Can someone explain how the waiting list actually works?

@Bluejay44thats great. Congratulations. I phoned last week & was told that I have to wait until end of April for any waitlist place news. I’m not sure if they offer other spaces out before then though. My DD is also still dithering. She says she will be happy with the school she has (which I know she will…her sister is already there) so will just see. I’m much less stressed about it now that she is.

That's great news! So I would assume you stay on the list then until everything is confirmed. Please do let us know if you accept and how long the admissions take to email you with confirmation.

We're in an odd situation where a whole bunch of us live in the same cul-de-sac and some accepted and some didn't but the admissions haven't confirmed the acceptances if you see what I mean so we're all unsure if we're really as far down the wait list as they say.

I know we can't rely on the wait list or do anything about it but we're all really keen for the kids to get their places together 🙏

We are also in Cambridgeshire and wondered if you/anyone know when a place is offered from the waitlist - does the name come right off the waitlist or does it stay on until the family accept it and then does the school confirm this acceptance of an offer before wait lists move?

We are same position on waiting list as we were on offers day so I presume it's too early for movement either way

No nothing here. I’ve been told to contact at the end of April if I haven’t heard anything although I’ve also been told to contact them after Easter to find out where we are on the list.

There hasn't been any movement on ours yet as they're still.processing those who have turned down a place and late applications... i have to phone back the week of the 30th if we don't get a waiting list place.

My cousin had a call the day before, and the day of the first day of school for both her sons to get into their first choice. She accepted both times even though no uniform!

We got an offer from the third position in waiting list yesterday in cambridgeshire.

So my DD is on the waitlist for a school we are in catchment for (she has changed her mind about where she wants to go).
I’ve been told that all waitlist applications go out on the same day & they expect the second round of allocations to be done by the end of April & to call towards the end of April for an update on her waitlist place.
So I’m presuming that waitlist places won’t be released until end of April but the second round of allocations relates to late applications?
I’m in Trafford. It’s all a bit confusing!

moved to catchment after the initial deadline of application , so now its catchment and non feeder

third .. dropping from first :(

Also waiting for a position from the waiting list in cambridgeshire. Did anyone get an offer and have the waiting lists started moving?

Cambridgeshire's website has a list of how many places were offered for each school. There are a few where that is greater than PAN; in some cases that might be because they know that there are likely to be some drop out to private schools. If there are any where there are 30 extras, that probably means that the school/authority have agreed that they'll have an extra class. There are currently no schools with spaces in the city, but once those going private have dropped out, that may change.

First on the list is hopeful, unless they have allocated quite a bit over PAN in anticipation of the private school numbers.

We're in London. Our Borough handle the waiting lists. There is always a lot of movement.

For declined places the schools team has to work through strict processes. This means that they can't immediately react to every declined place and reoffer. It may take a few days due to workload. Once a place is offered and accepted they then have to offer the old place and so it goes on. They also wait until the acceptance deadline as they can then run the algorithm with full details

Sit tight. It's nerve wracking but should hopefully work out if you are currently number 1

Well I was told we were no 18 on the waiting list for the second, but I had no idea until I called that the number was meaningless as all numbers were put into the hat to draw out. It wasn't obvious at all (to me) from the criteria that this is how they dealt with it. I'll know for next time but both schools have been incredibly helpful and kind with explaining it all me as an inexperienced parent.

Those are different because they have different admissions policies. Admissions policies are on school websites, so no need to phone schools to find out how they work.

Schools aren't call centres, and school admissions clerks can't field calls from dozens of parents.

My son is on 2 waiting lists and they both work differently due to the over subscription criteria.

The first he is no 12, which is because of scores in the entrance exam. He should move up as places come open, unless anyone joins the list in a higher category. Officially, we should be phoning the local authority tomorrow to find his place, but the school told me last week. I'm hoping he'll get a space at the end of the month, but if not I'll call every 2 weeks to see if there's any movement.

The other school is by zone. In our zone there's a waiting list of 50 children. If one drops out of that zone, it's a lottery, so the current number is meaningless, we have a 1 in 50 chance each time.

Both schools told me this when I emailed, so the best thing to do is ask as they all seem to be different.