ACCEPT THE OFFERED PLACE EVEN IF YOU HATE IT

[TeenDivided]

End of public service announcement.

The only reason not to accept would be if you can genuine home school for the next 3 years (until infant class size are in the past), or you confirm a private school place.

Go on waiting lists.
Appeal (but in ICS situations there are few reasons that will win)

But accept the offered place

Good advice

Very good advice, especially with the amount of posters who have already made threads about appeals this morning. There are obviously a lot of parents who are unhappy with the choice of school offered, and may reject the place as they think it will help them get a different school.

Once again, please ACCEPT the place you have been offered and get on the waiting lists for other schools,

Reading school place threads always angers me, the amount of entitled parents pisses me off no end, people thinking they can just appeal if they don't like the outcome. It brings out the worst in people. They also have no idea how the system works by putting down just one school they are unlikely to get into thinking this will bully the admission body into giving them that place. Ugh!

My view from the outside is that appealing for a reception place is a waste of time unless you clearly meet the very tight appeal criteria.

Whereas for Secondary it seems to be worth a punt.

100%. Don't deny your child an education. There might not be a second offer. If there is, it's easy to withdraw from the accepted place.

Accept the place EXCEPT if you are definitely going private, in which case please reject the place promptly.

Not turning up in September, and then saying ‘oh, we’ve taken a private school place instead’, subjects other families who really want that place to needless stress and uncertainty.

There are still infants which run with a PAN of under 30, in which case an appeal would be a standard prejudice appeal (though intrigued what reasons would be compelling, as extracurriculars etc. would be harder to evidence at that age).

But yes, most will be at 30 and therefore ICS and very restricted.

Good advice, and will be doing this. But, if we appeal, does anyone know if the school we've accepted will be told that we've appealed? Wouldn't want to get a black mark before we've even started...

No, they won't be told. It has no impact on them unless you win your appeal. Even if they did find out, you won't get a black mark.

happy with our 2nd choice but out of interest what is the process with waiting lists? our portal says to contact after 19th to know position on list. so if we accept by 2nd of may are we still on waiting list or do we get taken off? is it only people who dont accept?

And don't assume you'll get a place on waiting lists even if you are first. You can go down (if someone moves closer/sibling joins the school) as well as up. Plus if someone wins an appeal then two people have to leave before the waiting list place is offered.
Some schools do have more movement than others, but even in a school with normally movement, there is no guarantee of that.

You can still apply to go on a waiting list even if you have accepted a place. It won’t be automatic though, you will need to apply.

You stay on the waiting list if you apply to go onto the waiting list (you're not just automatically on there) indefinitely. People will drop out of places at any point between now and September, and even beyond that.

They give me the rage a bit. I have a child with a disability who cannot go mainstream and will be allocated a place after mainstream children have theirs. Ill have to listen to everyone I know with a child the same age whinge they didn't get first choice when it is entirely possible my child will not get a school place, or if she does, it will be one woefully unsuitable for her additional needs. People don't know they're living.

Whether you have to apply for the waiting list varies. Many LAs automatically put you on the waiting list for any higher preference schools than the one you got.

That makes no sense to me. Why can't your child be allocated a place until after others have?

Has anyone found that there's no where to accept your offer on the portal?

Bumping this excellent advice!

Thank you for this. DD hasn’t got her preference even though she’s adopted so should be second after children with an EHCP. All a bit demoralising really.

That sounds on the face of it as an error and worth appealing.

Was she adopted from care in the UK, or from abroad? Abroad certainly didn't used to count unless the LA increased from statutory minimum.

Suggest you phone to check they had her in the right category. If they didn't they should give you a place straight away, though they make make you appeal.

(fellow adopter).

@Waitingforsummertocome that sounds like a mistake has been made. I’d get on to the LA and the school to check which category your DC has been put into.

Also if this is a faith school, then adopted non faith are allowed to be below children of faith (or again this used to be the case), which I think isn't very 'Christian' but there you go.

Well said Op. I’ve seen several people screw things up for their child by doing this. Unfortunately most people don’t really understand the admissions process. There really isn’t that much choice.

I agree.

All of the huns have already flooded the local parenting page on Facebook with tales of woe, followed by comments like "it's disgusting/bang out of order/you should complain/etc"

I have to refrain from commenting because any level headed, factual response gets a barrage of abuse!

Giving a preference is not the same as a choice.
The preference system just means that is more than one of your preferred schools could offer you a place, they know which one you prefer and give you that.
(But you all know that anyway).