I just wonder if anyone can answer for me the following question:

If my child is offered the place of first choice on the 1st of March, but we change our mind and turn down the offer, then can we still get the place of second choice, third choice and so on? As I understand, once you got the offer, then all other schools with lower preference will be automatically rejected.

The reason I am asking is that we got twin. My DD passed nonsuch with 324 points, my DS passed Wilson and now among 624 boys. We love both schools but we are OOC and it is not certain that if we put these schools as first choices both of them will get the offer. In case only one got offer we will then have to turn it down. In this case, maybe the child will have nowhere to go.

Many thanks

A quick response to your first question - no. Once you are offered a place, all of 'your' places at lower ranked schools cease to exist. You can probably make a new application, but this will be a late application and you will be reliant on a place coming up on the waiting list. Waiting lists have be held in oversubscription criteria order for viewers term, so if your lower ranked school was one on whose list your DC ranked highly, you might be lucky.

Can't your DC travel separately to school?

I know it's difficult with twins, but once you decide to embark on applications for academically selective schools, you really do have to look at them as two separate, individual applicants. The only way you can guarantee to keep them in the same school is to put one for each as first preference on their CAFs that admits on some less personal criterion, such as distance - which would obviously be the same for both of them.

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You can go on the wait list for your lower preferences. But first accept the school offered as then your DC would not be out of place.

The twins will have to travel separately if they are both offered their first choice - Wilson's and Nonsuch are at opposite ends of the borough, literally miles apart.

OP, do you mean that if one twin gets their first choice but the other doesn't then it wouldn't be fair for one twin only to go to the school of their choice?

Or - and this is more difficult - do you mean that you would need to move house to get to these first choice schools and so the other schools in your CAF are local to where you live now? Because if so, and only one Sutton school is offered and the other child gets a local school, you will have some very difficult decisions to make.

I'm not sure I understand why your DS or DD can't join a grammar school even if their twin doesn't get an offer (I am not a parent of twins, so maybe I just don't understand the bond between twins).

Are you planning to relocate to the area if both get offers, but if only 1 gets an offer you don't want the other twin at a local non-selective school? Or will you be staying where you live now (your username suggests Sidcup) and you want them to travel together? Wilson's and Nonsuch are not close, better combinations would be Nonsuch and SGS or Wilson's and Wallington Girls.

I think the dilemma is commute for one child. If they live in Sidcup, and both get Sutton schools, then they might be thinking of relocating to Sutton area. If one gets Sutton school and another local school, then one child would have to travel quite far to Sutton.

Since Wilson's has been over offering for last 2 years, it would be advisable to put Wilson's first and then Wallington or Sutton (or vice versa).

Many thanks to everybody for the response. Yes, it is the dilemma for us if only one child got Sutton school. Since we are in Sidcup, he (or she) will have to travel around 2hrs+2hrs everyday to the school. If both got Sutton we will be relocating to Sutton to make thing easier for them.

Nonsuch and Wilson are very lovely schools, but it seems that in this case we will have to put them out of equation, and first try to secure the places for them in the local area.

Unfortunately I can't see how you can make it work without taking the huge risk of one or other child not getting a Sutton place. The only way around it would have been to move already and apply to the good Sutton all-ability schools that admit on distance as your back-up schools, but the cut-off for that is probably about now.

Did your DC sit the Bexley or Kent exams as well? Why Sutton, if you don't actually have to move there? Especially when there are mixed grammar schools in your own borough. Seriously, you cannot expect a child to endure four hours of travelling every day.

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

Since the twin did not have much of the tutor, we were quite nervous and so we let them take as many exams as possible to maximise the chance. They did sit the Bexley and Kent exams and passed (may be among top 5% in Bexley and 1% in Kent).

Yes we don't need to move, since there are good schools in our borough. But at the same time, we do love nonsuch and wilson, so we are trying to see if there is any chance they can get the place there especially we will have to fill in the CAF before 31st October.

The result of my DD of 324 at nonsuch suggests that she may be ranked in the middle between 300-400. In this case it is difficult to guarantee the place especially we are OOC. With the Bexley and Kent exams my DS had very similar performance as my DD, so we assume that he may be ranked around 400 as well at Wilson, and so it is difficult as well.

All in all, it does suggest it is too risky for us to take Sutton into account and you are right that we cannot expect a child to endure 4 hours of travelling everyday. Many thanks for your advices.