Its 2018....countdown to 1st March secondary school allocations!

[Hersetta427]

Well two months down and two to go to 1st March. I have been fairly chilled since applications were submitted however now that 2018 is here it is creeping into my thoughts more frequently.

We are truly lucky to live in a town with very good secondary schools but I know DD would be heartbroken if she didn't get her first choice (a top 10 non selective girls school).

Realistically we should be virtually sure of a place as if we don't qualify on distance within our feeder school group then she should get a sports aptitude place (she score 10 percentage points higher than the required score for the last 3 years). However a part of me is still nervous as I imagine what if all 200 girls taking the aptitude test got amazing scores too. Logically I know this isn't the case as other girls at her school score 20-25 marks lower than DD but there are only 9 places available so the margin of error is small.

Anyone else beginning to get jittery? Please tell me I'm not alone.

sockgap - oh no, that's awful!! Bad enough waiting until tomorrow (like me!) but far worse to have to do it thinking you were going to know today!

Does anyone know when LA’s add their info? Is it worth staying up til midnight? Or is it just a case of logging in thru out the day tomorrow?

missus - it depends on the LA. Some update at midnight, some 3pm, some including london at 5pm.

Give your LA a call and/or check what your admission bumf says. That should still be online if you have lost it/binned it.

Happy birthday, Hersetta!

"I had a massive anxiety dream last night. Dreamt I was trying to get dd into a school 200 miles away and couldn't remember if I'd put it 1st or 3rd. Woke up in a panic and it took a few minutes to realise I hadn't applied to a school 200 miles away confused"

Grocklebocs - that really made me smile - and the offers "swap shop" one too - genius idea!

Nervous here

Would be super happy with first or second preference but both long shots.

Dd is at feeder primary school to third. Should be guaranteed a place but has dropped its PAN to 120 for 2018 intake (not sure why they would do that? no-one seems to be able to tell us) and was oversubscribed last year. Great reputation for nurture, and other classmates have chosen it - but worried she won't find her people there iyswim.

Only allowed 3 choices.

I had that teeth falling out anxiety dream and can't concentrate at all. And DH is away....

Ours post at midnight but last year the website crashed and it was mid morning before people could log on.

We've had an email this lunchtime reminding us that the website will be live at midnight, and the emails sent out after 9.00am tomorrow morning. Some details about the appeals procedure too.

Good luck to everyone waiting!

Just hit the 24 hour mark..

God I'm a wreck right now...

Im.more worried that having seen the preference stats that actually we may not even get the catchment school...

My DH works at the council (not in admissions) so I asked him to find out when they send the emails/we can log on and he said the whole admissions dept is shut due to the snow! I wonder if this will affect when we got to find out.

If the results are delayed by snow, I may actually cry at my desk tomorrow. The pressure!!

Londoner here: my countdown to 5pm tomorrow currently stands at 1 day, 2 hours, 27 minutes!!!

A minute past midnight for us. If the snow delays it then I will go out and attack said snow with a blowtorch.

Just logged onto Kent Parent Portal and there's a new section! At first glance, I thought they were revealing offers early but no.

It says:
"What your school offer means:
Declined = Your child was offered a higher preference, so the place was not needed
Not Offered = The school had more applications than places and filled with pupils who were ranked higher when the oversubscription criteria were applied.
Not Eligible = Your child was not assessed suitable for this Grammar school."

So, helpful but not what I was hoping for. Still, shows they're gearing up for the big reveal...

I've just seen a news release from our Council which says that 86 per cent of pupils have been offered their first choice, and 96 per cent have been offered one of their choices. Which does make me wonder what the other 4 per cent did, either only put one school on the form or submitted a rather ambitious list?! Bearing in mind we have super-selective grammars to add to the mix.

Ugh, just want this to be over.

I actually feel physically sick now. We’re in the London/Surrey area so waiting until 5pm is like torture.
I work in the school that is our first choice and feel slightly peeved that our head couldn’t just give us a wink and a nod!

I feel your pain Heartshaped. When I applied to primary school for DS I was clerk to the admissions committee (VA school) and I had to recuse myself for the entire year. The head never let anything slip - I am glad everything was fair and above board but it was hellish.

Cotswold, I always thought it was a bit of a myth that people would be daft enough to only put one choice but I know several people who have done exactly that!

Heartshaped - ugh, how frustrating! I'd have been reading things into every look / bit of body language this week!

I know someone last year who only put one choice, didn't get it and then the child ended up in a school 2 bus rides away rather than the one at the bottom of her street that the Mum assumed she would get so didn't bother putting it in the form! Despite me telling various people this story I still know 3 mums this year who only put one school down! I don't understand the logic!

DS's best hope to get into his first choice is being 1 of the kids selected to go there based on sporting ability. Had an email today that he has been selected for the county for his sport, I'm hoping this is a good sign.

Woolly, yes I know it’s only fair but soooo frustrating!
Bella I’m doing the same. Is he ignoring me/avoiding me because they haven’t offered us a place? Crazy!

There's not 100% certainty we'd get one of our four choices, because I didn't put down our only "guaranteed" school as we would never send her there. However, I made a guesstimate that we're 98% likely to get one of the four, based on entry statistics! And waiting lists move.

Oh! Herts people - look at this, just come out!

www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/media-library/documents/schools-and-education/admissions/previous-years-stats/18-19/application-and-allocation-stats-18-19.pdf

From this I can tell that DD HAS got a school on our list, because 100% were allocated from her school!

Im a londoner too the wait is killing meeeeee

Shattered04 - so does that mean you're happy? Can we start celebrating yet?

Thanks all. Update on the pan-London portal suggests 5pm! the gaping thug is our oversubscribed first choice offers a handful of places based on a particular aptitude and my DC did brilliantly so surely the school knows who’s getting offers based on that so why can’t they tell us that in the meantime ergh. Well good luck all!