Allocation system of school places for year 7

[Foxranawaywithhisshoes]

How does the system work?

I get that we fill in the CAF online and choose 6 schools in order of preference. And, my understanding is, that each of those schools doesn't know what order we put them in and has to assess our eligibility and place us as to whether we fit the criteria best or worst and give us a ranking. The schools then provide that information to the LA. So the LA gets a list of our 6 schools each with a ranking given by the schools.

I am a little hazy as to what happens next - as far as I know the LA then checks first our number one choice to see if we have been given a rank that falls within the number of places they have e.g. if they have 200 places and our rank is 123 then we would be offered a place. I presume the LA goes down our list and makes this comparison for each choice, stopping to create an offer at the point where we become eligible. So each child receives one offer. Is that correct?

So, given that our first choice is very much our favourite but that we stand to be a long way down the ranking, how do we maximise our chances of getting into that school? If we reject an offer of our second choice does the LA go back and recheck us against the first choice school to see if enough people have rejected their offer and moved us up the list? Or do we accept the second offer and phone the preferred school and ask to go on their waiting list?

It is worth pointing out that there are enough terrible schools within our borough, and indifferent schools that we are close to that what we cannot do is to risk only putting the preferred school.

By offering you a school, the LEA has fulfilled its obligation, and if you reject it then you have no place. They do not offer you another.

You can stay on the waiting list for your first preference, and accepting a place elsewhere makes no difference to that (as your place on the list is determined by how well you fit the entrance criteria, not whether you have a place elsewhere). If any places come up at the first choice school they will be offered to whoever is top of the list at the time of the vacancy.

The only thing you can do to increase your chances of a place is to move (permanently) nearer the school. Unless it tie-breaks by lottery, in which case there isn't really anything.

Thank you. That makes perfect sense.
Just to clarify - does that mean that things can change right up to the September that children are due to start school as there may be a large number of parents who have accepted second/third/fourth/fifth/sixth choice places who are still hoping to come to the top of a waiting list for their preferred school?
Also how does the waiting list get created? Is that down to the individual school?

Yes you can be offered places even after the children have started. I know 2 people offered places last week.

I think the ranking and the waiting lists are all managed by the LA rather than individual schools.

Am not sure where to start, but 6 preferences is not universal in many areas it's only 3.

Schools only rank pupils themselves if the school is their own admissions authority: for VA schools and most academies this would be the case. For community schools the LEA would do this.
If you have applied to schools in more than one LEA your home LEA would pass your details onto the school LEA and your child would be ranked against this LEAs criteria. This may be significant if the 2 LEAs have different admissions criteria.
Rejecting the place offered has no effect on whether you will be offered a place at a higher preference school on the waiting list. If you have received an offer and rejected it. the LEA does not have to make you another offer and your child could end up with no school place.

Forgot to add that in my LEA there is a section in the booklet which lists the names of the schools that act as their own admissions authority. For all other schools, the LEA will rank the applicants.

Where I live children who don't get offered their first choice are kept on its waiting list for a term. If you want to be on longer than that you have to reapply. It's not uncommon to be offered a place two weeks into term, when they are able to cross off their lists anyone who didn't turn up at the start of term but they'd not been able to contact.

Okay your basic understanding works - to a point.
Your first choice should be your true first choice - whether you get a place or not, depends on who else applies and the admissions criteria.

If you get offered your second choice, rejecting it will not make the LA offer you anything else. They have done their bit in offering you any school. But if you get offered your second choice (or lower) you can go onto the waiting list (for any higher choices, maybe other schools you'd prefer to your offer). At most schools there is often some movement on the waiting list.

You should think very very carefully before not putting on your list you closest/most likely to get into school. That is because the LA just has to offer you a school "within a reasonable distance" this could mean 1 hours travel each way. Is you local undesirable school a better last resort than an undesirable school on the other side of the county?

For some schools/LAs you will automatically go on the waiting list of schools of higher preference. For others you have to apply to be added, do check because sometimes this is not clear.

The waiting list I think is in action until Christmas.