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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Anyone else waiting for offers day - March 2nd here?

523 replies

cece · 22/02/2015 11:12

We have put an out of catchment school as first choice. Second choice is our catchment school. Some years we would get into our first choice, some years we would not. So we are anxiously awaiting the email...

OP posts:

tiggytape · 03/03/2015 18:05

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itsveryyou · 03/03/2015 19:16

tiggy I wondered if you had any thoughts on this - we're living abroad and will return in August 15 to our old house, ready for new school year. DS will be moving into Yr7. We applied, stating three school preferences, in Oct 14 using UK address as advised by our preferred school, and upon advice of the LA. Our first preference school (an academy) then told us, after the application was in, that we could not apply using our home address (fair enough, we reluctantly accepted we'd been given bad/wrong advice by them in the first place).

Do you think we will receive a rejection letter from the LA, and then would we be permitted to join the waiting lists for those schools, even though we're not physically living in our house until August 2015? Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

kidsinbednowyay · 03/03/2015 20:18

So because my child is bright she is FORCED to go to a crap school

Notinaminutenow · 03/03/2015 20:27

We have fair banding admission at our local hugely oversubscribed, outstanding school. 5 ability bands, 20% of places per band. 1500 applicants for 210 places. Children are placed in a band based on result of borough test. Oversubscription criteria applied LAC, Med Soc, Sibling, Distance. Top band widest in terms of distance so "clever children" not disadvantaged disproportionately.

In a frustrating process it is the lesser of many evils. Less able children deserve to go to good schools too!

tiggytape · 03/03/2015 20:41

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ChippyMinton · 03/03/2015 20:46

Thank you PanelChair, I have emailed and asked to be put on the list.

itsveryyou · 03/03/2015 21:33

Thanks tiggy that's really useful! I thought DS would automatically be placed at the bottom of the waiting lists when we get back in August, I didn't realize he would be placed in the correct position higher up, as we do qualify in terms of distance, faith criteria etc.

The admissions dept. for our first preference school asked us to send in all sorts of info with our application, such as proof of house ownership, DH's contract dates (which indicate when we will return) and the LA supported this, then in October, someone else in the school admissions dept. said we couldn't apply - and the LA supported this decision too!! (All very confusing for us). Thanks for your time.

sparrowfart23 · 03/03/2015 22:08

itsveryyou The confusion may have arisen because (at least in my LA, and I assume it will be the same in others), you can apply for a school place up to four weeks before you need it if you are returning to the UK from abroad. However, the rules state that when you are applying for an entry to primary school/transfer to secondary school, you CAN submit an application early, but that the 'address to be used in the allocation will be the address that the child is living at on the closing date' (i.e. abroad). So you would be unlikely to get offered a place at one of your preferred schools on distance unless they are undersubscribed. It is worth reading your LA's policy on admitting children from overseas with a highlighter in hand. I don't know if there would be any practical benefit to being on a waiting list in the meantime as I believe they would only amend your address (and thus moving you up the waiting list) 4 weeks before you return in August 2015. Hope that helps. We may be facing the same next year (Junior school application) so I am watching with interest to see what the upshot is.

GoldenBeagle · 03/03/2015 22:51

kidsinbed - sorry you didn't get a place - hopefully you can get a place through the waiting list as you must live pretty close.

Fair Banding is just another admissions process that some will find works against them. At another school where the lower band is the tightest it will be a parent of a lower ability child who says 'my child is excluded for being less bright'. Others exclude the most local children for being the wrong religion, others for being not of selective ability. Others on house prices.

It's bad luck that your particular closest school has an admissions process that doesn't fit you.

Should it all be done on distance? Not fair on those who can't afford to who buy their way into an expensive catchment. All on a lottery? Then people who live next door could lose out on a place.... and so on.

But I would also be gnashing my teeth in your shoes.

itsveryyou · 03/03/2015 23:05

tiggy thank you VERY much for taking the time to share your wisdom and insight - I've learnt more from you today than from months and months of trying to get a straight story/advice from the LA or school! I've been through our LA's documents many times and can't find reference to anything which specifically refers to 'admitting pupils from overseas', nor the 4 weeks in advance bit that you refer to - and that could be significant for securing DC a school place as early as possible, so we can prepare him and get things ready. Thanks again, will let you know what happens further down the line.

Original poster

cece · 03/03/2015 23:28

I had a letter today because we didn't get our first preference school. Basically I think I have to phone our first preference tomorrow and ask to be put on a waiting list. Apparently the school runs its own waiting list because it is an Academy.

