Schools offering viewings after March

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SHertsDad
Posts: 96
Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2013 9:31 am

Schools offering viewings after March

Post by SHertsDad »

Most indies let parents that they eventually make offers to visit them again, to help them decide.
Does this also happen with state schools or would they expect you to have completely made your mind up before making the application at the end of Oct?
Factors like school transport and similar arrangements would be best evaluated once you have a better idea of who else your DC knows that is starting at the school?
hermanmunster
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Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: Schools offering viewings after March

Post by hermanmunster »

I think you would have to make up your mind by the end of October as come March you will only be offered one school and unless offer comes up on waiting list (when you can often visit to finally decide) there won't actually be schools to decide between
London_Mum
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Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2012 11:44 am

Re: Schools offering viewings after March

Post by London_Mum »

On March 3rd next year, your child will be allocated a single school place.
Even if they have qualified for numerous schools and passed several entrance exams, they will still only get one offer (the one that they meet the criteria for and that you placed highest up on your form).
You then have the option to go on waiting lists to see if you can get offered an alternative.

You don't get the chance to evaluate all the schools your child has qualified for and choose between them in March. That has to be done in October. The schools may be happy to let you visit if you are thinking of requesting a place on their waiting list but in reality, you are in the lap of the Gods at that point as to whether an offer from the list would ever be made for you to consider accepting.

Indie schools are different. You could hold several offers all at once. That does not happen in the state system.
ToadMum
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Location: Essex

Re: Schools offering viewings after March

Post by ToadMum »

Our experience a couple of years ago - DD was allocated a school which we had not placed on our CAF and which we had not visited on open evening -
is that schools can be quite accommodating re visits.

However, LAs do rather expect that the order of preference that you have stated on your CAF is what you really want. Remember that unless your area is generally over-supplied with secondary places, come March 3rd all the places will have been allocated. You can be on the waiting list for a school you put further up your list (assuming your child qualifies for a place there), and you can try to get a place at a school you ranked lower down, but there is no guarantee that you will be successful either way.

(Crossed posts!!)
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
Daogroupie
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Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: Schools offering viewings after March

Post by Daogroupie »

QE and HBS will both offer visits to those who have scored very highly in their exams. QE will offer visits immediately the results come out in a couple of weeks. Last year HBS offered visits for January. DG
Ladymuck
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Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2009 2:04 pm

Re: Schools offering viewings after March

Post by Ladymuck »

We live near independent schools with generous scholarship/bursary pots, so it seems to be more common to get a chance to view the grammars in March.
WP
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Joined: Thu Jan 03, 2008 9:26 am
Location: Watford, Herts

Re: Schools offering viewings after March

Post by WP »

As others have said, you have to work out your true order of preference now and put it on your CAF. You won't be offered a choice later. Even at the waiting list stage, though you can change your preferences, you'll then have to stick with those, because (in Herts) if you're offered a place from the waiting list your previous place may be automatically re-allocated. You don't get to hold two offers while you make a choice. You need to say on your CAF which of them you prefer; that is the only opportunity to make a choice.
SHertsDad
Posts: 96
Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2013 9:31 am

Re: Schools offering viewings after March

Post by SHertsDad »

Hope everybody does the sensible thing and puts their first preference first! Also wish that they get it or at least one of the choices they put down (even if this depends more on how many they can choose from than anything else, at least they hopefully know something about it)!

A few weeks after March 3rd, we will need to decide on taking the state option offered, appealing, joining waiting lists, etc.

My only reason for asking about visits then is that there are some state schools that DD did not visit for a while. Should we have indie offers, we know that some will even manage to hold parent get togethers etc before March. If DD is able to visit the state option then this may make it easier to keep the options open.
piggys
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Re: Schools offering viewings after March

Post by piggys »

Last academic year dd was offered HBS on results day; we received a telephone call on the Saturday morning - in other words the very next day - offering dd and I another visit to HBS. If I recall there was quite a long thread on this and people wondered how strategic it was. Certainly when we went for our follow up visit Mr Blond did acknowledge that girls who had accepted HBS would go on to be offered indie places which he urged them to refuse!

So, in answer to your original question OP, the chances are very high!
scary mum
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Re: Schools offering viewings after March

Post by scary mum »

You can usually visit schools anytime - just ask. Much better to see them in action rather than on an open day anyway, imo.
scary mum
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