How do School Catchment areas work?

ukbondraider

Not sure where to post this question but I am looking to buy my next house strategically so that my kids when I have them can go to good state schools.

However I do not understand how the catchment area policy works.

Do parents simply get a better chance for their children to go to better schools if they live close to that school? How close is close enough i.e do you have to live within 1 mile of the school or is 5 miles still considered in the catchment area?

Secondly if you own two house at different ends of the country but both houses are near to their highly regarded school can you as a parent apply to both schools and then decide where to reside afterwards?

Thanks

dunstonh

How do School Catchment areas work?

Not very well would be a quick and sarcastic answer to that

Do parents simply get a better chance for their children to go to better schools if they live close to that school?

Not exactly. Many catchment areas develop over the years with new developments impacting which may not be that local to the school.

For example, if you live 5 miles from a school A and 3 miles from school B, you could still fall under catchment for school A as there isn't enough space in school B. Also, people living closer to school A could easily find themselves in the catchment for school B for historical reasons (e.g. school may have expanded but its the new houses that take advantage of that and not the old houses).

This can result in catchment areas being all over the place. In our situation, when my eldest is ready for high school, we are in the catchment area for a school 8 miles away despite another high school only being 3 miles away (not complaining as the one 8 miles away is far better).

The middle school she is in currently has more children from outside catchment going to it than those within catchment.

I wouldn't mind moving but the catchment area we have for the three school levels is highly desirable. However, the property placement isnt logical for the schools we have if you were just looking at a map.

jiblets1

As far as I know it (I am a teacher) if you live outside a school's catchment area you can ask them if your child can register. If you live within the catchment area they must take you - even if they are full. I think they can tell you no, but you are within your rights to approach the Local Education Authority to over-rule it. I personally hadn't heard of a house being in two catchment areas before, but I know that catchment areas can be unusual things, and a small geographical area may well hold more than one school catchment area.
Your best bet is to ask the estate agents and schools. Good luck!

silvercar

rules do change. when we were first selling our house this time last year our buyer was convinced that their child would get into their chosen school from our address, unfortunately the rules had changed from measuring distance "as the crow flies" to "along safe walking routes" and they didn't get a place. Now I here that school has again changed their admission rules.

Admission places are now generally run by local authorities, so you could get away with your suggestion. If the form asks for the name of the child's nursery school you may come unstuck.

mrsS_2

I could be wrong but I inderstood that priority is given to children in the following order:

1)children wirh a medical reason to go (ie deaf unit at school- a child with a hearing disability would get priority)
2)child in care
3)social/religious reason (ie certain religions that insist on single sex education would get priority at single sex school)
4)sibling already at school
5)being in a priority area(eg being in a village with few school options would be given priority over other applicants in same town but not rural)
6)distance to nearest school


as you can see- being in the right catchment is very low on the list and depending on how many kids fit the other criteria above each year can drastically reduce your chances of getting in.

(I believe the crossing busy roads thing only applies to infant and junior schools)

In our town, one school of 180 places per year, sometimes due to number of siblings only has about 30 place for the catchement area....


good luck

ianian99

it should not make a difference where you live, ALL schools should teach kids to the same standard then all kids would get an equal education and not just the ones whos parents can afford to buy a house in the catchment area of a good school.(usually well over the odds because its in the catchment area for a good school)

mrsS_2

unfortunately the real world doesnt work like this

if you want the best education for your kids (and lets face it they only get one chance at this) then you will do practically all that you can to get them to the right school

I take it you dont have school age kids ianian99?

ianian99

mrsS wrote:

unfortunately the real world doesnt work like this

if you want the best education for your kids (and lets face it they only get one chance at this) then you will do practically all that you can to get them to the right school

I take it you dont have school age kids ianian99?

if you want the really best for your kids then you should send them to a private school, lets face it if someone can afford to pay well over the odds for a house in a catchment area of a good school then they should be able to afford to send their kids to a private school.
my wee one is only 11 months old and hopefully he will go to a private school failing that then I too would move into a catchment area of a good school.
I'm not saying that its wrong for people to do this, obviously people only want the best school for their kids. What i am saying the education system should not have good schools and bad schools. Lets face it buying a house in the catchment area of a good school is a preety modern day thing is it not? People years ago didn't have to do this as kids got pretty much the same education regardless of the school.
To answer the original question "how do catchment areas work?" Well they dont as people just buy into the catchment area

BobProperty

The local authority (I think it goes on LA and not individual schools) will publish its policy. So one LA may work on the basis of distance from school "as the crow flies" and another may work on the basis of public transport routes for instance.
The other important part of the policy in this area is the policy when the school is "oversubscribed". The authority will also publish a policy for when this happens.
So the answer is phone the Schools Admissions section (or whatever its called in the particular Local Authority) and ask them for the policy document.

mrsS_2

agree again- tried state schools for 4 years- went back to work and sent them private.

there IS NO COMPARISON!

but you shouldnt have to do it as you originally said

anyway- us sending or not sending our kids to private school does not answer op question!

Angela_D_3

ianian99 wrote:

if you want the really best for your kids then you should send them to a private school, lets face it if someone can afford to pay well over the odds for a house in a catchment area of a good school then they should be able to afford to send their kids to a private school.
my wee one is only 11 months old and hopefully he will go to a private school failing that then I too would move into a catchment area of a good school.
I'm not saying that its wrong for people to do this, obviously people only want the best school for their kids. What i am saying the education system should not have good schools and bad schools. Lets face it buying a house in the catchment area of a good school is a preety modern day thing is it not? People years ago didn't have to do this as kids got pretty much the same education regardless of the school.
To answer the original question "how do catchment areas work?" Well they dont as people just buy into the catchment area

I totally agree why pay the extra for the house when you could pay it directly to the school and receive the benefits of smaller class sizes.