Nervous about Secondary School allocations out this week!

[PinotLover]

Just another to thing to stress about but it's for my PFB so never been through it before. We find out on the 1st March, am being a silly stress head on here rather than in real life. Any one else? We are in the same postcode as the school we prefer, so it's a big deal if it goes wrong!

[PinotLover]

Also our County Council is rubbish, notorious for making mistakes, is pretty much bankrupt so that makes me extra nervous!

[LaceyBetty]

In the same boat with my PFB. We've put an all-boys as first choice, but now I think he's just too little to be at secondary school with 17 year olds! Hoping some major maturing happens over the summer.

[bex12345]

Same here. First time we've been through the process and is very stressful....more for me than DS or DH (they don't seem too concerned at all!) 1st March can't come soon enough!

[BeakyWinder]

It's so so stressful when the only criteria we meet is distance and that changes every year! 😞

[Sarjest]

Checking in, too! Expecting to get 1st choice but we got a letter questioning the validity of our application in October. After bombarding the office with proof we do actually live here they confirmed they would accept it but until the 1st March there are no guarantees!

[louisejxxx]

@Sarjest

Checking in, too! Expecting to get 1st choice but we got a letter questioning the validity of our application in October. After bombarding the office with proof we do actually live here they confirmed they would accept it but until the 1st March there are no guarantees!

How odd! What was it that made them suspicious? Sorry, that’s a bit nosey - don’t answer if you don’t want to!

[Sarjest]

Louise, no problem. They said they were doing a random check against the council tax register. We have moved into a better catchment area not far from our old house but they thought our new house was owned but unoccupied. I don’t think it was very random but I had plenty of proof.

Not long now. I remember how anxious I was with my PFB!

[BeakyWinder]

Am I right in thinking we can log in and view the admissions page at midnight Sunday, and the emails will filter through at some point on Monday?

[pipsqueakbollock]

2nd time for me and in theory like @louisejxxx - passed 11+ high enough to be guaranteed. But I want to see it written down.

I work in this area.
Schools are advised not to write to parents until 3rd to allow post to arrive (some still apply on paper!)

Some schools will mail you welcoming letters straight away - schools want all seats filled with your acceptance.

In April, 21st where I live, there is a second round of admissions. After this, schools will start increasing their contact with you.

The actual emails are always random on the time they land and the order they are sent. Some are 9am and others 6pm. Infuriating really ! Probably slower when staff are working at home reliant on slower broadband

[Stokey]

@BeakyWinder I thought that the site is updated after 5pm on the 1st March, but maybe someone who has an older child can confirm.

[Vinorosso74]

For all London boroughs it's from 5pm. Rest of country varies.

[BeakyWinder]

5pm 😵. Not London so hopefully a little earlier.. I've booked Monday off anyway

[starbrightstarlight8888]

@BeakyWinder

5pm 😵. Not London so hopefully a little earlier.. I've booked Monday off anyway

What have you booked the day off for?

[BeakyWinder]

@starbrightstarlight8888 so I can refresh my emails every 5 seconds without getting sacked. Plus I don't like Mondays.

[mrscee]

Me too, my twins are year 6 and the school they both want is the next street along so it's probably guaranteed but I'm still worried.

[Bati]

I think I can login and get allocation from 12.30am.
I am not going to be able to sleep that night so might as well sit up for it.

[Hersetta427]

@BeakyWinder

5pm 😵. Not London so hopefully a little earlier.. I've booked Monday off anyway

Depends where you are. Essex is just after midnight and Herts is between 2-3pm

[cautiouscovidity]

Yep same here. DD applied for the grammar school but didn't score highly enough in the 11 plus to be guaranteed a place, but is just about within the range of the lowest score that was offered a place in the last two years. However, the number of children sitting the 11 plus this year was higher than previous years so who knows!
As we weren't able to view any of the schools on our list (including the grammar) I have no idea what to make of wherever we're allocated anyway!

[ChinOfThanos]

I've just logged into our County council portal and the messages section is disabled and it says they use email for communication. Lord knows what time they'll send it

[indie123]

Good luck everyone !

I am anxious waiting for 5pm Monday also. I live in london and out of my choices its def going to be a tough one due to where we live , catchments etc. No clue what we will get. My daughters school have a whatsapp group for year 6 and im planning on waiting to hear a few of the others results first so i can prepare myself!! Im not at work on Monday which is good as I know I will be stressed all day!!

[Stokey]

I thought eadmissions was updated first? Or does it depend how you applied?

[Kerberos]

I'm waiting on same for DC3

But I also have a story. When DC1 went to secondary, due to my admin cockup her application wasn't received. We knew and were reassured by our local school that all would be well and she'd get a place during all the shuffling. This didn't happen as the school ended up 7 places over PAN.

We went to appeal, on the basis DD shouldn't suffer because of parental cockup but no dice.

So off she went on the bus to school 5 miles away in year 7. I cried. A lot.

BUT she thrived. Turns out a new group of friends, smaller school and the right ethos worked for her. Despite being top of the waiting list at our local school during yr 7 she's stayed at her distant school and wouldn't move even if a place came up.

So it worked out better than I could have imagined. And for those who don't get their first choice, I hope it works out for you too.

[Kerberos]

Just to also add, DC2 and DC3 (hopefully!) are or will be at local school but it's a standing joke in our house that DC3 will end up at 3rd school 6 miles away

[PinotLover]

@Stokey

I thought eadmissions was updated first? Or does it depend how you applied?

we had the option of finding out by email or via post.

[SnowyBranches]

I’m also stressed about it - DS did 11 plus and has a score on the cusp, but I believe he wouldn’t have got in with that score last year so I don’t think he will get in. Which is a shame because he really wants to go, his brother is there and it is a 3 minute walk from our house, while the school he has probably got into is 30 minute walk and starts much earlier in the morning. On the other hand, I feel maybe with a cusp score the grammar school might not be the place for him, I worry that he would be constantly judging himself against others, and the work might be too fast paced, so then I worry that he has got in! And then I think well he wasn’t tutored, and so many others were, so actually he might do OK if he did go - so then I start to stress that he hasn’t got in, and how unfair that is! Hopefully once we know one way or another we can put it to one side and concentrate on bigging up whichever school he is going to.