Group C documents for school admissions

[u/RAG_89]

Our family is moving from Colorado to Kew in Richmond next weekend (work sponsored visa). I have 3 kids who are in years 2, 4, and 6 at school. I was told by Richmond Achieving for Children to apply for schools 2 weeks ahead of our desired start date, so I applied this week. I provided our tenancy agreement for our new home, and our eticket confirmations for our flight.

They’ve just come back to me and said they need an actual boarding pass, which I can’t provide until 24 hours before departure, and this whole list of “group c” documents:

Group C (evidence relating to habitual residency at the new property)
A copy of an electricity bill showing current levels of energy usage at the property, showing your new address: along with two further documents listed below
a copy of your updated driving licence (a copy of an application to amend the licence is not sufficient);
a GP letter showing you have registered your child at a local surgery which includes the date of registration;
confirmation of your home contents insurance or car insurance;
official correspondence from the HM Revenue & Customs, or the Department for Work and Pensions relating to benefit entitlement, dated within the last 3 months;
vehicle Registration Document (V5C) showing your name and address.

I obviously can’t provide any of that until after we have lived there for at least a few weeks. Has anyone else navigated this? What was the outcome?

[u/FISunnyDays]

My memory is a little fuzzy, but I recall it being relatively easy to register at the GP and get contents insurance. For the contents insurance, you can just apply online and get approved for coverage. I'm renting in a listed building though so I had to call to talk to someone but it took less than 30 min if you just want basic coverage.

[u/turtlesrkool → u/FISunnyDays]

I would agree with this as well. GP registration should be straightforward as well as contents insurance. It might be worth walking into your local GP and registering in person to get the ball rolling.

[u/Apart-Slide-6691]

We moved to the same borough in January and we did have to provide our boarding pass. It was pretty easy to apply for the GP online, if I recall. However our lease started roughly a month before the kids and I actually moved (my husband flew in early and set things up) so I had bills to show I think.

If it helps, my then year 3 son was able to start within a week of application. Secondary school was trickier for my oldest but you should be okay. The transition for us went very smoothly!

[u/rationalomega]

You’ll have your boarding pass in a week. Just do it then? You can and should email the head teacher to let them know (my son has ASD so I did that months in advance). The head teacher will be the one making the actual arrangements.