Olivia Bowens Son Misses Out on Top Schools

Olivia Bowen has said she will homeschool her son Abel, three, after he failed to get into any of his top choice primary schools.

The Love Island star, 32, shares two children, Abel and eight-month-old daughter Siena with husband Alex, who she met on the hit  show in 2016.

On a milestone day shared by many parents around the UK on Thursday, Olivia found out if Abel had secured any of his primary school choices.

Posting on Instagram after she received her email, a despondent Olivia told her three million followers: 'Looks like I'm home schooling. I willlll not sent my child to a school I don't want him in.'

Elaborating on her thoughts in a series of videos, the reality star explained: 'I feel like there are going to be a lot of parents in my boat this morning.'

'The whole school admissions thing just feels so... I don't even have the words, it just seems so not right.'

For two years Olivia has lived in a sprawling house in rural Essex that she helped build from the ground up. She and her husband also own four other properties which they rent out -  two in Wolverhampton and two in Lancashire as well as a property in Spain.

Olivia insisted the fact that she has lived in the same part of Essex since childhood should count for something in the school admissions process.   

'I have lived in this area for almost 30 years and there's so many houses being built in this area and the school system just doesn't support the amount of houses,' she told her followers. 

'We didn't get any of the choices that we wanted. There was one school in particular that we wanted him to go to but it's in a really built up area and we're quite far away from it so it goes on distance. We have lived here 30 years, I feel like that should come into it but it doesn't.' 

'We're really lucky that the area we're in there's some really, really good schools but they're all full,' she continued, adding that Abel had been offered a place at her own former primary school, but she will not accept it. 

'There's one school that I really, really didn't want him to go to because I went to it, there's just a number of reasons. And that's the one he got, obviously!'

'So we are in a bit of a situation at the moment. I will not send him there. It just comes down to you and whether you consider it a big deal or not, and I do.'

'We were considering homeschooling. There was really only one school I wanted him to go to. I'm not going to send my son to somewhere nearly every day of his life for seven years if I don't want him to go there.'

She concluded by saying she has started the appeals process and said she was sending support to other parents in a similar situation, telling them: 'It's a lot but we can only do what we think is right.' 

Olivia and Alex have previously said they were considering moving to their Spanish home but last month she admitting she was having doubts about a permanent move with 'everything going on right now'.

Sharing a statement to her Instagram Stories, she penned: 'Everyday I wake up thinking about moving our life to Spain for the kids (and for us obviously).

'I wake up thinking about homeschooling too. With Abel due to start school this year, a lot doesn't sit right. 

'Everything is so heavy at the moment, it's why I haven't been very active online. I am so worried for everyone. 

'We've spoken about moving for a different lifestyle abroad for a good couple of years but the last few months it's come up more than ever.'

She continued: 'I can't work out whether it's because I genuinely do want to move or, I'm trying to escape the feeling of constant worry about the world & I'm imagining that if I move I'll move away from that. 

'But like I said to the girls, it's not like I am moving planets. Hope everyone is ok! P.S. If you have moved to Marbella with young kids (surrounding villages) please message me.'

The TV personality shared a second post thanking fans for their advice and said she and her family will be 'starting the journey' of moving later this year.  

She wrote: 'So many messages already wow thank you. There's so much to think about with this & we are starting the journey this year looking into areas, visas, schools etc so there's lots of research to be done. 

'Spending as much time in Spain as possible this year to see if it's really what we want. The ideal would be to have a smaller house here to come back to when we wanted & have our main life in Spain. 

'It's crazy I would say 98.5% of the messages are absolutely do it which is crazy. Who knows... But I really appreciate your comments & messages it's soooo helpful xxxx'.

Olivia and Alex moved into their current Essex home in 2024, having spent 10 months completing the build and renovating after they bought the plot for £250,000 in June 2023.

She learnt the ropes in 2020, when the couple purchased her dream house in 2020 for just over £1 million.

Having driven past the house most days in childhood, Olivia always knew she wanted to live there one day, so when the house came on sale she wasted no time snapping it up... then the pandemic struck.

'It was such a big job and we didn't know where to start', Olivia previously told the Daily Mail of her first renovating project.

'It was too much house for me and Alex... so when Covid hit, I was like, "right, I'm going to learn some proper knowledge, then maybe I'll be able to do this justice."'

Olivia then enrolled in an interiors design course and found herself falling in love with all things decoration.

Olivia used her newfound knowledge to help her with her current home, which boasts a 'country chic' theme.