Buckinghamshire Location with high chances of securing seat

[SchoolSeeker]

Hi All, Greetings! I'm a new joiner and believe I will be forgiven for asking what is most likely a repeated question. My elder son has taken his 11+ exams last week and awaiting results on 15 Oct (in 23 days). I have got a little one as well in Year 1. We are looking to move to Buckinghamshire and would like to seek from experienced parents your invaluable guidance and suggestions on what location would be better to move in order to maximise the chances of securing a seat in a Grammar school. The idea is to move to the location well before 15 Oct (Son is positive of securing 121 qualifying score) to avoid missing 31 Oct deadline. The only question literally I have got to ask is which location in Buckinghamshire puts us in the best position to get a seat?

Aylesbury has two schools about 1mile away from each other. Although this looks attractive, I fear most (like me) want to move there with high risk of of oversubscribing this year possibly? The previous year allocation says Aylesbury school reached out as far as 15.233miles in distance. This year apparently has lot many candidates than last year and the exam seems relatively easier which could mean more students qualifying locally.
Is Aylesbury still palatable option to move to get a seat? Or would you suggest any other location that has higher chances of securing a seat.

Please help.

Thanks in advance,
School Seeker.

[hermanmunster]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

Couple of points re moving to Bucks :

1) some of the schools require you to live in the area for many months before October CAF deadline so you need to check each of the schools to make sure that the one you are aiming at is feasible

2) you usually have to have severed all ties to your previous residence - can you really do this by 15.10?

3) have you got a school identified for your DS to complete year 6?

[Tinkers]

In addition to what HM has mentioned, what are your plans if your DS hasn’t qualified?

Every year we hear of people with DCs who are pretty sure they've done well and haven’t, (and vice Versa).

If you definitely need to move anyway, then make sure you move to an area with a decent alternative just in case he hasn’t made the cut

[scary mum]

Welcome to the forum.

I have got a little one as well in Year 1

.
You need to look into which primary schools have places (for your year 1 & 6 children). Most good primary schools are over subscribed.
Where do you currently live?

We are looking to move to Buckinghamshire and would like to seek from experienced parents your invaluable guidance and suggestions on what location would be better to move in order to maximise the chances of securing a seat in a Grammar school.

All you can do it look at the previous allocations for an idea of what might happen. There is no guarantee that it will be the same again. Do you have a burning desire to live in Aylesbury? What happens if your year 6 child qualifies and your year 1 child doesn't in a few years? You will also need to be in catchment for a good Upper School (which are not so easily found).

The idea is to move to the location well before 15 Oct (Son is positive of securing 121 qualifying score) to avoid missing 31 Oct deadline.

I can't see how you could possibly make a permanent move in 3 weeks given that you haven't even targetted an area yet.

Son is positive of securing 121 qualifying score

Plenty of people are positive of passing & don't. Ten year olds are not good at judging these things. What if you moved & your son didn't qualify? I think you need to find an area you like and look at the schools there. If you live in an area with good comprehensives & your children are happy in their primary schools I would stay put.

This year apparently has lot many candidates than last year and the exam seems relatively easier which could mean more students qualifying locally

.
Do you have figures for how many are sitting the test? I haven't seen these, so would be interested to hear. The scores are standardised to ensure the same percentage qualify each year, so this should even out and "easier" or "harder" paper.

Or would you suggest any other location that has higher chances of securing a seat.

As above, no-one can tell you, other than looking at the pattern of previous allocations (& sometimes somethign completely unexpected happens).
Buckinghamshire Council looks very closely at previous moves so you would need to prove that it was a permanent move & that you have severed ties with your previous property/area.

Cross posts with Tinkers.

[SchoolSeeker]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

Couple of points re moving to Bucks :

1) some of the schools require you to live in the area for many months before October CAF deadline so you need to check each of the schools to make sure that the one you are aiming at is feasible

Thanks for the response.
Yes. Have eliminated Dr. Chancellor's and Royal Grammar School. I have got remaining 7 schools in my radar that can potentially accommodate boys (Royal Latin, Aylesbury Grammar, Sir Henry Floyd, John Hampden, Chesham, Sir William Borlase, Burnham.

2) you usually have to have severed all ties to your previous residence - can you really do this by 15.10?