OP posts:

tiggytape · 04/03/2015 08:13

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ihategeorgeosborne · 04/03/2015 09:33

Well, we've had a complete turn around in our house. Dd has now decided that she wants to go to the school she was offered, which was her second choice. I have spent the last couple of days getting stressed and getting her on the waiting list for preference 1 and apparently, she is next on the list at the moment. However, she now wants the school she was offered! I'm happy if she's happy. Just got the transport to sort out now, as second choice not so easy to get to!!

tiggytape · 04/03/2015 09:42

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ihategeorgeosborne · 04/03/2015 10:02

Good point tiggytape, I should look into that. We are not in Herts, we are in Bath. I am hoping to accept 2nd place today, but still trying to find out about the transport issue. God this is all so stressful!

ihategeorgeosborne · 04/03/2015 11:04

Apparently there is a bus. It costs £££s, but at least there is a way!!

thehumanjam · 04/03/2015 12:56

I've never heard of the fair banding system before what a complicated method. How about the LEA just make sure that there are enough spaces for local children and everyone goes to their local school unless they have an exceptional need to go elsewhere. Surely it would be a lot simpler.

experiencedoptimist · 04/03/2015 13:17

It is usually automantic that you are added to the lists of all higher preference schools that weren't able to offer you a place

At our local there is a tear-off slip on rejection letter that must be signed and returned in order to join the waiting list. Not automatic.

Check the system operated by your local authority or academy (they are their own admissions body).

ihategeorgeosborne · 04/03/2015 13:27

Ok, so the school dd put down as her first preference and didn't get have just phoned me up and reassured me that dd will probably get her place in the second round of allocations in May, as all children who put it as their first choice usually do. Apparently this is because of the children who reject their offer and go private. So, now what? Dd told me yesterday that she now wants her second choice, which is the school she has been offered. I'm not sure what's made her change her mind, as she was devastated at not getting her first choice the day before! This is a bloody nightmare. I just want to click the 'accept' button and move on!

richmal3 · 04/03/2015 13:41

Being put on waiting list is not automatic for us (E Sussex) - you have to ring them up and request a form to be put on the waiting list (can't do it online) so worth checking what your LA does and not assuming it's automatic.

I'd be interested to know what people's experience is of getting in through waiting lists: I think my daughter should be near the top (as she missed out by 250m on a school 18km away) but am still extremely anxious...

ButterflyUpSoHigh · 04/03/2015 14:33

We were 5th on offer day. We then jumped to 12th on reallocation when people who hadn't originally applied did. Finally got a place in December once started at another school.

catslife · 04/03/2015 14:44

dd will probably get her place in the second round of allocations in May, as all children who put it as their first choice usually do.
ihategeorgeosborne If you and your dd are happy with your second preference school then it's not compulsory to go on the waiting list for first choice school.
But the advice given by this school isn't correct. Schools aren't supposed to operate a first preference first system to allocate places whether in the initial allocation or on the waiting list. I believe it breaks the admissions code. The waiting list would usually operate by distance from the school so a family living closer to this school than you should be offered the place even if they had listed it as lower than first preference or had made a late application.

ihategeorgeosborne · 04/03/2015 14:54

catslife, I think she probably meant that most people who put it as their 2nd or 3rd choice probably got their first choice so are less likely to be on the waiting list IYSWIM. Dd is happy with her second choice, but only in last 24hrs. She could change her mind again! Also, the bus costs a lot of money for the second choice school, circa £700 a year! It has to be a consideration, although if she really wants it, she can. I just want to make sure that she's doing what she really wants and not following friends. She just seems to have changed her mind over night and I am happy with it, but want to make sure she is doing it for the right reasons.

catslife · 04/03/2015 16:42

You may have interpreted the school correctly ihategeorgeosborne but I do have reservations about whether a school should really be phoning parents and giving advice. The experts should be around soon, I am just a parent. However there was a problem with a Bath secondary school when we applied a few years ago so I can't be completely sure.

ihategeorgeosborne · 04/03/2015 16:53

She phoned me because I had previously phoned the school and sent an email to find out how to go on the waiting list. Apparently, with academies, you have to go on the waiting list with the school and send your appeal documentation directly to the school itself and not the LEA. I am still confused to be honest and have not yet done anything. Does anyone know if I can accept dd's second choice and still go on the waiting list and appeal for the first choice, or should I just put her on the waiting list? Either way, I don't want her to lose the place she has been offered, but equally, I am worried that she will change her mind again and then we won't be able to appeal for her first choice school. I just don't know what to do for the best at the moment.

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