When do waiting lists start moving?

[Crayolalala]

Hi, just wondering if anyone who works in primary admissions might be able to help.

My son is currently near the top of the waiting list for a primary school and we were told it could take a long time to find out if a space opens up. I don’t really fully understand the process, the person I spoke to said they had to sort out all the late applicants (and other bits I can’t remember!) first and then they’d get on to allocating any spaces that open up.

I would like to know when’s the earliest we could find out? It’s bothering me that we are not sure where he’ll go yet and I guess if we won’t find out till at least August for example, I might prefer to just take the place at the school we got rather than dragging it out.

So does anyone know when waiting lists start moving?

Thank you!

Ime they tend to start moving when the first appeals start being heard and keep moving til mid July. Then it all goes quiet for August and there is a big flurry if movement early- mid September. But of course movement can mean you go down the list, not just up.

Late applicants meeting the admissions criteria closer than your dc may be placed ahead on waiting list. Reception places may well not change much until appeals are heard.

Anything could happen, honestly. People are possibly less likely to move or accept a place in a private school in the current environment, I suppose, but the LA would always be doing you a disservice if they were to suggest or imply a particular timescale when everything depends on the movements and decisions of individuals.
You should accept the place you've been offered in any event. Most people end up settling with what they've been allocated, even when a place at their first choice becomes available in September.

It's not totally dependent on individuals - there is a process and a timeline. In our LA, the deadline for accepting places is next week, and then there will be a 'final final' couple of weeks for people to accept their places after being chased up. Only at that point does the LA know how many people have declined their offers (eg through going private or moving area), so they can only re-offer any places after that. At the moment, they are also collating any late applications from parents who either forgot to apply first time round or have recently moved into the area. When all those applications are in, and they've got all the waiting list requests back, and they know how many places each school's got 'free', they then do a second offer day (in mid June). You can still get movement after that, if parents turn down their places later, but that will come in dribs and drabs between June and September. Don't know if it works the same in other LAs though.

Thanks all. I guess I would like to know what sort of time they start moving so I can just not think about it till then! If it’s July for example, I can put it out of my mind rather than wondering if I’ll hear anything next week etc.

When PPs have said it’s when the appeals start being heard, when is that?

I think the deadline for appealing is May 15, so appeals will start to be heard from June onwards.

In general, most school appeals are heard before the end of the summer term. You should get at least 10 (school) days'notice.

Will the appeals make that much difference though? I read the other day that only three Reception infant class size appeals were upheld in my LA last year (and it's a big county). I would have thought that offers not taken up would create more waiting list movement.

We had no movement at all in any I'd our schools' lists last year for Reception. I have a child who has been top of her waiting list for the last 2 years (parents reapplied for in-year) and she is still waiting. We don't have much mobility in our schools. Some schools have more mobility than others

To add...
We have 11 primary range schools on our Trust.

And I'm afraid (as has been mentioned on another thread) that Coronavirus might lead to less movement this year, as fewer people will be moving house, and more people might decide against private education (or at least hang onto their state place for longer). Though I guess there could be more last minute movement in August/September if the economy has started to open up by then?

Agree with @mis potentially lots of parents hanging on to state places to see how the land lies in the next few months.

People whose house move is on hold won't be able to get a place based on their new address yet, so may well be holding on to a place in their current area. Once people start moving, that may well free up some places. On the other hand, if someone moves close to an oversubscribed school, that may send everyone on that waiting list down a place.
I'm guessing there will be fewer house-moves than normal this year, but those that there are will be concentrated into a shorter time-span, and when that is has yet to be determined.

We got a waiting list place (we were about 3rd) in June. Our area is quite mobile so almost certainly the ones that left were not sure where they'd be living when they applied, and moved away after places came out. Two DCs moved away in the Autumn term, and two more before the end of the year, I seem to remember, and DS was in a group with a newly arrived DC with no English in Y2, so lots of movement.

(By the way most of those who move house locally either keep the school place or move at the end of a school year. So it's mainly people moving long distance for work).

It depends much on school, the year group and the time in question.

With mine through infants:
#1 school wasn't full on entry. Children left and arrived at various points over all years.
#2 school was full, 1 person joined from the waiting list before September, three children left at the end of reception, (and three joined) and another 2 left through year 1 and 1 more left in year 2.
#3 no child left until year 2. The child who joined had only been on the waiting list a month. However 6 moved away in year 3.

It really is luck of the draw. Year before #3 I know 4 got in on the waiting list before September.