I own the house I currently live in (It's in the London Borough of Hounslow. South of Heathrow airport) and can put it in the market. In this location, it goes pretty quickly. Also, reducing the rent would attract many renters to grab soon. I understand it is bit rushed but earnestly feel it is doable. But if I need to redecorate it, it would take some time. The question I have is: In the worst case of not able to find renters before 31 Oct 2021? Would this seriously hamper my chances of securing a seat? By when do I need to prove/show that I have severed ties with my previous property? Can I show I have moved to Bucks before 31 Oct and possibly show that I have severed ties from Nov/Dec (worst case). Would that work?

3) have you got a school identified for your DS to complete year 6?

Nope. Am prepared to send my DS anywhere he gets it as it is only a matter of 1 year (i.e. Year 6) before he potentially gets into some Grammar school. Does securing a place in local school mandatory before submitting CAF form? Would it not suffice if I show I have applied to the Bucks council and waiting for response. Please clarify.

[SchoolSeeker]

Thanks Tinkers for the response.

In addition to what HM has mentioned, what are your plans if your DS hasn’t qualified?

Plan is to secure a rental property by 15 Oct and not remove either of the children from current school until I see the qualifying 121 score is obtained on 15 Oct. If I get the score, I will give up the admission in the current school and apply for a place in Bucks immediately.

If I do not get the 121 score, I'll not remove children from the school and will have to cancel the rental contract. Will lose significant money in this process which I think I have to bear although eye-watering.

Every year we hear of people with DCs who are pretty sure they've done well and haven’t, (and vice Versa).

Agree. I would be the unfortunate loser but I believe I should be taking a calculated risk in this case with the hope of giving a good future to DS in Grammar school.

If you definitely need to move anyway, then make sure you move to an area with a decent alternative just in case he hasn’t made the cut

This advise certainly makes sense. I need to consider my little DD to have decent schooling to continue from Year 1.

[SchoolSeeker]

Thanks scary mum for the detailed response.

Do I need to have my both kids registered and going to Bucks local schools before 31 Oct? Or would it be sufficient if I have applied for a place in Year 6 and Year 1 and waiting for seat allocation by Bucks council?

By when do I need to evidence that ties with previous property has been severed? If I manage to find prospective tenant few weeks after 31 Oct, will that hamper my DS chances of getting seat in a Grammar school? Please help.

Welcome to the forum.

I have got a little one as well in Year 1.

You need to look into which primary schools have places (for your year 1 & 6 children). Most good primary schools are over subscribed.
Where do you currently live?

I live London Borough of Hounslow. Just to the South of Heathrow.

We are looking to move to Buckinghamshire and would like to seek from experienced parents your invaluable guidance and suggestions on what location would be better to move in order to maximise the chances of securing a seat in a Grammar school.

All you can do it look at the previous allocations for an idea of what might happen. There is no guarantee that it will be the same again. Do you have a burning desire to live in Aylesbury? What happens if your year 6 child qualifies and your year 1 child doesn't in a few years? You will also need to be in catchment for a good Upper School (which are not so easily found).

Aylesbury was an example chosen. I am flexible to live anywhere that maximises the chances of securing a seat for my DS. Hence the reason for my original post to know which location. However, you have answered to question to go by previous year pattern for indicative figures although this might change. All makes absolute sense. Thanks. In the event of Year 1 child not qualifying when it is her turn to take 11+, I would move to the place where I can maximise the chance of securing a decent upper school and DS would have grown enough to do the relatively longer travel. Would this approach make sense?

The idea is to move to the location well before 15 Oct (Son is positive of securing 121 qualifying score) to avoid missing 31 Oct deadline.

I can't see how you could possibly make a permanent move in 3 weeks given that you haven't even targetted an area yet.

Trust me, there are property viewings arranged this weekend and some of them are available for immediate move. Can do this in 2-3 weeks. Getting the currrent property redorated and re-renting out might take bit of a time and I wanted to know if severing ties with my current property can happen after 31 Oct. Please would you help me with this point?

Son is positive of securing 121 qualifying score

Plenty of people are positive of passing & don't. Ten year olds are not good at judging these things. What if you moved & your son didn't qualify? I think you need to find an area you like and look at the schools there. If you live in an area with good comprehensives & your children are happy in their primary schools I would stay put.

