Application forms
Common Application Forms (excl. SEN)
Despite the system now being homogeneous, each borough has its own common application form. Subsequently, whether online or in paper form, the CAF must be sourced from your home LA. At the start of year 6 parents should receive a guidance pack from their LA outlining what is expected of them. This can normally be requested in advance however, and should contain a CAF by default. The form can also be completed online at any time. This has the advantage of allowing you to repeatedly alter the form and relax in the knowledge that your latest saved version will be submitted automatically come deadline day. You will also get to see your offer at 9am on National Offer Day, instead of having to rely on the Royal Mail. Apart from these differences, however, no priority or administrative distinction is drawn between paper and e-applications.
As mentioned earlier, up to six preferences may be listed on the form and these must be given in order of priority. If you complete the online form you can change these as many times as you want before the deadline, which this year is Friday 19th October 2007. No extra credence is given for writing the same school's name more than once or only naming a few schools. The LA is under no obligation to provide one of your listed preferences or even one of your local schools. There is space on the form to communicate any special social or medical reasons there may be for giving any of your choices. Some reasons, such as sibling rules, will be school-specific in the weight they carry. For example, some schools take into account the number of siblings in the school at the time of receiving the applications, others calculate it from the proposed date of the applicants entry. No special criteria you provide will guarantee you a place. The only exception to this rule being if the child is 'Looked After By The Local Authority' as by law this gives the applicant top priority for any school of their choice. Refugee and asylum seeking children may qualify for social/medical consideration; special attention is much more likely to be given if supporting evidence from a professional is included with the application. This may include reports from any of the following: social workers, housing officers, health visitors or council officials.
The address provided on the form must by law be the child's permanent residence. This means the address of the property whose owner has legal custody of the child. If the child has two parents living separately, the address must be that of the parent with which they spend the most time or the address of the parent to whom child benefit is paid to. Temporary rented addresses are not permitted. Any change of address must be reported to the LEA who will subsequently inform the applicant of which address is to be used. Evidence - such as a council tenancy agreement or solicitors letter confirming sales/purchase details - will be required . Any evidence must have been written after the completion of sale. Any application with a change of address within the last 10 months is automatically investigated by the LEA.
Forms must be completed accurately as mistakes or inaccuracies will, at best, result in delay.
Supplementary Forms
Additional forms are required by some schools. This generally applies to selective and faith schools. Contact either the school or the LEA in which it resides directly to have the necessary documents sent out to you. A supplementary form alone does not qualify as a valid application. The school must also be listed as a preference on your CAF. Some linked schools (sister schools or groups of schools that use the same test) will have one combined form. If applying to both it is important that you check with the LA to see where to send it. The status of your application may be dependent on which of the linked schools you send it to. E.g. it may affect where the child is to sit the test or which school is noted as your higher preference.