Is there a chance of getting no school at all?

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Juneboy
Posts: 60
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 10:34 pm

Is there a chance of getting no school at all?

Post by Juneboy »

Is there a chance that I could list 4 schools and not get offered any? What would happen? We are out of county but 4 miles from Wilmington. That's our first choice but also fine with Gravesend Grammar. Not sure DS would get in to Dartford based on his score.
ToadMum
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Location: Essex

Re: Is there a chance of getting no school at all?

Post by ToadMum »

Juneboy wrote:Is there a chance that I could list 4 schools and not get offered any? What would happen? We are out of county but 4 miles from Wilmington. That's our first choice but also fine with Gravesend Grammar. Not sure DS would get in to Dartford based on his score.
The only way you will not get any school on March 1st is if you manage only to list schools on your CAF on whose ranked list your DS does not appear high enough. Even then, your LA will almost certainly offer you a place somewhere, albeit at your nearest undersubscribed school.

Is there no local comprehensive for which your DS meets the entry criteria?

Or do you mean, Is it possible you won't be offered a grammar school place?
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Juneboy
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Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 10:34 pm

Re: Is there a chance of getting no school at all?

Post by Juneboy »

Yes I mean not to be offered a Grammar School Place. Would the local authority give a non- grammar school that is not listed on the CAF?
Tinkers
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Re: Is there a chance of getting no school at all?

Post by Tinkers »

The LA is obliged to offer you a School place. If they cannot offer you one on your CAF they will offer at (hopefully) your nearest school with places. However ‘nearest’ could be some distance away. Since the GSs will likely be full then yes you are almost definitely going to allocated a non GS.

You should always put down at least one School you know you are highly likely to get that you would be ok with. Otherwise you risk getting a place at a school miles away that you really didn’t want.
salsa
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Re: Is there a chance of getting no school at all?

Post by salsa »

Juneboy wrote:Yes I mean not to be offered a Grammar School Place. Would the local authority give a non- grammar school that is not listed on the CAF?
+1
However, you can go on the waiting list and appeal for all the schools on your list. It is better to put a school that you would be comfortable with (at the end of your list) should your child not get into any of the grammars.

How many schools are you allowed to put on your CAF? 4 (as it is Kent) or 6 (as in the London Boroughs)?

Salsa
ToadMum
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Location: Essex

Re: Is there a chance of getting no school at all?

Post by ToadMum »

I would suggest that you go to your local authority's website and - as my dad used to say :) - Read, Mark and Inwardly Digest all the information there on how the secondary school admissions process works.
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
Stroller
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Re: Is there a chance of getting no school at all?

Post by Stroller »

Juneboy wrote:Is there a chance that I could list 4 schools and not get offered any? What would happen? We are out of county but 4 miles from Wilmington. That's our first choice but also fine with Gravesend Grammar. Not sure DS would get in to Dartford based on his score.
A couple of years ago, 150 children in Richmond were offered secondary schools that were NOT listed among the six schools the families had prioritised on their common application forms. I can’t find the newspaper article online now, but there was uproar about a vast number of children from Barnes having been allocated secondary school places in Whitton. For those not lucky enough to have a helicopter handy, there is simply NO easy way for anyone to travel between those places on a daily basis at rush hour. People suggested that it could take two hours each way by public transport. Even by car, it would take ages. It was a crisis.

After the first round of allocations, especially in London boroughs such as Richmond where there literally aren’t enough state school places for every child to attend a state secondary school, families who aren’t offered any school they chose have to take a deep breath and ask to go on the waiting list for another school. Some people remember an older sibling who would give them priority in a less undesirable school / unearth enough evidence of faith to opt as Plan B for a faith school they hadn’t listed originally / find fees under the mattress. Then a big musical chairs exercise plays out between March and May or June as families accept other schools and release places. In parallel there’s a whole face-saving change of narrative.”Yes, we always wanted to..” :)

If you don’t use the last space on your form for a school that will definitely offer your child a place before September, you are offering to help the nice people at the local authority fill the school nobody else wants to go to. You know, the one that’s at the other end of the borough. With the drugs, daggers and debauchery. (Sometimes they’re not as bad as their reputation might suggest, but by definition if they’re not on your list, they’re probably not easy for you to get to). Do yourself a favour - pick your least worst guaranteed option.
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solimum
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Location: Solihull, West Midlands

Re: Is there a chance of getting no school at all?

Post by solimum »

My nephew in Richmond went through a traumatic time this year not being offered any of their preferred schools at allocation day , but it did eventually work through the system via appeals/ new applications/ waiting lists and he was able to get to one they are happy with which is nearby
streathammum
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Re: Is there a chance of getting no school at all?

Post by streathammum »

I'm pleased your nephew has now got a place, but imagine how much less stressful the process would have been if his parents has listed that school at the bottom of the CAF in the first place - not to be critical of them but an example for others of how important it is to list a realistic school, even if it is your sixth choice.
lefol
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Location: Bexleyheath

Re: Is there a chance of getting no school at all?

Post by lefol »

Hi Juneboy,

Well done to your ds for passing the Kent Test. Being 4 miles from Wilmington gives you a good chance of getting into one of the north west Kent grammars . We were in the same position last year . Gravesend has an outstanding ofsted rating and looking at the DFE ratings it also comes up quite high even above the other Kent and bexley grammars . You also have children travelling from the Woolwich and Sidcup areas by train and they all meet up at Dartford for those changing trains . The journey time is about 35 minutes or 22 from Abbeywood and most boys do the walk to the station or take the bus - which I would say is quite reasonable. Do keep your options open .
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