Waiting lists private school 11+

[Noname70]

Just wondering what people’s experiences are ? If you get offers when was this ? We are on 1 waiting list. I would prefer not to say which school but I guess they are pretty similar. We are in south London.

Typically if someone is going to turn down a place at a private school that they have been offered, they will most usually do it within a short time of getting the offer (i.e. by the acceptance deadline set by the school, usually about 2-3 weeks after offers are made) or more rarely if they want to hang on to the offer a bit longer for some reason they may decide to accept the offer and pay their initial deposit, but then change their mind just before the first day of the summer term (i.e. that will be mid-April). Turning down a place any later than that means they will be contractually obliged to pay the first term's fees even if the child never starts at the school, so that is pretty rare, but occasionally it might happen.

Of course most schools will over-offer on the assumption that a certain proportion of offers are going to be rejected, so waiting list places only get offered out if there are more rejections than the expected number.

It's more likely to happen for schools that are closer geographically to other schools that people are likely to be trying to "trade up" to. So, if a school is mid-range or lower-range in terms of prestige and popularity and is geographically in the same region as something that is higher-up in desirability. Or if it is geographically in the same region as an outstanding and desirable state school that is good enough that someone might have only applied to the private schools as a "back-up" option in case they don't get their preferred state school, and whilst they aren't successful for the state school in the first round they get in later on either from waiting list or on appeal. Basically any time someone gets a late offer for a more desirable school, that is going to set off a cascade of vacancies for other schools as the back-up option gets set aside in favour of the better school, so it can happen any time but will get less and less likely as the months go by.

Good luck!

Thank you , it’s so stressful ! I didn’t realise they over offer.

wait lists are so stressful. It is difficult to make proper decisions whilst it feels like your preferred school might still be an option. In general, the biggest movement (as described in the last post) takes place in the week after the state allocations have been made (ie last week). Places do still come up later, sometimes even after the school year starts in September but the chances of getting an offer now is less strong.
I would suggest you call the school in question. It never hurts to express interest and tell them that you would accept an offer if one were made. They might also be able to tell you the likelihood of your DC being made an offer. Good luck...

It depends on the school and the year. That’s not at all helpful but unfortunately true. As the previous poster described so well, it also depends on where the school you are waiting for falls in the pyramid of South London schools.
I know of girls in previous years who have been offered places in April, May, August and even one who went to her first day in September at one school before being offered her favourite school and switching overnight to that one. And also lots and lots of girls who didn’t hear from their waiting list schools.

Some of the acceptance dates weren't til the end of last week so don't give up hope yet! There's always an initial flurry of activity after the state school allocations come out and around the acceptance date........... but there's then a bit more movement - more with some schools than others. People will still be holding two independent places or one indy/one state plus there will be people who paid a deposit last week but will be offered a place now and that all filters through.

The difficulty though is whether all of that gets you the right side of the waiting list and, as a PP has said, that does really depend on the year and the school.

Have you had a look on the two SW London threads as they will probably have posts about which schools have said that they've closed their waiting lists (for now.....).

Good luck - it's horrible to have to keep on waiting.

as everyone said, it's early days.

there will be significant amount of movement when the state schools do their second round of offers IME. A lot of kids will have been holding 2 offers: 1 state and 1 grammar and at some point they have to decide.

This reshuffling can take months sorry. You just have to sit tight. I know a lot of schools didn't go to wait list at all as they clearly had higher than expected acceptances. If your school still has a list then you're already in a better boat than some.

best of luck

and... while you don't want to name the school, without that info the only feedback you'll get on here will be very general. If you name the school then you might get something more specific?

We’ve just given up 4 offers in SE London
Hope your chosen school was on the list and you get a bit of movement

In my experience WLs moved in the hours after the deadlines closed for about 24hrs. Then stopped again as these new offers have a few days to accept and pay deposit. Then they should move again after that next deadline. When was the first deadline? If it was the end of the day Friday I would expect movement today. Some schools don't go to WL, some use them every year. Just really depends as pp have said. Good luck.

Thanks for feedback. Unfortunately we heard today they are not taking anyone from wl as all places taken.

Friday was the acceptance date for lots of schools. Lots of parents only turn down offers on that day, so on Friday, schools usually know if they need to go to waiting list, or if their over-offering has secured them enough bums on seats.

I would expect lots of waiting lists to move or to close in the next few days. It’s probably the case that with the very popular schools there won’t be much waiting list movement after this week.

Has anyone heard of movement in the waiting lists for London Day Schools (SW) in the last few days ?

Very fortunately my DS has got an offer from LU a couple of days ago. I heard normally their acceptance rate is high so didn’t have hope.It was very tough journey to get through.Feel relieved.
Good luck for those DC are on the WL.

@Hanahanna congratulations !

anyone else heard of WL movement yet ?

@Iamsodone which schools are you waiting for?

Any London day school really

We did not accept the offer from LU. It's a great school, but we chose a different one. Good luck at LU:)

We got a WL offer on the morning of 2nd March, so the day after local authority school offers came out. Heard of two other independent schools also offering to their waitlist at the same time. Not heard of anymore in this area since (SW).

From my experience of two different year groups, there is an almighty shuffle at the start of y7 when some kids leave as they get a place at the state school of their choice. Several within first few days of term, and then a handful more in the following weeks. Places come up; people get jobs abroad or move house or whatever. Let the school know that you’re still interested if places come up further down the line.

@Iamsodone
Thank you very much!

@Fenaa
Thank you very much.
Actually he had only 13+ offer by then and especially we really want to leave his current school at 11+ because of the school issues. Good luck.

Sending information to the school about not accepting an offer is a mentally very complicated process.

1. Feel sorry for giving up the place at an excellent school.
2. A sense of what will happen if I quit this school and something goes wrong in another one.
3. It is very nice to think that another family will please my decision.

Good luck to everyone on the waiting lists :)

@Fenaa I think you've nailed it !

generally you would think there may be potential movement :

1. next week when the state schools offers deadline to accept will pass (15th March) and

2. the 14 days cooling-off period for independent contract lapse

3. just before the summer term begins (from 12th April onward) so people who don't really need a place, will give it up, not to be liable for a whole term of fees

4. towards the end of the summer term or first week of September as people's situation may have changed by then.

Some thoughts anyway ...