Could I put my child's name down on a waiting list of a school I initially didn't apply for?

[BellaLEL]

My Daughter was offered a place at a school I didn't apply for, which I'm not happy about. I understand that I can put her on the waiting lists of the 3 schools I did apply for but wondered whether it's possible to put her name down on other school waiting lists? My reason for this is that the 3 schools I applied for are very popular and all offer 60 places. However, there are 2 schools a mile or 2 away from me that have either 80 or 180 places which will give me more certainty that she'll get in. I didn't prepare myself for for this situation as I am only 0.4 miles away from 2 of the schools I applied for, so was almost certain she'll be offered a place at one of those.

Any advice would be very helpful as I've not yet received the letter from the LA which indicates the next steps and doesn't provide this on their website. :D

I think the answer is you can ask to be put on the waiting list for any school at all. Some Local Authorities will say it's only for the preferences on the form but my understanding is they are wrong and you can just ask any school to add you to the list.

I think you can change your preferences after the allocations go out. Or at least I know you could 4 years ago as I was in a similar situation then.

you will have to apply for the particular school before you can be placed on the waiting list, very easy phone your LEA and they will send you another form to fill in, you will be on the waiting list for any school you apply for and they will remain on this list till end of december 2012 but you can around november time have this extended till march hth x

My LEA seems happy for me to go on any waiting list I fancy, and I can put the waiting lists in order of preference too.

Yes, we did exactly that last year (Southwark) and am happy to say got a fabulous school because of it. We hadn't initially applied as thought no chance of getting in, but they created a bulge class.
Get on as many waiting lists as possible and good luck!

Thanks for your responses guys, think I'll wait until the confirmation letter arrives (should be tomorrow) to call them. Just in case there's a specific number for waiting lists etc. Well I'm in Bromley and know that they can be a little fussy with school places so fingers crossed I'm able to do that. :D

You can go on the waiting list for any school you want but some LAs limit the number of waiting lists you can go on. They cannot refuse to put you on the waiting list of a school just because you didn't name it as a preference. I and the other admission experts believe that LAs should not limit the number of waiting lists you can go on but unfortunately the Schools Adjudicator does not agree with us. Thankfully, the LAs that operate a limit seem to be in the minority.

Yeah, I received the letter from my LA yesterday evening and said that we can opt to be put on a waiting list for schools that weren't put down as a preference in the first place. But, as you say, they have a limit of 9 schools. To me that's not bad though as I've only got a list of 6. Thanks again :D

We are in exactly the same position. I have now applied for a further 3 schools too so I will be on 7 waiting lists. I cannot believe people are put in this postion. We may end up in the position where my Daughter cannot go to settling in days etc because we dont know where she is going to go. Gutted. We are in Essex. Where are you? Good Luck. I really hope we get the result we want and I hope you do too. :-)