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Secondary education

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

Original poster

Secondary offers day 2020

221 replies

UselessTrees · 28/02/2020 11:58

Anybody else anxiously awaiting offers day for England secondaries on Monday? Obviously nothing I can do about our choices at this point, and yes it will probably all turn out fine, but I'm suddenly doubting everything and driving myself mad worrying about it!

OP posts:
TheGreatWave · 01/03/2020 12:23

davisson no don't pull out, whatever happens accept the place offered, any schools higher in your preference you will be put on the wait list, plus you can go on any others if you wish.

Wait lists are held in the same order as the over subscription criteria (hence you can't find out position until after the acceptance date) and it may well be that people are offered a higher placed school at this point.

Honestly for the vast majority it works out ok, two of ds's peers got places at a school they wanted in October, so took ages but they got there. (As previously said there was 100+ pupils without a school placement at all)

Toomanycats99 · 01/03/2020 12:51

We were 47 ish on waiting list for first choice and got offered it. Another waiting list we were 35 ish and got offered that very quickly.

It took about 3-4 weeks minimum to get any waiting list info as they had to wait for all responses.

They can tell you though what number they went to year before which can help you estimate how likely it is until you get to the top.

PhonicTheHedgehog · 01/03/2020 13:26

TheGreatWave
That happened in our area with the same cohort you’re talking about, but at reception level. Seemed to have it sorted by the time they got to secondary transfer. Or more likely people couldn’t afford to live on London anymore. Are you London?

corpsebrid3 · 01/03/2020 13:39

Also anxiously waiting. We have independent offers as "back up" because I think that we won't get one of the six choices I have put in the form - none faith, all over subscribed as you'd expect for school that parents choose for their children, distances if 1.5 miles, 3.4 miles, 5.6 miles, 5.9 miles, 7 miles and 11 miles.

TheGreatWave · 01/03/2020 14:45

phonic no I'm in the north east. Various reasons given, higher birth rate, less got places out of borough, most from outside got places, increased immigration, schools dropping their PAN.

It shouldn't have been a surprise though for the LEA, it was a known boom year (as also seen in your example) so should have been planned for.

A new school will be opening from September so hopefully it won't be an issue again.

SnowyPetals · 01/03/2020 15:07

I also feel nervous, even though our first choice is also our closest school and the one we are most likely to get into! We are well within the catchment as it has been for the last five or six years (catchment is usually more than double the distance we live from it) but I am still having a panic that this year will be a freak year!

TravellingSpoon · 01/03/2020 15:40

Glad I am not the only one who is feeling anxious. Dd has put an out of catchment school as her first choice, catchment as second. Her first choice would be better for her as its smaller, and we are only just out of the catchment by one road.

Her BF has also put out of catchment school, and they are slightly further away. DD is so anxious that she gets in to first choice and friend doesnt.

TravellingSpoon · 01/03/2020 15:41

And I am staying up until midnight. No shift tomorrow so can justify it.

SnowyPetals · 01/03/2020 16:12

Isn't it odd how different areas release results at different times? Where we are, there is no point being up at midnight because they only release the results after 5pm. I suspect it is to stop people phoning them in a rage if they don't get their choices.

Original poster
UselessTrees · 01/03/2020 16:25

A long old wait until 5pm for me, too. But I will probably still be logging in at five minute intervals for most of the afternoon just in case...

Very nice to hear stories about happy outcomes and swiftly-moving waiting lists! I'm trying to remind myself that our third choice primary school actually worked out really well despite all my stress about it seven years ago.

OP posts:
WingDefence · 01/03/2020 16:44

Lancashire says they’ll email out in batches tomorrow morning and then publish online, But they don’t say when. I’ll probably login first thing and check, if my email hasn’t arrived.

Last year my best friend’s daughter got none of her three choices because we live in an odd bit of the county but in the end, after lots of phone calls, emails and forms she got a place at a lovely school. It’s far away from us so involves a lot of travelling but it’s worked well for the DD.

