Will a school know which position I have put it on the admission form?

[user40788]

Do schools know which position you put it on the admission form when applying or do they just see you have chosen it as one of your choices?

The reason I ask is because the school I would like my ds to go to is one that we are just out of the catchment area for, so I would put it second on the admission form so that he would almost certainly get a place at the second choice school that we are in the catchment area for. Hopefully he would be offered a place at our first choice after the second round. Does this make sense or would a school be less likely to offer my ds a place if I have not put it down as first choice?

I hope this makes sense?

No, absolutely not. Whatever they may try to tell you...

Put them in the order you want them to be and put as many choices as you might be prepared to accept.

Bit confused, though... Put your first choice first (however long a shot it seems), then, if you're not allocated that one you'll be considered for the safe choice second one without any reference to the fact that it's your second choice, iykwim.
But you're still in with a chance of the long shot.

Oddly on our primary schools admission policy it states:

Number of applications = X, Y of these were first preferences.

I thought schools weren't told about 1st, 2nd etc choices now?

Schools don't know how many 1st preferences until after allocation. It would be put on the following year's admission booklet so parents can see how over/undersubscribed a school has been. Similarly, distance of last place offered is also there for guidance.

You must put your genuine first preference school first, so in your case that means the one you are just out of catchment for. If you put it second, and your catchment school first, you will only be offered your catchment school even if you did qualify for a place at the other school. They only offer you one place, and they offer according to the order of your preferences.

The order of the schools makes ZERO difference to whether or not you qualify for that school. Each one is considered independently. You might qualify for all the schools you put down, but they will only offer you a place at the one which is top of your list. There are no "rounds" of applications.

When applying for my DS, we preferred a school we were just out of catchment for. I put it first on the list, and our catchment school second, then another school that would have been ok as the third and last choice. We qualified for the out of catchment school and so were offered a place there. We wouldn't have been offered that place if I had put it second.

User, what you said seems wrong. Don't put your true first preference down on the form second, put it first, even if you are slightly out of catchment. Put your second preference second. If you don't get the slightly out of catchment school on the first round, it won't harm your chances of getting the closer school. They do not know where you put them on the form, only the council does. If you are offered the second preference closer school, accept it but ask to be reconsidered for your true first preference and you might be lucky on the second round.

If you do as you say and put your true first preference second, if you meet the criteria for your first on the form school, you'll get a place there and your second place school (true first preference) won't even look at you and will have offered all their places to others.

As others have said, list the schools in your true preference order. Try to include one safe bet somewhere on the form, last if it's your least favourite.

I worked in a school until recently. We knew once the place had been accepted by parents if we had been the first/second/third choice.

Do not put the school you want him to go to as second choice.

Think of your application form as a way for you tell the LA which order you would prefer the schools if you were to qualify for more than one.

If you end up with qualifying for both the catchment school and your favourite school and you have put your favourite one second then you will be removed from its list. Not because the school know you've put it second, but because you have told the LA that if this happens, you would prefer him to go to the catchment school.

Ah, in my area there are 2 rounds. First (main) round on allocation day, then those who don't accept their place within 2 weeks or so, moved away or gone private etc, are removed and a second round is done with those who have asked for a reconsideration.

But that isn't a second round for all applications, and is not related to what people put on their actual application.

user40788 would you be able to say which LA area you're in so that the advice people give is definitely correct?

Yes, second round only for those who asked for a reconsideration.

This guide explains the system well. www.york.gov.uk/downloads/file/236/guide_for_parents I'm not sure if the process is the same everywhere.

Assassinated, the LA is Haringey in London.

User, the order of your preferences should be your true in your true preference order wherevere you are in England. The Admissions code applies everywhere in England. (Different in Scotland)

I'm glad you posted here, hopefully it's saved you making a mistake.

Unlike me with all those typos.

Ok, so what I described is correct. I think you get to put 6 choices for secondarys in Haringey, so put them in your genuine order of preference and include your catchment school in the list even if it's in last place.

Put schools in the order you want them. It's meant to be equal preference. Although i don't know if that's the same everywhere. We do find out where you ranked us but after its been allocated.

Re waiting lists, if you don't get a place at your first choice in the initial allocations you should be automatically put on the waiting list for any choices that you listed as higher preference than the one you were allocated (though worth just confirming with LA that they have done this to avoid later problems).

You can also request at that point to be put on the waiting lists for any other choice you put lower than your allocated school.

Make sure you accept the allocated school even if you hope for a place at your higher choice school from the waiting list. If a place comes up for you from the waiting list for your preferred school you can then reject the original allocation and accept the new offer.

If you reject the initial allocation and no place comes up on waiting list you would be left with no school place and the LA has no further responsibility to find you a school place.

It's worth checking about being on the waiting lists. Two secondaries in my LA now say you have to ask to be on their waiting lists instead of going on automatically.