Hi there,
I live in Luton. My dear son qualified for a position in Buckinghamshire Grammar Schools Admission Test 20/21. But I failed to move to the catchment area due to COVID19 situation to secure a place. As a result, I missed the first and second round of allocations. I did apply through my local council (LBC) but didn't get any offer from Buckinghamshire Council. And I don't know his position in waiting list. In this situation, I have some queries to the forum members.

If I move to the Aylesbury now for later rounds (3rd, 4th and so on up to last round in July), is there any chance to secure a place in grammar schools?

Any hope for my DS? Please Advise.
Thanks

Welcome to the forum.

There is information on the waiting lists here on the Buckinghamshire Council website. It states:


To be eligible for the third round you will need to have moved and provided evidence of the move by 15 April.

You can find the previous years' allocations in different rounds of allocations here, where you will be able to see how much movement there has been each year (it will only tell you the diatnce, not how many were offered - so bear in mind that it could be one student or 10).
For example Aylesbury Grammar School (this schoool seems to go the furthest out), for entry last September offered to the following:
March 1st: all catchment plus distance to 14.1 miles
2nd round: distance to 14.354 miles
3rd round: distance to 15.303 miles
4th round: no further offers made.
So there was a total of just over 1 mile extension - this could be only 2 children (of course there could also have been offeres to children moving closer to the school). What I am trying to say is that it could be a very risky bet to move in the hope of getting a place, because it might never happen. Very few ofers will be made in the 3rd or 4th rounds.

Thanks for the information and advice. Need a bit more. I only made one choice through my local council and it was AGS. If I want to move by 15th April and put some more choices (for instance: SHFGS and another 4 closest ones), how much I can reduce the risk? What will be the worst case scenario? Please Advise. Thanks again.

How will your DS get to the school that you have already been allocated, if you move, but don't secure any grammar school place in later allocation rounds anyway?

_________________
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx

Do you mean you only put one school, AGS, and none in Luton, or only one Aylesbury school?
There are no guarantees for any of the schools I'm afraid. They are all currently full for September so you rely on people turning down places. Do you have younger children who will need primary school places? Also remember your DS will need to get to school for the rest of year 6.

On another thread, someone posted that moving after offer day can mean your allocated school is withdrawn because you no longer meet the admissions criteria for it. You should check this carefully with Luton before you commit to moving - you don't want to end up with no school place at all.

good point re only applying for one school. have they actually given you a place anywhere?

Thanks for all valuable opinions. Some important questions have been asked here. The answers are:

1. My son has been allocated a school in luton which is required improvement category. Concern is teaching quality.

2. Yes, I did put only one option which is AGS and that's
for Aylesbury. For my LA I had two choices, but they provide me completely different one due to oversubscribed before reaching the distance to my house.

3. If anyone moved to a different county, I believe, authority will provide your children some school/schools. Because you moved their for living.

Thanks

Are you definitely moving to Aylesbury? If so why did you put Luton schools on the form - gets a bit confusing. Where would you and your family prefer to live?

Is it better to stay in Luton and concentrate on finding the right school there ie applying to others possibly , seeing where you are on the waiting list for the Luton ones you missed out on etc

Or risk Aylesbury and not get a place then have to apply to schools there to see what is available, they won't give you a place until you have an address

_________________
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx