they don't go down as far as that distance category. Not sure how other schools do it.

[prh47bridge]

Cakesaway - If the year group is over its admission number and a child leaves this does not normally free up a place for another child. Particularly in infants you would normally expect the school to want to get down to the admission number and stay there.

Mooworc2 - The rules laid down by the government are that the waiting list order is determined by admission criteria only. Once the initial allocations have been made late applicants have to be treated equally with those who applied on time. So if someone moves into the area and is closer to the school than you, they will push your daughter down the list.

[admission]

The answer is that each school year group has a published admission number and the school cannot admit pupils above this number. An appeal panel can admit more pupils as can the LA under certain very restrictive situations.

So if the school has an admission number of 30 and there are 33 in the class, the school cannot admit any more pupils to that year group until 4 have left, that is till they are at 29, when they can admit 1 to get back to 30. They cannot admit to 33.

The situation is complicated by the infant class size regulations, which by law means that an infant class cannot have more than 30 pupils with one school teacher. Again there are exceptions (where a mistake has been made) and an appeal panel can admit pupils above 30, but this exemption (called an excepted pupil) only lasts for the rest of the school year. After that the school has to take action to bring down the class size to 30 or employ another school teacher.

Also uptill September the school can admit where it knows there is a place. From 1st September the LA will be responsible for all admissions mid year, even if the school knows it has places!

[mooworc2]

prh47bridge - thanks for your post, I understand and appreciate the rules as far as people moving in to the area, but as I understand it, these families are people who got their applications in late as they just missed the deadline, they havent just moved in...

[Panelmember]

Mooworc2 - Yes, but as prh47 says, the waiting list is held in strict accordance with the admissions criteria. The timeliness (or not) of the application for the school place has nothing to do with it. People who apply late put themselves at a disadvantage - they may well miss out on places because people who would otherwise have been lower on the admissions priorities than them get in first - but they can't be 'punished' by being put to the bottom of the waiting list.