schools applications process?

I will shortly be applying for my sons school places and as usual I am thinking too deeply about this.   A friend and I are both applying for 3/4 schools that aren't even in out county but we both work near these schools and they also have better reputations than our local schools. We will both be putting in applications for in county schools also.

I will try and ask my Q without waffling.... We both want to put down the 3 same schools (in the next county), but I am willing to entertain a 4th school.    Does anyone know how the applications will be looked at?   The 4th schoold has lots more places (intake of 75 this sept) and I have some stupid worry that the applications team may allocate my friends kid a place at one of the three better schools, but I might end up with the 4th choice as there are more places.  If it was looked at through the strict criterea we live closer to all three of the chosen schools (although even closer to number 4), so she shouldn't get into a school that O doesn't all things being equal.

Am I just being paranoid, tell me if I haven't made it clear....

The way it works here is that you put down 3 schools.  Each school taht you put down is given your name to consider and allocates places against their published criteria.  They have no idea if you put them 1, 2 or 3.  They send the results to the LEA.  If your no1 school offered you a place you get that.  If not, then the LEA look to no 2 etc.  I too was worried that a school might not look so favorably on me if we put them no 2 or that I'd get no 3 even if there were places at 1, but it doesn't work like that.  You can call your LEA to check.

Are you in the catchment areas for the schools you are going to apply to if they aren't in your county?

Thanks for the reply, I will call them.

We aren't in the catchment area for any of the schools I am applying for.    My catchment school is (sorry to sound snobby) a run down school full of council kids in the roughest area in our town.  we live in an isolated area surrounded by woods, within 100m walking distance of the warwickshire border (where I want to apply for), but unfortunatley the closest catchment school in our LEA is the run down school.

As the crow flies (which is pretty much the allocation criterea after siblings / religion etc) we aren't that far away from the warwickshire schools and I know they have pupils from our town, so I am reasonably hopeful - just hope we are not in a high birth rate year!

I'm currently working on an evaluation of school admissions policies so I am quite familiar with this area!

I'd advise you to look on the website of your local authority - they have to publish the admissions criteria by law.  You need to find out whether you apply to your own authority or to the neighbouring authority for a place in their schools.   

If you live closer to the school than your friend then unless she comes higher on the list because of particular criteria (e.g. if her child has special educational needs or if she already has a child at the school), your child will be higher on the list than hers.  

I would also advise you to look at the admissions figures, and on the websites it also tends to say somewhere (usually in the admissions booklet) how many children were admitted to each school in the previous year, which will give you an idea of whether it's oversubscribed.