“I am completing an application for my child to start primary school or transfer to middle or secondary school and am uncertain I will get the school of my choice. I want to be sure that I am doing everything as best I can.”

School admissions are extremely complicated. The two things we all know are:

• It is impossible for every child to get the school place their parent feels they deserve.
• Local authority officers can be reluctant to give specific advice.

However, I would advise you make the most of the advice available from the County Council, as publicised in the County’s admissions booklet (see resources). If you still have unanswered questions, then I can help in the following ways:

Before allocation of school places I can advise on:

• The likelihood of someone living at a particular address being allocated a place at a particular school.
• How to make the most of your three preferences to increase your chances of success.
• The chances of a particular set of circumstances being considered favourably by the County Council panel assessing applications under the exceptional social and medical rule (admissions rule 2)
• If moving house is an option, where to move to if you want to maximise your chances, under current admissions rules, of getting a place at a particular school and how this can be achieved in line with the County Council’s rules and will not fall foul of their rigorous checks.

It is important to remember that allocation day is simply the start of the process by which pupils are allocated school places. In the six months between allocation day and the start of the school year, a surprising number of children achieve a place at the school of their choice, even though they were not initially allocated a place at that school.

After allocation of school places I can advise on:

• Checking the County Council has not made a mistake. It is rare, but no system is perfect!
• Ensuring you are maximising your chances through the ‘Continuing Interest’ process.
• Ensuring you present as strong a case as possible at independent appeal (see the section on appeals).

At initial allocation, practically the whole of Becca’s class was going to our preferred local school except for her. She started there in September thanks to the expert advice available through this site.

Jayne, mother of Rebecca (Year 7)