Live in London Bucks & Kent date conflict which 1 to choose

[ichayan]

I have registered for the Buckinghamshire and Kent exams for my son. We are planning to move out from London to the are where he gets the admission. Unfortunately both tests happened to be on the same date and both of them won’t allow any change. Considering we live in London which one has the highest probability of getting accepted? Thank you all in advance.

[scary mum]

When you say Berks, do you mean Slough, or Reading?
Have you checked the admission criteria for when you have to be a resident, or how far away people are offered places - this will affect how likely your son is to get a place?
From a straight numbers point of view, I think 25% (someone will confirm) of children in Kent qualify for a grammar school, as Kent is a fully selective county. In Slough (?Reading) there are fewer places available, I have no idea what percentage of people who sit the tests qualify, however the admission criteria & past statistics are more important if you aren't local. Do you know which schools you are interested in? Why Berkshire & Kent in particular? What will your son do for a school for the remainder of year 6 if you move?

[ichayan]

When you say Berks, do you mean Slough, or Reading?
Have you checked the admission criteria for when you have to be a resident, or how far away people are offered places - this will affect how likely your son is to get a place?
From a straight numbers point of view, I think 25% (someone will confirm) of children in Kent qualify for a grammar school, as Kent is a fully selective county. In Slough (?Reading) there are fewer places available, I have no idea what percentage of people who sit the tests qualify, however the admission criteria & past statistics are more important if you aren't local. Do you know which schools you are interested in? Why Berkshire & Kent in particular? What will your son do for a school for the remainder of year 6 if you move?

Oops, sorry I meant to write Buckinghamshire, apologies I have updated the post. I think I will repost in the relevant board. @moderators please feel free to delete.

[scary mum]

I will move your post to Bucks, no need to repost.
ETA: I have removed your other post to avoid having two identical threads. I have left the Kent one so that you can get advice from there as well.

[scary mum]

For Buckinghamshire, you need to move by 31st October, which leaves very little time between receiving the results and having to move. It is best to commit to an area before taking the tests, to be honest. Otherwise you would only be considered in the second & subsequent rounds of admissions and you would by no means be guaranteed an offer of a place at all. Also you need to consider where your son would go to school between October & July, as the primary schools will also be oversubscribed. If you do move, make sure it is to somewhere that has decent Upper Schools in case you son doesn't get a place at a grammar school.
All the Bucks grammar schools are over subscribed and some have residency criteria from 18 months before submitting the CAF - from memory Dr Challoner's Grammar School, although you need to check all the admissions criteria for the schools you are interested in.
To be honest, my advice would be to not bother with Bucks if you can't commit to moving by the end of October (& you need to check what evidence Bucks Council need to see to prove that you have made a permanent move).
Hopefully someone else can advise on Kent.
For Buckinghamshire you can find the admissions policies here
The statistics for previous years' entry here
This website is also useful if you haven't already seen it.
Hopefully you were able to look at most of these sites anyway before putting your son in for the tests?

[ichayan]

For Buckinghamshire, you need to move by 31st October, which leaves very little time between receiving the results and having to move. It is best to commit to an area before taking the tests, to be honest. Otherwise you would only be considered in the second & subsequent rounds of admissions and you would by no means be guaranteed an offer of a place at all. Also you need to consider where your son would go to school between October & July, as the primary schools will also be oversubscribed. If you do move, make sure it is to somewhere that has decent Upper Schools in case you son doesn't get a place at a grammar school.
All the Bucks grammar schools are over subscribed and some have residency criteria from 18 months before submitting the CAF - from memory Dr Challoner's Grammar School, although you need to check all the admissions criteria for the schools you are interested in.
To be honest, my advice would be to not bother with Bucks if you can't commit to moving by the end of October (& you need to check what evidence Bucks Council need to see to prove that you have made a permanent move).
Hopefully someone else can advise on Kent.
For Buckinghamshire you can find the admissions policies here
The statistics for previous years' entry here
This website is also useful if you haven't already seen it.
Hopefully you were able to look at most of these sites anyway before putting your son in for the tests?

Thank you for the detailed reply. Was planning to move in early 2020 and couldn’t make it due to circumstance changes because of the pandemic.

[scary mum]

If you can't move before the CAF deadline I would seriously consider not bothering with Bucks. If you have 2 other children to consider you will have aproblem getting them all into good primary schools as many are oversubscribed. Also, what if your other children don't qualify for grammar schools when it is their turn? Unless of course you as a family want to live in Bucks regardless of whether your children attend a grammar school or an upper school.

[ichayan]

Thank you for the reply. My aim is to move out of London permanently, I am happy to move into the area. Wondering how these would work out if I move after Oct 31 and before 1st of March.

[hermanmunster]

Thank you for the reply. My aim is to move out of London permanently, I am happy to move into the area. Wondering how these would work out if I move after Oct 31 and before 1st of March.

I think all the schools vary in that some require you to have lived in the area for about 18 months before admission.

Others treat it as a late application and you then have to give very specific evidence of having really moved and given up all links to the old house - remember this means moving the children (including your eldest) to a new school for just part of the year. All this is without the guarantee of a place at the GS - not an easy process

[scary mum]

Which school are you thinking of?
You would be added to the waiting list after moving. If you look on the Bucks website that I linked above you can see how much movement there has been after March 1st each year (very little, if any, at some schools). Are you happy for your other children to attend upper schools if they don't pass? Some upper schools have a poor reputation so you need to be careful.
Where are you thinking of moving to?