Finding a school for one child is a big piece of work. With two or three children in different year groups, it becomes something else again. Each child has their own needs, each year group has its own availability, and the family still has only one morning school run.

It helps to think about three things.

1. One school, or the right school for each child?

Most families start out hoping for one school for everyone, and there are good reasons for that. One journey, one community, one set of term dates, and often some priority for siblings once the first child is in.

But a school that is right for one child can be wrong for another. A child who needs more individual support, a teenager partway through exam courses and a confident younger sibling may each be better off somewhere different. What you are looking for is a plan that works for each child and for the family as a whole. Sometimes that’s one school. Sometimes it isn’t.

2. Availability is rarely even

A school may have space in one year group and a long waiting list in another. It is very common to find a place for one child quickly and struggle for another. Checking availability for each child, at each school, before you spend time on applications will save a great deal of effort.

Some schools do give priority to brothers and sisters of current pupils. Policies vary, though, and priority isn’t a guarantee. The school still needs a place in the right year group, and it will still assess each child. It’s worth asking every school directly how it treats siblings, both when they join together and when one follows later.

3. The order you do things in

Get to know each child’s needs separately first. Then look for overlap: schools that would suit more than one of them, or pairs of schools close enough to work together. Check availability child by child. After that, decide the order. Sometimes it makes sense to secure a place for the child with the fewest options first. Sometimes it’s the eldest, because of exams.

And keep the practical side in view. Two schools with different term dates, start times and locations are perfectly manageable, but only if you have planned for them. A choice that looks right on paper can still be wrong if it leaves a parent driving across the city twice a day.

When Elizabeth works with a family, brothers and sisters are included in the same engagement.