Is there any way to increase chance of getting into a school that is competitive & not the closest to us?

[Keepingbusyeating]

I am sure the answer is no but we are desperate to send our DD to 1 of 2 schools - both are competitive with siblings and people living closer than us but is there any way to get first on a waiting list / increase chance of getting into them?

Depends on the admission criteria.

I would say no. Someone I know tried to do this, was declined, appealed, was declined. Ended up having to move house.

Not really, you have to look at the criteria. They wont deviate from that. Also look at how far down they usually allocate.

You may be surprised. We took a punt on the best school in our city for secondary and put it as first choice with our catchment second. We are currently first on the waiting list for our first choice and likely we will get in. It just all depends on the landscape that year!

Obviously check the individual school's admissions criteria, but if they are standard state admissions criteria, moving nearer the school is about the only option.

I doubt it. These are state schools? Not academically selective in any way?? Not faith schools??
Usual admissions criteria of looked after children/distance/siblings apply??
Then this school in not ‘competitive’ it is oversubscribed. It will operate under very strict admissions criteria.
The only real thing that will change your position on the list is to move as close as possible.

What stage of schooling, primary or secondary?

In my area the waiting lists are done by distance, so if you’re 2 miles away and someone comes along who is 1 mile away they will automatically be put higher on the list than you even though you’ve been waiting longer. Ring the schools and ask how it works with them.

Also check the admissions criteria to see which group you fall in. If you’re bottom of the list (out of catchment, long way away, no siblings usually) there’s nothing you can do to bump yourselves up the list.

remember that if you put down two unrealistic choices it doesn’t mean you’ll therefore get one or the other as it doesn’t work like that, you’re likely to end up with whatever is left after everyone has been allocated (that’s gone wrong for a couple of people I know).

I think it’s siblings, then geographical distance.

You need to check. If secondary, you may also have feeder in there, makes a big distance

Primary. Ok thank you, this is helpful.

Can I just ask (sorry to hijack) - how does someone ''come along " on the waiting list that goes higher than you? I know that's how it works in my area, meaning we're first today but may not be when a place comes up. But how? If anyone applies late do they just go on this waiting list? Because I thought they had to wait until the second round now. Thanks!

It’s no good ‘thinking’, find it, read it and understand it!

Once the national offers have gone out, you can your child to any school waiting list. The lists are still done on the priority order though not first come first served. So you could be number 1 on the waiting list but then a child moves into the area who lives closer then you is added to the list, they would then become number 1 and you would move to number 2. Equally you could live 5 miles from a school but no one else is on the waiting list, you would get the place of a child leaves / doesn’t start.

A friend of a friend got a place by writing the school's name in all the boxes.

Another friend of a friend was in the same tennis club as the Head.

....

You will probably hear variations of these. They are complete bollocks. Check the admissions criteria. Can you move closer? Get sign off from a church? Rustle up an older sibling? Move primary school if there is feeder preference?

The system might be flawed in some ways, but it is transparent.

I was on a waiting list for primary once, went almost to the top straight away because we lived close by but had applied to a different school (which we did end up going to). I seem to remember they waited until sometime around May half term to give out any further offers, so it just depended what the waiting list was like at that exact time.

Move house? The school DC goes to only takes from roughly 0.5 miles away on a good year. DS started in September and there were 17 siblings plus one child on a EHCP so there's people who live close to the school who didn't get in. Our town Facebook groups were up in arms!

The admission criteria and the allocation data will tell you an awful lot.

Someone told me that they got a place, because a friend's parent wrote a letter to say that the child needed this particular school because of the friendship. Total bollocks. She got in on the waiting list.

Waiting lists do move and admissions criteria are public information.

Work for the school. A lot of schools have children of staff as higher priority than local kids.

You may need to have worked for them for a couple of years, but exceptions to this are often listed for children of staff who fill a skills shortage (e.g. a maths teacher).

The admissions policy should be on the school’s website. You could put your child in care, they are usually top on the list.

@Keepingbusyeating what do you think you could do that would be different to all the other families that want their child to go there?

@noblegiraffe our local schools have that criteria but it is below ‘siblings out of catchment’ so better than nothing but doesn’t put you very high on the list

’Children of staff’ criteria are rarer in primary, which I understand is the school stage the OP is looking at.

Ah, that probably depends on whether the primary is an academy or LA. All our local primaries that are part of a MAT have staff priority but the LA ones don't.