Help - urgent question about primary appeal/admissions process

[Sultanselephant]

Hi there
We've just had our appeal hearing for a Reception place for September this year. Tbh, I don't think we have the strongest case, so I don't think we have much hope of winning it (we lost out due to being a few metres outside catchment area, which is dramatically smaller this year compared to normal because of siblings. We made a case that the school we wanted would be more educationally appropriate for our very shy, summer born ds as all his friends from the community will be going. We also challenged the process on the grounds that we don't think the LEA conducted due diligence around the measurement of distance and checking people live where they say they do. So all in all, not a particularly strong case I think.)

Anyway, at the hearing we were told that although we have been repeatedly told that we are number 1 on the school's waiting list, there is in fact one other child who has been admitted post application process because of an irregularity in the application process. So the school now has 46 in reception (it's 1.5 form entry) effectively meaning we are now in 2nd place on the waiting list as if 1 child drops out between now and September they will not offer that place as it has already gone. Can they do this? Are they not actually breaking their own infant class size rules? And why am still being told that our ds is number one on the waiting list? It gets really problematic for us because last week we were offered a place at a private school which we declined because we thought we were at number 1 on the list for the school we want. If that's not actually the case, have we been misled and is there a fault in their process that I should call the LA on? We have also accepted a place at another (state) school as a back up, but it is quite a problematic school with a difficult intake and ideally we would not send ds there.

I realise that even being no.2 on the list looks quite hopeful, but we are in an area with very little mobility and people hold on for dear life to places at this particular school as it is considered to be the best for miles around.

can any of you admissions experts help me out with what to do next?

Thanks so much in advance.

The child who has been admitted because of a mistake will be an "excepted pupil", and so can be admitted over the published admission number. That is completely in accordance with the admissions code - the LEA can't refuse now to admit the child, if they were at fault in not offering the place in the first instance - and has nothing to do with the waiting list.

It is true, though, that a place won't be offered from the waiting list until numbers drop to one below PAN. Unless someone joins the waiting list ahead of you (they have a sibling at the school or live closer than you, for example) you will stay first on the waiting list but, as you say, you will probably face a longer wait because, in effect, you need two children to leave before there is a vacancy for you.

As for what to do next, that depends. You could keep your child at nursery until they have turned five, while you wait in the hope of a place. If a place hasn't materialised by the time your child is five, you have the place at the other school to fall back on. If you really don't want that school, you can join other waiting lists or look for schools which still have vacancies for September (although these are likely to be the less popular schools).

I agree with PanelChair. Just to add, the LA is correct that you are in first place on the waiting list. No-one is ahead of you. The next child admitted from the waiting list will be your son. The fact that 2 children have to leave before there is a vacancy does not alter that.

thank you both very much for your help. As I thought, our appeal has not been allowed. So we are back to the nail-biting waiting list wait! I realise it's hard to know this, but what do you think is the likelihood of a place (well, 2 places) coming up before September? As I say we are in a very stable area. There are 28 siblings in the year, not sure if that's relevant, and it's an intake of 45. We are also at number 3 on a list for a smaller school that is less popular but is only single form entry. I am not a natural gambler so finding the uncertainty really stressful. Anyone got any happy waiting list stories to share??
thanks again.

That really is a "how long is a piece of string" question. At some schools you would be almost certain to get in, at others you would have no chance. You might want to ask the school how much movement they normally get on the waiting list. By the way, you may find places come up in September. It is not uncommon to find that parents decide to go independent and don't bother informing the school.

It really is an unanswerable question.

In DD's (2 form entry) year, the first child admitted off the waiting list was in mid Year 3 as there was no movement at all for the first 3.5 years... I would say that is unusually stable.

On the other hand, many schools (especially where the demographic is such that some children do go to private school) find themselves with a space or two in the September of reception.

School secretaries are usually invaluable sources of this type of 'informal' information. Try ringing the school and asking - politely - whether it is typical for children to be admitted from the waiting list early in Reception, and in a typical year, how many such children are admitted. Emphasise that you are not asking them to commit to there being a place for your child - you're just asking for a very rough guide to help you to decide what best to do next.

Do make sure you stay on the waiting list, lists are maintained for a time post the beginning of the school term to allow for some movement. However in some schools and areas you must proactively say you want to stay on the school's list after this time, I guess there is so much movement and parents are reluctant to move children once settled etc that after say 6 months the list is deemed finished. Do check what happens in your area, would you still want to move your child to your original choice 6 months down the line and remember you may be given just a few days to make a decision, a school will always be keen to fill any place asap .

Thank you everyone. I'll do some digging with the school secretary as you suggest. Other than that, it's just a question of holding on in there I guess. Horrible, horrible not knowing - everywhere I look there seem to be school uniforms in the shops which I can't buy yet which just rubs it in!

Without wanting to depress you further, please also bear in mind that should any family move closer to the school than you and put their child down for a place, that child will jump ahead of yours no matter how long you've been waiting.

How much do you want this school? Could you move closer? A friend of mine has just done this to get her daughter from 4th on a waiting list (she's been 4th for 2 years) to 1st, as movement in the area has led to a succession of children leapfrogging her.

Hi there, moving's not really an option. As it is, we are 0.183miles from our preferred school, so extremely close already. Where we are there is a huge pressure on places - it's completely insane and unsustainable bloody government.

Sultan, 0.18 miles is quite .. large... when it comes to catchment areas. DC's school shrank to 120 metres for non-siblings last year (which is the point at which a bulge class was admintted, which rasied the distance to ooh, I think about 300 metres) and is likely to be even smaller next year as I think almost every one o the 60 places will be taken by siblings, many from the year with the bulge class....

We can see the school from our front door, and we would not have been in catchment last year - and this is not London or even a particularly superfantastic school, just a local primary.