Apols for daft question but how do school waiting lists work?

[theyoungvisiter]

DS1 has been offered a place at our second preferred primary school. We are fine about this - he has more friends at this school anyway - but are trying to decide whether to put his name on the waiting list for our number 1 preferred school.

My questions are:
Will the number 2 school know if we put our name on the waiting list of the number 1 school?

If we go on the waiting list and are ultimately offered a place, are we obliged to accept it?

Basically if a place came through quite soon we would like to accept it. But if we were only offered one at the last minute, we would probably not want to disrupt DS, as by that time he'd be used to the idea of attending with all his friends.

Hope that makes sense and apols for such a basic question - I can't ask the council as they are closed until Tuesday!

Not a daft qu, no need to apologise

It would be highly unlikely that No2 school would find out you are on No1 waiting list as these are held by the LA (or in the case of VA faith schools/foundation schools the school themselves) - but TBH I don't think it matters if they did - you have accepted a place at No2 school (I assume) so you are going there are far as no2 school is concerned unless/until you tell them different.

You are not obliged to take a place offered from the waiting list & can ask to be removed from it at any point, so you have nothing to lose by going on it. Once the LA (or school if VA faith/foundation) have all the yes/nos back they should be able to tell you where you are on the waiting list too, so you can get some idea whether or not you may get offered a place, eg if you are 2nd then maybe, if you are 102nd then forget it!

ps

waiting lists are held in the same order as the admissions criteria, so you can go down as well as up if, for example, some one moves into the area & lives closer to the school than you do. Some people ring up every couple of weeks or so, just to see where they are on the list

In our council you are put on the waiting list for the ones you didn't get automatically, so it's not a problem. It's so clever of the councils to issue letters on Sat morning of bank hol weekend so they don't get swamped with hysterical enquiries!

that's really helpful - thank you. As far as I know you aren't automatically added to the the waiting list here - probably to make less work for the council! And I agree - very canny of them to issue the letters today