Jane1727 · 01/03/2020 16:59

We will be nervously waiting for the email. No idea what time it is likely to arrive! We didn't even put our catchment school on the list so not sure what to expect!!

GuyFawkesDay · 01/03/2020 17:02

It's nerve wracking isn't it?

We are in grammar area and first choice it seems DD scored just a couple of points too low so will be on waiting list.

2nd choice we are out of cstvhm5 for but worth a try. Highly doubtful.

3rx choice was local comp. Which he will get a spot at but it feels a bit "meh".

PhonicTheHedgehog · 01/03/2020 17:09

Oh I see greatwave. We were told a lot of “reasons” too. It was incredibly stressful for the parents of children with no school place. I’m sure it won’t happen this year but I’ve got myself a bit worried about it what with 2 March looming

WhatAGreatDay · 01/03/2020 17:15

I've been through this 3 times and thankfully finished last year with allocation day.

We're in London and you can look up the results online at exactly 5pm. They never appear earlier than that (I have done the checking through the day thing). Don't wait for the email as that can take hours to arrive. Some people don't receive it until the next day.

Good luck everybody.

sorryiasked · 01/03/2020 17:26

Anyone in ESCC area? I logged into our online account yesterday to make sure I had the right password etc and it was fine, showed application received etc.
But today the site is down, can't log in at all just comes up with an error message.

SJaneS48 · 01/03/2020 18:12

@ShriekingBansheela @ Mum2Girls19 - re waiting lists, unless you are in London you don’t actually automatically go on waiting lists for schools listed as a higher preference, or at least you don’t down in Kent (v ignorant about other counties!). I assume that’s what you meant @Shrieking but ‘automatically can go’ wasn’t 100% clear (and big apologies for picking you up on this, it just needs to be clear to non London parents they don’t get any automatic waiting list places 😊)

ShriekingBansheela · 01/03/2020 18:43

SJane -Fair enough - and Absolutely people should check that they are on the waiting lists - even in areas where it is automatic, for belt and braces!

Davisson "If you feel you've made completely the wrong decision (ie should have put another school higher) you presumably have to pull out of the system and start all over with no chance" In that situation, you can accept the offered place and then go on waiting lists for any other schools you think you would like, or could get, including those that you put lower down your list or schools you didn't apply to on the first place..

As the lists are held in order of criteria, it is always worth a shot.

To appeal you have to first apply. So you can appeal for any schools higher up your list. And I guess you can appeal any other schools you subsequently make a late application to. LAs have a 'late application' date, at which the late applications enter the waiting lists - again in order of criteria.

BluebirdHill · 01/03/2020 18:53

Going to check online after midnight! We had to use an online applications system for our authority that I am hoping will show offers from midnight. So will stay up to see. DS may get first choice but should be pretty sure of second choice. Both would be fine and have different advantages. I am worried though that there will be a glitch in the matrix and he'll get neither!

davisson · 01/03/2020 19:50

@ShriekingBansheela thanks - can you go on waiting lists for lower schools in London - I know you are put on the list for your higher preference schools....but thought no chance if you put them in the 'wrong' order...

WingDefence · 01/03/2020 20:01

Last year my friend here in Lancs applied not only on appeal to the schools she didn’t get a place for, but also for schools they’d not considered, which is where she ended up with a place. So no automatic waiting lists here but I’d imagine the process is the same elsewhere ie that you can apply for any school you did or didn’t put down on the form?

twilightcafe · 01/03/2020 20:32

Good luck to you all.
Last year, the email didn't arrive until 5am, but I could log into the Oxfordshire education portal from midnight. DH wanted me to wait until the email arrived but I think I'd have passed out with nerves before then.

bombaychef · 01/03/2020 22:36

In my area some boroughs released the allocations last night so most people seem to know, but not all!

shalligoagain · 01/03/2020 23:07

Anyone in Lincs? Hoping to get offer at midnight, so staying up too, just in case.

I'm like a cat on a hot tin roof!

corpsebrid3 · 02/03/2020 01:45

Not one offer of a place! Put on a waiting list for a school 3 miles away that is the wrong fit. I just can't believe it. I keep re-reading it.