Late primary school admissions

[BeArtfulOpalJoker]

We recently received the news that we didn't get any offers from the two schools we applied for and got allocated our catchment school which we really really don't want.

My issue is, when we were first deciphering which schools to view we had three in mind. After viewing the first two, we foolishly didn't do the third due to the ill advice given to us. The headteachers of both the schools we chose repeatedly told us how lucky we were this year as it was such a low birth year, they could guarentee we'd all get our first choices as they were all begging out for children, even out of catchment. One school even said they'd probably be going 3 miles out of catchment this year. Foolishly we believed them and didn't view the third school. Due to this, we are now in this position. What's worse, is the third school we didn't end up applying for, has 11 spaces! We have now submitted a late application to that school and another school that has 17 spaces. Both are out of our catchment, one is 1 mile away, the other 1.7 miles away. We are totally devastated and I am so stressed. We won't find out until June. Categorically we won't be sending our son to the allocated school. Anyone know how promising our situation is? I have no clue how many submit late admissions. We have the first round of late admissions (Jan-Feb) yet then it'll be us last.
anyone with any advice, words of positivity id really appreciate. Feel like I've totally failed my son for being so stupid.

If they have spaces, especially that many, its highly likely they will accept your application. The only scenario they wouldn't is if more people applied late than there are spaces and they live closer than you.

Thank you, I am trying to stay positive but I feel so anxious, keep convincing myself that lots are going to suddenly apply for them

Clearly no one can guarantee anything (as you have learned!) but it does seem highly likely that you'd get one of the two you're on a waiting list for.

How densely populated is your area? The waiting list places will be allocated on the same basis as the original allocation (presumably distance). Are there likely to be 11/17 reception age children living 1 /1.7 miles of the schools, who are unhappy with their current allocation and who would be before you on the list?

According to the stats released 97% got there first choices. But looking at the stats, the original two schools we applied for had 17 rejections and 54 rejections! So pretty hefty. If they like us believed what we were being told, my worry is they will also be going for these two other schools with spaces ( that are extremely close to them)

I do think that the forms should be designed so that you either have to put a choice in for every space or tick a box along the lines of “I am completely indifferent to all schools in the City of X for this choice” to ensure that everyone really understands what they are doing by not filling in preferences.

The really awful thing is all the people who share fake info along the lines of “you are more likely to get in if you only put one choice down”.

I agree. I feel totally devastated by the whole thing. And stupid! So many people in my situation who did what I did after countless false reassurances.

Please try not to panic (hard I know!). At 11 spaces and 17 spaces left, you have a very good chance of getting one of them. If you combine the schools, you have 28 chances of getting something you want.

Obviously every area is different but, where I work, we have struggled to fill places the last few years due to falling birth rate, despite being a 'good' school. We usually have about 10 spaces remaining on offer day and, over each summer recently, we have only ever received 5 or 6 more applications, either from people not happy with what they were given or from new families moving into the area. We're still usually 4 or 5 children down at the start of each year. I really hope it's similar where you are.

Thank you for this. I really needed to hear it. We are BCP and too have the falling birth rate, something mentioned over and over when viewing. There are lots of people allocated to various schools in the area on the stats which is what concerns me.
i just don't know how I am going to cope the next few months waiting I feel terrified. I really appreciate the positivity, thank you

Just to check, are you sure you have interpreted the stats correctly? I notice you say 54 rejections, which seems awfully high and, to be honest, I wouldn't have thought that information would be available yet as many parents won't respond until after the Easter holidays (some local authorities don't even ask you to accept or reject, they just assume you are accepting unless you contact them to say otherwise).

Our LA website lists how many applications a school had, which could be misleading as it won't usually match spaces allocated. For example, it may say for a school with a PAN of 60 that everyone who stated a preference was offered a place (meaning they have spaces), yet it will say 84 applied. What this means is that 84 people listed the school somewhere in their preference list, but under 60 were actually offered places, for them to have places remaining. This will be because the rest met the admissions criteria for a school they ranked as a higher preference, meaning they were not considered for an offer at this school as they got something else they wanted even more. Does that make sense? Our LA don't currently publish how many places each school has left (to parents, the individual schools will know) so you wouldn't know how many places they have from the website alone, just that they have space. Here, you would have to contact individual schools to find out how many spaces they have left. Every LA is different though.

Hello,

yes that makes sense. Sorry I may not have been clear, so ours list how many spaces they filled, how many applied, and how many spaces there are. Also how many people who applied they refused. It says "The Total Refused is the number of children who did not gain a place at this school or a higher preference school and have been placed on a
waiting list." They also put how many people were allocated the school (people who didn't chose the school but got given it)
We won't know about waiting list positions for a few weeks

Like such:

Oh I see, you mean refused as in the applicants were refused a place because they didn't meet the criteria? Sorry, I thought you meant the parents were offered a place but refused it. I was wondering why 54 people are refusing a place at a school you really want! 😂

I know 54 sounds high, but you have to bear in mind that several of those could have got into the other school you wanted and didn't get. Others will have been given another of their preference schools which wasn't on your list and will be happy with that. You won't necessarily be fighting all 54 (well 53 as one will be you) for a place at one of these other schools you're now hoping for. Try to think positively.

Haha that would be quite worrying wouldn't it 😂

thank you, I'm trying to be it's just consuming me atm! And the guilt! Really appreciate the positive outlooks on my situation though, good for me to read back on when I'm having a wobble

Hello have you heard back from the LA yet?

Hello,

no I haven't. Won't until the end of June apparently! I spoke to one of the schools last week and they said they'll be offering us a space but when I rang LA they said they'll can't say that for sure it's too early. Just want to know

Unfortunately this is a classic cautionary tale for not filling all the spaces on the form in the first place. You are not alone though. So many people think this will put them at a disadvantage but a quick google will tell you otherwise. Clearly lots of people did fill the form hence the highly number of rejections. Don’t beat yourself up. You thought you were doing the right thing at the time. Hopefully there will be some movement and you’ll get a better option. My DCs school is massively oversubscribed but 4 new kids have joined in KS1.

Numbers seem to be very fluid this year. We have an entry of 40, this year we have 36 confirmed, last year we had 23!

just been offered a space at the other school we wanted through Kate application! So pleased

That’s great news! Is that the third school?