My child's siblings are at the school already, does that make a difference to our application?

My child's siblings are at the school already, does that make a difference to our application?

Ralph Lucas (Editor, The Good Schools Guide) gives expert video advice on: What kind of admissions criteria might a school apply?; How do schools choose which children to accept?; We don't live in the catchment area of a perfect school, can we still apply? and more...

Yes, it often does. It often gives you a passport to the school. For schools that do allow siblings to follow, generally the sibling has to still be at the school. It's no good that a brother or sister went there earlier, it's not that kind of association. It's about making the parents' life easier, giving them one school run, or one school bus to catch rather than two. So a lot of schools will do it. If you've got it, it's an absolute passport, it's wonderful. You don't have to worry at all about meeting the criteria or getting in there on preference. If you haven't got it, then you've got all of these pesky parents who've got siblings at the school getting in there ahead of you. So, it works both ways. But once you're in there, it's a great advantage.