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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

Tips - What to do if you aren't happy with your school place

105 replies

PatriciaHolm · 01/03/2021 10:43

OK, so it's National Offer Day for Secondaries today so I thought it might be useful to do a quick summary post, primarily on what to do if you aren't happy, as I know it will come up a lot today....(FWIW, I sit on Appeals Panels, and also a Chair of Governors. There are several other panelists around too.) Hopefully this will be helpful.

What to do if you get a school you don't want?

1. Accept it. This is does not signal to the LA that you are happy, it just locks in a "last resort" option. It has NO impact on waiting lists - you get no preferential treatment on lists or at appeal if you turn the place down, nor are you negatively impacted if you have accepted a place.
If you turn it down, the LA no longer has an obligation to find you a place, so you will be dependent on waiting lists/appeals. If they don't come through, you could find yourself with no place in September. So ONLY turn it down if homeschool (or private) is definitely an option......

2.Get yourself onto Waiting lists for schools you do want. In some areas you are automatically put on lists for schools higher in your preferences that you don't get into, in some cases you need to ask, so check - your LA website, email, or login portal will probably tell you what to do. You can also add yourself to lists for schools you didn't apply for (some LAs limit the amount of lists you can be on though.)

3. Check there has been no mistake. If you are genuinely surprised and you think a mistake might have been made - wrong distance used, sibling link ignored etc - it's worth checking. Your decision letter/portal is likely to have the criteria you were assessed under for each school and, for example, the distance used in the case of distance criteria, so check all is well. If it doesn't, check with the LA. But be patient, lots of people will be calling/emailing today and tomorrow....

4. Think about appeals. You can appeal for any school you applied for and didn't get into. I won't go into depth here as each appeal is different, but essentially you need to show that the detriment to the school of taking another pupil is less than the detriment to your child of getting a place. If you decide to do this, post and ask for help! A number of us here are happy to do so.

If you are happy - great! Accept it, if you need to (some LAs will auto accept for you.) And be patient - most secondaries are a bit busy right now (!) so it may be a while before you hear from your chosen school re. induction etc.

Any questions, do ask. Sometimes it's easier for someone not emotionally involved to figure out the answer or find a detail.

OP posts:

NorwoodMum2010 · 01/03/2021 23:08

Sorry should have added we have accepted the place, as advised here.

cautiouscovidity · 01/03/2021 23:19

@NorwoodMum2010

In our area, the waiting lists are initially maintained until Aug 31st. If at any point until then a place becomes available at a higher ranked school (based on what you put in the CAF), you will be offered it and your existing (lower-ranked) place offered will be automatically withdrawn. If you don't want to stay on the waiting lists, you tell the authority you applied to (in our case, it's where we live) and they remove those choices from your application, which in turn removes you from the waiting lists of the relevant schools.

After September, you can choose whether or not to stay on the waiting list, and if a place becomes available during year 7, you can accept or decline. In this case, you need to let the school or authority where the school is based if you no longer wish to remain on the list.

Waitingfirgodot · 02/03/2021 07:12

@PatriciaHolm. Thank you for your help! Our head has suggested that she starts the process of having him assessed for an EHCP. She says that she thinks (but needs to check) that they can't turn him down if he is under assessment. Do you know if this is correct? Unfortunately the school have never dealt with this before - everyone has always got their first choices before.

converseandjeans · 02/03/2021 08:45

We got second choice and are probably 300m out of catchment. DD got in couple of years ago about a month after the allocation day and we hadn't appealed. There were 10 new spaces available due to people not accepting a place.

So this time I am wondering whether to sit it out and hope the same happens. Or whether to appeal. Does appealing affect a place on the waiting list? Will it disadvantage us? Or do schools just expect the appeals to come in?

We have no SEN, we are just out of catchment and the sibling rule doesn't count due to high numbers. Is it worth appealing?

awishes · 02/03/2021 09:32

Any advice for a faith school applicant, refused as parent forgot to attach the evidence? Thanks!

prh47bridge · 02/03/2021 09:53

[quote Waitingfirgodot]@PatriciaHolm. Thank you for your help! Our head has suggested that she starts the process of having him assessed for an EHCP. She says that she thinks (but needs to check) that they can't turn him down if he is under assessment. Do you know if this is correct? Unfortunately the school have never dealt with this before - everyone has always got their first choices before.[/quote]
No, she is wrong. Simply being assessed for an EHCP won't get your son a place at the school you want. However, if he gets an EHCP you will be asked which school you want named. There are only limited grounds on which they can refuse to name the school you want. Once a school is named on an EHCP they must admit your son regardless of how full they are.

prh47bridge · 02/03/2021 09:57

@converseandjeans

We have no SEN, we are just out of catchment and the sibling rule doesn't count due to high numbers. Is it worth appealing?

No, appealing does not affect your place on the waiting list. It will not disadvantage you in any way.

An appeal is a one-way bet. If you win your child gets a place at the school immediately. If you lose you are in exactly the same position you would have been if you hadn't appealed. There is no down side to appealing.

If you can put together a case that your child will be disadvantaged if they are not admitted to your preferred school it is worth appealing. You don't need SEN. Catchment and siblings are irrelevant for appeals (unless you are arguing that a mistake has been made). You simply have to show that the school offers x, y and z that are not offered by the allocated school and are particularly relevant to your child.

prh47bridge · 02/03/2021 09:58

@awishes

Any advice for a faith school applicant, refused as parent forgot to attach the evidence? Thanks!

Send the school the evidence now. That will move you up the waiting list.

