How do bulge classes work...

[CheeseAndBunion]

I wonder if anyone can help guide me through my confusion about bulge classes.

I live in a borough with oversubscribed primaries. I listed 6 schools on my application and got offered my 6th choice school. I have just found out today that there is now to be a bulge class at my first choice school. Those offers have yet to be made. So my question is, how do they work?

The impression I have been given is that initially they will be offered to borough residents with no current primary place offer. Is that right? And if so does that mean that children living further from the school than mine may now be offered a place ahead of my child? Or will a bulge place only be offered to children already on the waiting list for that school in order of catchment distance?

I presumed that a bulge class would be offered by applying exactly the same criteria as the original applications and that therefore if 90 children applied for 30 original places the bulge offers would automatically go to children 31-60 and not to a random selection of children who may or may not have originally applied?

Can anyone clear this up for me. I was hoping that news of a new bulge class at our first choice school might increase our chances of being offered it on the waiting list, but have I got it all wrong?

Thank you all.

It should be in order of waiting list, ie by the original subscription criteria I think. Then everyone will move up their own respective waiting lists as children move into their higher prefererences.

It sounds like the sensible way to do it to me.

Thanks Change. That's what I thought would happen but the impression I'm being given by other parents is that bulge places initially go to anyone without a current offer irrespective of their distance from the school. In fact one parent told me her friend had only selected one school (this school) knowing that she was well out of catchment. She said she knew that would mean she wouldnt be offered a school initially but that as this school was likely to have a bulge class she would then have to be accommodated by the LEA as a 'special case' (i.e no school yet been offered) and so would jump the catchment queue to secure a place.

Can this be right? Surely the same selection criteria should apply for every case offered otherwise wouldn't we all have grounds to appeal? This school only has 10 faith places (all already allocated). All other places are, according to their selection criteria, offered according to catchment distance. I'm in a London LEA.

Do any admissions experts know what the rule for bulge classes is? Am so confused and worried our chances of securing this school on waiting list may be scuppered by savvy Mums like the one above playing the bulge class game!

If that's how it works then it's very risky for that mother.

We had a bulge class last year in an unpopular school. So in this case most people were offered a place there that didn't have a place anywhere.

The year before our 1st choice school had a bulge class, but it was already over-subscribed so all the places went in order of admisions criteria.

They still have to stick to the admissions criteria, unless they want 30 appeals.

the mother not placing more than 1 choice has no relevance on if she will receive a school allocation or not. She might have struck lucky but it was of no doing of her own.

If you do not place down any further preferences than 1 you are telling the LEA to use what ever school they see fit for the placement if your child doesnt get that school offered. She could then have been offered any school in the area. My friend did this with similar expectations and was shocked to be offered a school a fair distance away I have to say I think both she and your friend's friend are naive.

As for the bulge class why dont you phone the school and ask them if they know how it will work. As I understand it what chance has said is the correct way around it but I do not know this for certain. Hopefully someone with knowledge of this will come along soon to respond