I agree that 10yr olds are not good at judging. Hence I plan to wait till 15 Oct before removing them from current school. However, securing a property in Bucks would be done bit earlier purely with the aim of not missing the 31 Oct deadline to mention it in CAF with Bucks address. If 121 score is not obtained (fingers crossed) will not move and cancel the rental contract. Sadly, will lose money.

This year apparently has lot many candidates than last year and the exam seems relatively easier which could mean more students qualifying locally.
Do you have figures for how many are sitting the test? I haven't seen these, so would be interested to hear. The scores are standardised to ensure the same percentage qualify each year, so this should even out and "easier" or "harder" paper.

I do not have official figures. Please would you let me know if I need to rent out my current own house (where I am living currently) before 31 Oct? Or will I get some time to redecorate it and then rent it out by mid Nov say? Will that work? When do I need to submit the evidence of severing ties with the current property?

Or would you suggest any other location that has higher chances of securing a seat.

As above, no-one can tell you, other than looking at the pattern of previous allocations (& sometimes somethign completely unexpected happens).

Buckinghamshire Council looks very closely at previous moves so you would need to prove that it was a permanent move & that you have severed ties with your previous property/area.

Cross posts with Tinkers.

This is a very good point you mentioned. By when should I have rented out my current property? Few weeks after 31st Oct would be an issue? What I am reasonably positive is to get a local place before 31 Oct.

[scary mum]

I think you probably need to talk to Buckinghamshire Council. No you don't have to have your children in new schools by 31 October. The rules about proof of moving are on the council website. I believe they will ask for proof & if you don't provide it immediately they will keep asking & you won't be allocated a place on March 1st if you haven't provided information that shows you had made a permanent move by October 31st (for example council tax bills & electricity bills in your name showing normal electricity use). Not moving your children to new schools would raise red flags.
Contact Buckinghamshire Council & read the info the website (I will link to it when I'm not on my phone).

[ToadMum]

There is quite a lot of information on the Bucks CC website.

https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/scho ... ry-school/

https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/scho ... ving-home/

We use the address where you and your child are living on 31 October 2021 for the first round of allocations on 1 March 2022. If you have moved to this address after 1 September 2021 you will need to provide evidence to confirm your move and that you are living in your new home before we will accept your new address.

When disposing of your previous property, we need to see evidence that you are no longer able to live in your old property and are not immediately able to return to it. This includes 1 of the following:

a solicitor’s letter showing completion of the sale of your old property
a legally binding signed tenancy agreement with a term up to at least 1 April 2023

If you local comprehensive school options are better than the Bucks upper schools which would be available to you in your new are, should your DS not have achieved the pass score, then personally, I would consider whether a Bucks grammar, any Bucks grammar' (I'm sorry, but by the sound of things, you haven't really considered which of them would actually be a suitable school for your DS, other than the 'grammar school' tag?) was really worth the possibility of the whole scheme going horribly wrong .

[hermanmunster]

Thanks for links ToadMum

@schoolseeker -

there are a few things you need to think about in all this :

Every year Bucks get a large number of people moving into the area in their child's year 6 with a view to getting any GS place that they can. The LEA have only got a limited number of places and have to be sure that these are given to genuine local residents - hence they have got very good at spotting when things are all not what they seem eg

a) people renting out one property (that is not really all that far away) and renting another in area, sometimes they rent the old one to family members or friends and aren't really leaving and the property is hence still available to them so that raises lots of questions

b)sometimes the property they rent is simply not large enough for the family - even if it is they can ask to see electricity bills and can assess whether this is reasonable for a family of 4 or whatever ie are they actually living there or just dropping in to pick up post?

c) LEA staff have been known to call on people at 0700 on a weekday to see who is in the property, getting ready for school etc

d) schools - one of the red flags that makes them query the situation is children being taken back the old school (of course they may well still be living nearby)??

- You say you would move to any school for year 6 - think about this, there are many oversubscribed schools, the only ones with places may be some distance away and there may not be a place for your 2 children, can you reasonably get them both to school at difference locations each morning?

- Don't underestimate the effects of moving a child suddenly in autumn of year 6 - away from friends, away from familiar teachers, missing on all the fun stuff planned for year 6 etc etc - it is an important time in growing up and moving on with your peer group

- the school could be very different, may be in special measures, may be very cliquey and your children make no friends, may be far away etc etc