Anyone else anxious about tomorrow's primary school admissions email in London?

[Alicexo]

Is anyone else a nervous wreck for the primary school admissions email to come out tomorrow, 16th April 2026? I’ve been a mess all day!!! Has anyone applied for schools in London?

Yeah, disappointed. Hope we can move up the waiting list. Apparently there's a lot of movement in May. Hope you're happy with what you got

Congratulations to all those who got their first choice!

We're in London and got our 5th... Obviously pretty disappointed 😑 does anyone know how to find out what position on the waiting list we are for the schools further up our list? Thanks!

I got our second, closer to home and on pure attainment level it’s actually our borough’s first ranked primary school. I’m happy but my son isn’t as his friends all got into the first choice.

Call up your local authority tomorrow or email, I’d think a call might be better based on the fifth preference being allocated.

im ringing up just to see where I am on the waiting list for the first choice - partly because my son seems distraught.

someone mentioned that there’s lots of movement between now and September especially around London.

good luck

Waiting lists won't be created until people have accepted or rejected their allocated place. Some people will have decided to take up a place at an independent school, others will be in the process of moving house, some parents of summerborns will have had a rethink about their just 4-yr-old starting this September etc etc. Once those decisions have been formalised is when waiting list positions will be known. It's not usually for at least a couple of weeks.

Very few primary schools round here have official catchment areas. New housing developments, high numbers of siblings and all sorts of other things can have an impact on how quickly a primary school fills up. A number of primaries have reduced their intake because of falling rolls so that is likely to have a knock-on effect across the boroughs.

My email clearly states the waitlist is tomorrow and you can access it via my portal for council tax in my borough or I can call or email.

yes, the waitlist will move massively but they’re already aware of numbers for waitlist based on how many people didn’t get their first choice.

Copy and paste:

For schools that you ranked as a higher preference, and where that school has not been able to offer a place, your child’s name will automatically be placed on the waiting list for that school, unless you tell us you do not wish to stay on the waiting list.
WAITING LISTS WILL OPEN – Friday, April 17, 2026
You can find out your child’s waiting list position by logging into…

That's a definite improvement then! It wasn't available for London secondaries this year until after the acceptance date.

We got our first choice, and now I’m second guessing it! I always thought school 2 was the ‘best’ by a country mile, but school 1 is also good and much more convenient.

I emailed the Southwark admissions email address and they've already given me the waiting list positions, so I think you can probably do that with other boroughs too!

I didn't receive an email about primary school applications. I thought i eould receive it today. Anyone else?

Have you checked the portal? X

Really excited to have got our first choice here! But it’s been crazy where we are the offer boundaries have really shifted since last year

Snap. Absolutely gutted.

Ive emailed admissions to see where we are on the various waiting lists but had a bounce back saying they’ll reply within 10 working days.

this is a silly question but how does the acceptance/rejection work re the second wave of offers. Are offers only made to people that rejected today’s offer. Or do they work down the waiting list. I know stupid question!

They work down the waiting lists. Those who reject an offer don't get special treatment - unless you count the thrill of not knowing whether your child will have a school place at all.

Assuming it is the same for all LEAs - if you weren't allocated your first choice you will automatically get put on the waiting list for any schools that were higher preference than the one you were allocated. When spaces come up at those schools, they will offer to however is top of the waiting list, irrespective of whether that person has accepted or rejected their allocated place.

Accepting/rejecting your allocated school will have no influence on whether you are offered a place at a higher preference school, so my recommendation is to accept the place so that you at least have one. The wait list is horrible as you can move up and down it, as new people can be added to the list and are placed in order of their child's eligibility for the school. So if someone moves in next door to you tomorrow and their house is slightly closer, and they ask for their child to go on the wait list, they could be placed above your child (assuming there are no critieria that trump the other child, such as sibling etc).

No one ever wants to hear this, and I didn't at the time, but my son got our 4th place for secondary, and we were gutted. Now we actually feel it was the best choice for him, as our experience of the school has been so positive, and we know friends of his who were allocated first choice, and the school everyone wants their child to attend, and two are rarely in school and the other has been deregistered to home school, so the school you think is best doesn't always pan out to be.

Good luck with the wait list though. You can go onto the wait list of other schools that you didn't originally choose, if there are any suitable.

I’ve emailed the school directly at 5am this morning asking where my son is on the waitlist.

I will also check via my council tax login later today.

My mother and son seemed to be so pro first choice I feel like I would now be tempted to accept if I were lucky enough to be offered my first choice.

Are offers only made to people that rejected today’s offer. Or do they work down the waiting list.

@mummytrex Absolutely not! They use the waiting list based on the admissions criteria ONLY. Rejecting a place has no part in that decision. And it also means that late applications might go ahead of you on the waiting list - if they live closer or have a child in a priority category, for example.

Congratulations! Hopefully your son will see a familiar face when he starts school. If not i'm sure he will make lots of new friends!

Our second choice is also closer to home aprox 10 min walk. Just a v small catchment area that we don't fall in. Hence my surprise at getting in.

Our first choice is actually the best school the borough. We were right the edge of the catchment area so i was hoping we'd get a place but understood that we may not. I spoke to the school today and he's on the waiting list but i won't know till end of may what position he's in. Fingers crossed that he gets a place but if not im okay with the second choice. Grateful it was the third choice!

Had a response from admissions. We range between 9th and 50th on the 1st 4 preference waiting lists! Hopeful re the one where we’re 9th. So we will wait and see…

Hi, did anyone find out their waiting list position?
In Richmond, we were told that from today you could find out, but the school emailed me this morning to say it’s still not ready.

We got our second choice which is actually for many reasons better than our first choice. Found out today we’re no 21 on the waiting list for first choice so in short - hard no!

@makemineadecafwill you stay on the waiting list just incase? Would you move your child mid year?

We found out we are 4th on the waiting list for our first choice. If we don’t get a place before the term starts, I wouldn’t move them. I don’t think there will be that much movement in a few months 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’m assuming We’l be going to our 2nd choice

We're still waiting to find out our waiting list position for our first preference - admissions said they'll release it on Monday.

One school I spoke to (Southwark) said that last year they got right through their waiting list, more than 25 offers between April and September. I know that last year there was a lot of movement, but 4th would be a really high chance of getting in around here!

No we’re now delighted with no 2 and I’m honestly not sure why I ranked them this way to be honest. Second choice is better for lots of reasons: earlier wraparound, through primary so no reapplying, feeder into the best secondary in the area, on way to work!