A Question for the Admissions Experts

[mistermistoffeles]

I know there are some very knowledgeable people on admissions out there and I am wondering if you could tell me whether how my LA does things is correct.

When applying for schools in the normal admission round, if you do not get offered a place at your 1st preference school, should the LA automatically put you on the waiting list for any schools you ranked higher than the one you are allocated or is it entirely up to you to request this?

My LA (Gloucestershire) does not automatically put you on waiting lists so if you accept a place at the school you are offered and later a place becomes available at a school you ranked as a higher preference, you would not be offered the place (even if you were next in line by admissions criteria), instead it would go to whoever is on the waiting list/ has turned down their allocated school and asked to be reconsidered for a place at that particular school. This seems a little unfair as, although it?s a gamble, by turning down the school you are allocated and asking to be reconsidered for your 1st choice school, if a place becomes available you will get it ahead of someone ranked higher than you on the admissions criteria but who has accepted the school they were offered.

At my DC?s school (which is very oversubscribed) after the initial offer of places went out last year, 3 places became available as parents decided to go private. Two of the spaces were filled by children who live a long way outside of the normal ?catchment? area (it goes purely on straight-line distance so varies slightly each year). In both these cases the parents turned down the school initially offered to them and asked to be reconsidered for this school instead. The 3rd place remains vacant as has been since the start of the year, which considering the school is oversubscribed just seems wrong. Is this the same in all LAs?

TIA

Most LAs automatically put unsuccessful applicants on the waiting list for their higher preferences. However, there is nothing in the Admissions Code that makes this mandatory, although it is widely assumed that LAs should do this. I would suggest that you lodge a complaint with the Schools Adjudicator who can give a definitive answer.

mistermistoffeles, I think you are mistaken. I am in Glos too, and also have recent experience of the system, with 2 children (with my first dd we only actually got allocated our 4th preference school initially). You are right in saying that the LA does not automatically put you on waiting lists for schools you named higher on your form, but when they send you your allocation letter they ask you to tick whether you would like to be placed on the waiting list for any of your higher preference school (as well as whether you would like to be reconsidered for a place, when they do the 2nd round of allocations, around May). Therefore you place yourself on the waiting list by returning that letter.

You certainly do not need to turn down the place you were offered in order to have a chance on a waiting list, and they strongly advise you to take the place you were offered, while waiting for another place to come up, in case one does not come available and you end up with nothing. If a place does come up at one of your higher preference schools, if you are the top of the waiting list, then you have the option to take that place, and then the place you are holding is released and goes to whoever is top of that school's waiting list. What happened in my experience, and probably the reason why your school, although initially oversubscribed, ended up giving 2 places to people who lived quite a way away is that although a lot of people initially went on waiting lists, as the summer went on and their children were mentally prepared to go to another school, they decided not to bother and took their names off the waiting list again, so a waiting list for my dd's school that initially had more than 40 children on it, ended up with only a few (and by the time a place came up at the end of reception it went to someone living quite a way away because there was noone else on the waiting list at that time).
Also remember that the waiting list is only maintained for the first term (just until October in some places, and Christmas in others), so you need to put yourself back on the waiting list after that time if you want to stay on it after that time, which many people can't be bothered to do if their children are settled elsewhere.
The fact that the 2 sets of parents who got places at your schools had both turned down their allocated schools is coincidence, they must simply have been the top of the waiting list, maybe because their children have special needs, or are a sibling who moved late into the area, or whatever. As you say, it is a gamble to turn down the place you are offered, and actually annoys the LA, it definitely does not put you at the top of the waiting list for the school you want.
Finally, with regard to the place still empty at your school, are you sure that it is empty? ie is it possible it is being held for someone who has chosen deferred entry (assuming you are talking about the current reception - remember parents have the right to defer entry until the term after the child's 5th birthday). Alternatively, it may be the place of a child currently at a special school, who was allocated it in the normal admissions round, but has not yet started to integrate into mainstream school (I know 2 children for whom that is the case). Anyway, assuming you are right and it is a vacant space, as I said, the fact that the school was oversubscribed initially does not mean there is a waiting list now, parents are often happy enough in the end with their allocated school and can't be bothered to move children once they are settled.

Hope that makes sense, I haven't put it very concisely!

I believe Surrey do the same thing - once you have accepted a place, it's up to you to request to stay on the waiting lists, you aren't kept there automatically. I can't see the problem; surely it would make things heinously more complicated if "acceptance" actually meant "acceptance as long as School X or Y don't have some dropouts and offer me a place sometime in the next 3 months"

If parents really want another school, they can request to stay on the waiting list even though they have accepted another place, surely that's enough?

dandlmum Thank you for your reply. My recent experience (last year) was slightly different to yours, my allocation letter only gave two options - accept the place offered or decline and be reconsidered for a place at another school. There was no option to accept the place and go on the waiting list for another school. The 2 places that were allocated after the spare places came up were in the 2nd round of allocations in May. Neither child has moved into the area recently or got a sibling at the school, it seems they were the only 2 on the waiting list. The spare place is definitely empty according to the class teacher.

PatriciaHolm I agree it would make things more complicated, I think the problem is that Gloucestershire do not make it clear that you can accept a place and still go on a waiting list for another school, so unless you know this you could lose out.

PatriciaHolm - As I said up thread, most LAs automatically put people on the waiting lists for every preference higher than the one they got. It really isn't that complicated.

mistermistoffeles - You are correct about Gloucestershire. Their current admission arrangements say:

"Where an application has not been successful, the ?refusal? letter will include details of how to place a child?s name on a waiting list and/or appeal for a place at a preferred school... Parents will be advised to contact the County Council to request that their child?s name be placed on the waiting list."

However, as dandlmum says, you do not have to turn down the offered place in order to go on the waiting list for another school. That would be a clear breach of the Admissions Code.

Not really much to add to what has already been said but it is also a good illustration that you do need to be very careful even after getting an offer of a place if you want to appeal.
There are differences from one LA to another and if in doubt check the actual admissions book of the LA and then ask for advice from the LA admission office and ask for confirmation in writing of the advice. Do not rely solely on verbal advice from the LA office, it is too easy for misinterpretations to happen at both ends of the telephone.