Do many parents of kids at private schools hold on to state school places as " insurance"

[FattyArbuckel]

We are on a reserve list for our first choice school - I am wondering if it is common for parents with kids enrolled for private secondary schools to also hold onto a state place as "insurance"?

And if so, do these parents give the places back for allocation this month normally or do they hold on to them until September?

Going back a few years, it may have changed, but in this authority you have to actually accept the state place. As my dd was going private I did nothing and assumed they would realise she wouldn't be going. It wasn't until I received a bus pass for her in the post that I actually rang the school and declined the place. I wasn't deliberately holding on to it but I hadn't actively declined it either. Next time round I shall know what to do.

This was my absolute bugbear when waiting for dd's secondary allocation a few years ago.

Apply for state places as insurance - absolutely
Hold onto them once you have your private school place offered - unacceptable

DD's place was almost certainly one that was clung onto and not handed back till the end of the summer. Several months of not knowing where she was going and sorting out uniform - bloody great that was. Even worse no doubt for a couple of others in her class who didn't get their places till after the start of term for same reason.

How is a school expected to realise that your child won't be going?

I used to work in a school and this sort of thing was so annoying. Sometimes we would be told by other Mums 'oh such and such have gone to XXXX' At least have the courtesy to tell us, preferably before the start of term.

I appeal to any parents holding a place you don't need.

I have an 11 year old who doesn't have a place where her classmates are going. She is obviously upset about it and I am trying to persuade her that our second choice school is just as good.

If unrequired places are held on to until September she will have had 6 months of thinking she is going to a different school, we will have bought the wrong uniform, she will have missed the orientation days for the school she will attend.

Please consider the effect on other children and their families and give places back as soon as you are able to.

I agree, Fatty, and I sympathise with your plight. I can see no possible justification for hanging on to a state school place 'just in case' - what about the unplaced children?

I know two families who did this a few years ago, not out of any desire to hust anyone else, just that they were having ding dong battles right to the wire (in one case we're talking August) between the parents as to whether to go grammar or indie. One of them eventually went indie, thus relinquishing the state place - the other eventually went grammar relinquishing the indie place...

Is not right to hang onto places, and if people think that " anything could happen" in the summer that could mean they may not be able to afford pricate education after all, why opt for it? Since there would be similar risk once dc start at the private school.

where we are you get private places well before grammar places.

we are in oxfordshire near bucks border though - and you do't have to accept private places until grammar school places are out

so yes re grammar schools.

I think people sometime hang onto the state places until virtually the last moment due to the sheer terror of paying private school fees and the worry about a major catastrophe happening between now and September making them unable to pay the fees. Certainly in our area, there are always changes to both private and state registers in August.

I hadn't even thought about something happening! Maybe I should have held onto the place in case ds changes his mind about the school!

DDs friends parents are "place blocking" at the Ofsted outstanding girls school in the next town for their older child.

They have a place at the independent girls school, but the father has been told that there may be redundancies coming up so doesn't want to let go of the place at the state school.

I can see his point in that £850 a month is a huge commitment - bigger in fact than their mortgage, but also have sympathies for the girls who are on the waiting list for the state place that they may or may not take up.

It's kind of waiting for the decision to be made for you, isn't it? Yes you're committed but not quite brave enough to push the button yourself.

Do private schools have a reserve list in cases where children who are offered a place with them decide to go state after all?

Most independent schools have a waiting list but generally you will informed if your DC is on it.

My DS had an offer of a private school which arrived around a week before the Bucks 11+ result. Once we had that, we declined the offer. I understand others did the same too.

Some do, some don't - if our experience in securing a primary school place for DS is anything to go by there are plenty of people hedging their bets....

You are so right though Mumsnetters - it is is so stressful for the DCs who are left in limbo up until the last possible moment - missing out on pre-secondary school taster days at their chosen school etc......

If the preferred place has not yet been offered and accepted, then why is it a bad thing to hold onto a firm offer?

Are prospective private school families not taxpayers who are entitled to a state school place?

I think lots of people hold onto places until the last minute and it's very unfair. We were on the waiting list for a grammar school and got offered a place on the first day of term, along with a number of other families, as quite a few children had just not turned up...

I can't imagine how people could feel it was acceptable to do that knowing how many children were on the waiting list - but it seems that lots of people do!

I'm sure lots of people must do. We have applied to both and having been offered at the two private schools we applied to, will shortly turn one down.

Our private school deadlines for decision have been Feb, but if you pay the several hundred pound deposit, that buys you a few more weeks to make up your mind until state school allocations come out [around here, anyway].

In a recession I imagine it will be worse too, as people may be waiting to hear about restructuring news.

Just a word of warning the other way around...we have a confirmed private place, which we had to pay a terms fees for because we are out of catchment for our local state primary. We are not sure if this is the right school for our child, but we applied as an insurance.

We were offerred a place at our second choice state primary, which we accepted, which we had to if we wanted to find out more about the school. We then went to an open evening to make up our minds if this may be a good school for our son.

I mistakenly, in good faith, told the headmistress our choice, and that we were deciding by the end of the month. She reported us to the local authority, and we were sent a stern warning by the school that we had to confirm we were declining the private place!

We decided to turn down the state place, but it forced our hand to make an important decision rather quickly. We are still hoping for a late place to come up at our first choice state primary, which I hope will come up this summer. I reckon lots of parents will change choices in the summer. I know it is hard for the parents waiting for a place to come up, because I am one of them for my first choice school!

Sounds long-winded, but sad moral is not to be too open about all this.

We got an offer from the indie we applied to so, when the state school allocation was announced about 2 weeks later we sat on the offer for about a week, just in case we changed our minds, before releasing the state school place.

However, its not unknown for parents to hold on to the state school place right up to the end, just in case their financial situation changed.

It's possible for people's financial circumstances too improve - so they may change their mind and opt for a private school at the last minute. Usually they would want confirmation of acceptance of a place and a deposit for fees though.
There are also other possibilities for places to become available such as people moving away from the area (in some areas uncertainty about house sales could be an important reason for people holding onto places) and families winning Appeals and taking up places at other schools. When my dd started reception there were about 2 pupils who didn't turn up in September, but am not aware of this happening last September when she started Y7.

I totally empathise with people keeping options open, particularly when the decision is not clear cut anyway. I was traumatised by the secondary school decision with my own eldest. (After that it was easy)
However, I teach at an oversubscribed state secondary. I feel for those parents who are fighting (with appeals) until the last possible moment, and sometimes into the first term, when some children don't turn up on day one because they have gone privately. Some parents never let the school know at all; they leave us to work it out!

There is so much movement. I heard today that 20 or so children in my LA have now got their 1st choice of school (through the waiting list - not appeal). Doesn't stop people worrying.