The fact you forgot to attach the evidence does not give you any basis for an appeal. However, if you can show that your child will be disadvantaged through not getting a place at this school you can apeal.

prh47bridge · 02/03/2021 10:08

@NorwoodMum2010

I have a question... my DS got allocated our fifth preference school, which is a decent school but we are still disappointed.

However, on the email from eadmissions it says: "Please note it is your responsibility to inform the local authority if you do not want your child to be on the waiting for a higher preference school. In the event that a place becomes available at one of your higher preference schools, the place offered at your lower preference school will automatically be withdrawn."

I don't really understand this. Does this mean that any point if a place becomes available at preferences 1 to 4, the place at school 5 will be withdrawn without us getting a say? And if so, up until when? At some point before September will just want to prepare DS for his new school and not change.

Also we are on the border of several different LAs, and have applied for schools in Croydon, Lambeth, Southwark and Bromley! Do I really have to contact all of these and say if I want to be taken off waiting lists?

Any help much appreciated!

It does. In my view this is a clear breach of the Admissions Code. The Code sets out the circumstances in which an offer can be withdrawn. An offer can only be withdrawn if it was made in error, or the parents have failed to accept the offer within a reasonable time, or the application was fraudulent or deliberately misleading. A place becoming available at a higher preference does not fall into one of these categories.

It is administratively convenient for an LA to behave in this way and most parents will not object. However, that doesn't make it right.

The safest approach is to remove your child from waiting lists if you are sure you no longer want an offer from those schools. However, if the LA does automatically take away your current offer without your approval, you would have a very good case for appeal to have the offer reinstated in my view.

awishes · 02/03/2021 10:09

Thank you

Waitingfirgodot · 02/03/2021 10:45

@prh47bridge thanks for your reply!

converseandjeans · 02/03/2021 11:54

Thanks for the help. The only real reason I can put is that all DS friends are going to the preferred school as well as all mates from footie. It just doesn't seem like a valid reason when we've been allocated the one near home. My concern is that if we keep getting lockdowns he won't be able to settle.

prh47bridge · 02/03/2021 11:58

@converseandjeans

Since he plays football, I would investigate whether your preferred school has more in the way of extracurricular sporting activities than the allocated school. If it does, you have the beginnings of a case for appeal.

converseandjeans · 02/03/2021 12:10

Thanks - also we didn't appeal for DD as we just accepted it was fate but then got a place. Does an appeal give more chance rather than doing nothing?

I feel a bit conflicted about appealing as it seems pushy!

Hersetta427 · 02/03/2021 12:16

@AlwaysLatte

That's really helpful, thank you. My son put three grammars on his and got his third choice, we've applied to go on the waiting list for his second choice one but didn't know whether by accepting the offer we'd shoot ourselves in the foot!

You don't shoot yourself in the foot at all - the two processes and not linked in any way. Accept the offer (as you could end up with no school at all) and see if the waiting list pans out for you. Do not turn down the offered school unless you are prepared to home school or take up a private place.

NorwoodMum2010 · 02/03/2021 12:24

@prh47bridge and @cautiouscovidity thanks very much - both very helpful. Will stay on waiting lists for now but will asked to be removed before the Summer as I think DS just needs to know where he will be in September, and allocated school is objectively fine, just not our preference.

indie123 · 02/03/2021 17:39

We didn't get a place at any of our 6 preferences and got allocated a school we are disappointed with.

We are however number 1 on waiting list for our 5th choice. I also put in a late application last night for a school i didnt apply for (it was on my post but i had swapped it with another school just before deadline) and have now found out a bunch of school friends are going there ..thinking we should be ok fingers crossed

indie123 · 02/03/2021 17:40

On my list*

converseandjeans · 02/03/2021 19:43

indie that sounds awful! Is it in London?

BrutusMcDogface · 02/03/2021 20:37

Hi again! I’m realising that it is different from authority to authority, so would be grateful for any help.

I made a late application as I was allocated a school we really don’t want. Does anyone know if this would affect our position on the waiting list for our first choice? I’m worried that now we’ll be classed as a late applicant and we’ll be at the bottom of the list! 😭

BrutusMcDogface · 02/03/2021 20:40

@PatriciaHolm - I just saw your last reply to me (I’m having so many conversations about this with so many different people!) and I didn’t appeal, but maybe I should have. Though like I said, I don’t think I’d win an appeal anyway.

ChildOfFriday · 02/03/2021 20:55

@BrutusMcDogface

Hi again! I’m realising that it is different from authority to authority, so would be grateful for any help.

As I understand it, late applications only disadvantage you in terms of getting an offer on 1st March, and waiting lists are held in order of how you meet the admissions criteria, regardless of when you applied. I'm far from an expert though so happy to be corrected!

prh47bridge · 02/03/2021 21:13

@BrutusMcDogface

Hi again! I’m realising that it is different from authority to authority, so would be grateful for any help.

Your position on the waiting list is based purely on the admission criteria for the school. Applying for other schools won't make any difference, nor will appealing or anything else you do. As long as you remain on the waiting list for your first choice your position will be unaffected. The only thing that will push you down the waiting list is fresh applicants who are higher in the admission criteria.

prh47bridge · 02/03/2021 21:16

[quote BrutusMcDogface]@PatriciaHolm - I just saw your last reply to me (I’m having so many conversations about this with so many different people!) and I didn’t appeal, but maybe I should have. Though like I said, I don’t think I’d win an appeal anyway.[/quote]
You've still got plenty of time to appeal. You can't lose anything by appealing and you might get a place for your child. Sometimes the case to refuse admission is so weak that almost any appeal will succeed. Unless you can't handle the stress, I would go for it.

indie123 · 03/03/2021 07:06

I am aware that offers need to be accepted or rejected by 15th march. Does anyone know how long after this waiting list usually begin to move ?

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