Waiting Lists For Secondary Schools

[Pawla]

My ds got 3rd choice he is very upset and unhappy. Our 1st & 2nd are church schools. What do I do about the waiting list?
I phoned our 1st choice today to find out about waiting lists but they would not say anything. They just kept saying wait for a letter you should receive one in the next two day. The woman did not even know who I was let alone if there is a letter in the post for me.

To top it all off and confuse me a bit more I realised that on the results email after mentioning the name of our 3rd choice it said :'We are pleased to confirm that you have been allocated your first preference school.'

I's so confused and can't sleep!!
Anyone out there with some sound advice.

I hope one of the experts will be along to help you soon.

But make sure you keep this email. If the wrong preference order was just a typo in this email only, it won't mean anything. But if they entered your preferences wrongly and therefore processed your application wrongly, there might be grounds for appeal. Do you have a copy of your original application, so you can demonstrate the correct order of preferences?

Hi EdithWeston- thanks for joining in I' m new to the site. Thanks for the encouragement I applied online. I have checked it and the application is correct I will print and as you suggested I could use for appeal.

Any experts out there?

You need to ring the LA and raise the mistake on the offer email. It certainly raises a suspicion that they may have processed your application incorrectly, although it may be that they got your application right and just messed up the email.

You should receive a proper letter from the LA in the next day or two. That should tell you how to go about appealing. Most LAs automatically put you on the waiting list for any preferences higher than the one offered but some don't. If the letter doesn't say anything about waiting lists you should contact the LA and ask.

Seem to remember last year that quite a lot of parents in my LEA had the statement 'We are pleased to confirm that you have been allocated your first preference school.' even if the school offered was their second or third preference.
The LEA explanation was that all the preferences are equal so if the allocated school was one of your named preferences on the application form, this statement was automatically added to the email. Agree it is rather a clumsy way of doing the emails, but this could be the explanation.

Did you have to fill in additional forms for the church schools so they could measure how religious you were? It maybe that this is causing the delay and confusion because these have to be processed additionally?

Also remember that this is a crazy time for admissions offices and they come in for a lot of hassle from stressed, aggrieved parents, I found a bit of sweet talk can work wonders.

crazymum53 - It is not only clumsy it is wrong. It shows a complete lack of understanding of what is meant by "equal preference".

It also shows a complete lack of understanding of how disappointed parents can feel if they do not get allocated their first preference school.
Last year was the first year my LEA contacted people by email and there were a few glitches on the system - hopefully they have sorted it out this year as people did complain. But it is possible that other LEAs have done this as well so that is why I mentioned it here.

It is horrible!My dd got her 2nd preference but to be honest I did not fill the application correctly, we actually prefered the 3rd option more but I undertood that the order did not matter. I feel so confused and My dd wont be added to the waiting list as you can only be in the waiting list for the first preference.
Does anyone know what to do in this situation?
Thank you!:(

I'm not an expert Cinthia but I think you can be added to the waiting list for any school you want now, its just that your LEA won't automatically add you to it. Ring up the school you want and ask to get put on that list!

I will do banditqueen , thank you!

Cinthia - I'm sorry you got confused about this. Banditqueen is right. You should automatically be on the waiting list for your 1st preference but you will have to ask to go on the list for your 3rd preference.

Thanks to everone for all the information. I have phoned the admissions office and they appologised for the mistake of the emails saying '1st preference'. I actually received an apology letter yesterday. With regards to our 1st preference I have to write to them to put ds on the waiting list as they do not do it over the phone.
Felt really down today as all the parents from our church community got their 1st preference which is the same school that we wanted. Ds asked why did they get in but not him. Really hard to explain whilst remaining positive.

Ds asked why did they get in but not him.
Yes that must be really hard. Assuming that you all meet the same faith criteria, it could be that the other children already have an older sibling at the school or that they live closer to the school, as these are used as tie-breakers. However it is worth double-checking that the school received any supplementary application forms on-time and that the faith criteria have been applied correctly. Places on the waiting list could still come up though as some parents may opt for private education. HTH