School admission

[Deleted User]

Hi. Wondered if I can find someone here with the same problem. I am currently homeless living in a hotel and I need to apply for school by mid January. I know I need proof of address but I don’t have any. I am looking for rent but i don’t know where I will find one and when. This hotel is only a temporary solution until I run out of money. Does anyone know if I will have problems applying for school? I’m looking to rent in specific town or as near by due to being close to work. My hotel is in different town currently because it’s where the school is currently. 

maman

It will only matter if the schools you are applying to are heavily subscribed and there is competition for places. Schools will take out of catchment applications but you'll be down the pecking order in terms of their admissions policy. 

Assuming there's room in a school close to your work and you intend to stay in that job, I'd apply there. 🤔

Flugelhorn

[Deleted User] said:

Hi. Wondered if I can find someone here with the same problem. I am currently homeless living in a hotel and I need to apply for school by mid January. I know I need proof of address but I don’t have any. I am looking for rent but i don’t know where I will find one and when. This hotel is only a temporary solution until I run out of money. Does anyone know if I will have problems applying for school? I’m looking to rent in specific town or as near by due to being close to work. My hotel is in different town currently because it’s where the school is currently. 

I thought you were buying a house? 

[Deleted User]

Yes I am in the process but there are issues and I feel this won’t go thru. At this stage no one can guarantee anything apart from wait but I’ve already waited long time and my mortgage expires soon. And because I’ve nowhere to stay I’m thinking about renting somewhere while I wait for the house so at least I have roof above my head in case I will lose it as the house buy is a big question mark now 😢

[Deleted User]

I can’t really live where my work is because it’s too expensive and I can’t afford. But the little towns and villages near by could do 

Flugelhorn

hopefully you will have  an address by the time you need to apply for the school place  - if you are genuinely homeless  then the LEA will help you with this - if you are just aiming to get an address in the right catchment then that can be more difficult 

Flugelhorn

[Deleted User] said:

I can’t really live where my work is because it’s too expensive and I can’t afford. But the little towns and villages near by could do 

sounds like a good place to start, if the purchase isn't working out then time to look at other places

maman

When I posted, I was thinking that it might suit you to have your child in a school close to your work. Unfortunately, if it's an expensive and desirable area then it often follows that the schools are heavily subscribed.☹️

Savvy_Sue

Is the hotel privately arranged, or have you had support from your local council? Either way, start by taking a look at what the local authority website says about applying for a school place when in temporary accommodation, and it might be worth getting into the system for social housing, even if their website suggests that you won't get anything any time soon ... 

You can help yourself by checking out which schools are NOT oversubscribed, and you could also contact those you're most interested in. It's probably worth looking at those which would be (relatively) easy to get to from anywhere you might end up living: so you can't afford prices near where you work, but where is easy to get to from work? 

marcia_

 Schools are used to getting applications from those who are homeless or travellers and catchment areas don't mean much anymore with parents able to select any schools they wish. 

Flugelhorn

marcia_ said:

 Schools are used to getting applications from those who are homeless or travellers and catchment areas don't mean much anymore with parents able to select any schools they wish. 

more of a problem when people are temporarily resident in the catchment of a highly oversubbed school just at the time that the applications are due in, then move back to their out of catchment residence. Ends up that LEAs look very closely at such applications to ensure that they are genuine moves. 
In this case there may be a query if the hotel is privately arranged or being managed by the local authority