Wandsworth waiting lists - no movement?

Good point chloeeve, will see what they come back with

@pitterpatterrain contact the admissions office at Wandsworth and they can tell you

In the end we got feted first choice school Tuesday morning - 1 day before start of term. We decided to stay with current option as induction had gone well and she was comfortable with going there. Finding £300 odd for new uniform and organising the logistics to start following day didn't really appeal.

If we still had our original offer school I think we would have taken it though!

Does anyone know when (if at all) the wait list will be updated again? I’m waiting for primary yet assuming that there will be some no shows?

Thanks for reply. Hope you get your space before the beginning of term!

Not yet. The admissions team contacted me on Tuesday to let me know we are now 1st. We were 4th at the beginning of the holidays. We live a mile from CG and based on previous years admissions would have definitely got in on distance. Last year at 31st August the furthest distance in band a which we are in was 4500m or there abouts so this year the distance is a lot shorter. I am hoping and praying that it will still change in the next 2 weeks. I think worst case he will have to do half term at one school and then change 😩
London is so tangible I don’t think catchment areas really mean much here. But that is my personal point of view.
I would recommend putting it down and play the long game it will happen at some stage. Good luck.

Did you get a place? We live in Wandsworth and DS just finished Year 5, so about to start process. I wondered where you were based, as I’m already concerned that we don’t seem to actually be in catchment for any schools, other than an all boys one. Chestnut grove is a school my DS liked but ive been told we aren’t in catchment (by another parent so I should probably contact LA to check before panicking!!!)

If you are anything like me you check the list daily about 10 times in the hope that it has been updated. It was yesterday afternoon and we moved up to 2nd place (Chestnut Grove) at least we aren’t both waiting for a place at the same school. I fear at this late stage that it is still too many places to move. What I really don’t want to happen is for him to do that 1st week at the school he currently has a place at and we both cried when we had to go to interview and attend the open evening.
I guess all we can do is continue to live in hope. It’s so stressful!!

We are still on the waiting list for Graveney (selective) and this is definitely still moving at this late stage. Don't know about other schools but it all has a knock-on effect. Best thing is to phone up Wandsworth admissions and get your child's current place. We haven't bought uniform either!

Just wondering if anyone is still on waiting lists. We are currently 3 on our preffered school. Annoyingly Wandsworth did not update the list on Friday and still haven't now. We have moved down a place most weeks so am still somewhat hopeful that a place will become available. However, slighty panicking that I don't currently have a uniform for either school at the moment!!

I know they have had/are having the intro meetings now. Induction day is sometime early July
TBH I think you are looking for people leaving the area for the waitlist to move much now. Or people just not turning up because they have accepted places elsewhere but not told the school/council

So frustrating for your DC, Confuzzle. I hope you get the place. It is usually only when you fully resign yourself to the fact that it won't happen that it does! When DC1 was about to start primary school we were on the waiting list for his preferred choice school until mid August. Of course, it was once I'd bought all the uniform for the 'second choice' school that the place came up...So miracles do happen, just not terribly conveniently.

We are in the top 10, feeling a bit despondent that she won't get in - has anyone experience of the list moving at this stage?

Good that you've moved up 16 places, Confuzzle. Are you now in the top 10? Very frustrating for you.

I would have thought there still could be some movement but not much at this stage. I know we were offered a place for DD at her second choice school in early July last year (but we chose not to go with it, as she'd already got used to the idea of going to the one we'd initally accepted, we'd bought the uniform and she'd done several visits already).

No joy for us yet, however, we have moved 16 places. Still seems slower than I have heard for previous years, and have no idea if there will be further movement from now, or if everyone is now set on their schools!

Just wondering if you'd had any joy from the waitlist?

Ah thanks, I missed that bit

AveEldon - they also admitted 12 children with an EHCP/SEN statement, which makes a total of 285. So an over-offer of 5.

Looking at the details from the council -
Graveney had 70 selective places but offered 72
General places - 210 but offered 201

They are due to admit 280 pupils - but the above only adds up to 273?

Thanks for clarifying @AveEldon.

Maybe this year there were more high scoring siblings in the Extension places mix?

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 -

High scoring siblings would be offered a Extension place rather than a general place according to the admissions policy

@TammyWhyNot recently at least two of the local super-selectives found themselves having to resort to offering places to the highest scoring pupils who'd not passed both stages of 11+ exams...It was a one-off scenario but clearly one they hope to avoid going forward with admissions.

Ok, I was wrong: thanks for the clarification.

I find that quite shocking, though.

@PatriciaHolm thanks for confirming what I said! In many ways it makes perfect sense for really popular schools to do so, as it saves the schools' lots of extra hassle admin wise over the months.

Maybe Graveney has started doing the same thing too (which is why there's been so little movement this year)?

State schools can’t and don’t over-offer

Actually yes they can, and increasingly seem to be doing so - I regularly sit on appeals panels where the secondary has overoffered, usually by around say 10 places on a 240 intake. We are in an area of a fair number of private schools so state secondaries know that they will lose a handful to those each year.

It normally works out, unless the school is on a rapid upward improvement path and the stats from say 3 years ago on the number of declines are out of date! That happened to one school around here a couple of years ago.