Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

waiting list for an academy. Is it worth chasing?

31 replies

Whereisthesunny · 25/01/2024 10:10

my son is waiting to get into an academy. we are no 1. understand someone has to leave before we get a place.
Admission is through council but i heard that academies can have some say in the matter themselves.
Is it worth chasing the school for update or if local authority says they will be contacted by school when there is a space just leave it as it is?
Just wonder if sometimes school don’t rush or have no time to update the council and if parent chases it might make a difference?

OP posts:
SamPoodle123 · 25/01/2024 17:22

trimmed · 25/01/2024 17:20

It does hurt to chase. It hurts the workload of over-stretched admissions officer. What do you expect them to do? Perhaps send an email out to parents to ask if anyone is planning to move out of the area soon because someone on the waiting list is feeling impatient?

Show quote history

Some schools actually know ahead when pupils are leaving...so I think it is better to call if keen. You don't ask, you don't get. My dc attend a school where people come and go and they know ahead when children leave...they don't suddenly disappear one day.

trimmed · 25/01/2024 17:20

SamPoodle123 · 25/01/2024 17:12

It does not hurt to chase. Sometimes they do not want to chase people in the que, so if someone proactive, they are more likely to get it then not.

It does hurt to chase. It hurts the workload of over-stretched admissions officer. What do you expect them to do? Perhaps send an email out to parents to ask if anyone is planning to move out of the area soon because someone on the waiting list is feeling impatient?

SamPoodle123 · 25/01/2024 17:12

It does not hurt to chase. Sometimes they do not want to chase people in the que, so if someone proactive, they are more likely to get it then not.

SunsetGirl · 25/01/2024 16:53

Our current pupil numbers are checked all the time by the council as there's always students moving around between schools and students needing places via the In Year Fair Access Protocol. Every county/LA is different though.

We do get people ringing us up to ask if there's spaces and the answer is always "yes, we're full".

Original poster
Whereisthesunny · 25/01/2024 15:02

you didn’t understand my question. Sometimes schools may not be in a rush to fill a space asap and since the council does not seem to contact them for update i wondered if it made any difference if i was on their case.
i’m not doubting that they would offer a space if they had one but the question is how quickly they do it after a student leaves

OP posts:
trimmed · 25/01/2024 13:33

@Whereisthesunny it makes no difference that this is an academy. If they have a space they have to offer it to the person who is first in the queue. Contacting the school won't help you.