Waiting Lists

[bex12345]

When would waiting lists typically start moving?.

We are hoping for a waiting list place (5th currently) and to know when to expect movement would be much better than me wondering and not really knowing!

I’m just frightened that the accepting the place hasn’t gone through - it’s via their website and no acknowledgement comes back to you so what if it didn’t work?
Council portal still says the 5th choice school. I’ve e-mailed them to clarify if that is correct but they’ve not replied.
I’m 99.99999999% sure she’s in but also a definite glass half empty person.

Hoping 6th May brings good news.

Finding this all immensely frustrating.
We were 3rd on waiting list on offers day.
Have heard nothing. Cannot find out where on the list we are now. Do not know if other offers have been made. It's cruel not to be more transparent about this.

Incidentally we are 8m beyond furthest offer.

@AvaCallanach you're not wrong it is very frustrating!. We were a similar position on offers day and also have heard nothing.

Just want to know our current position and whether any movement has happened. DC is still holding out for an offer but just how long do we carry on waiting for....

Can you do a freedom of information request?

The problem is waiting lists keep moving. Ours is in constant flux still with people adding themselves on. You can be 3rd one week and 8th the week after.

@DustCentral
I appreciate that. The cruelty is not being told. So let's say we are now 10th as several late applicants lived closer. This means it's unlikely we'll get a place and we will move on to the new school mentally. It's the lack of communication and the living in a limbo state that is cruel.

@AvaCallanach I agree that in an ideal world it’s nice to be told. But we find that when we tell people they’ve moved down we get abuse. When we tell people they’ve moved up they get false hope. We really can’t win. I advise all parents I talk to to mentally prepare and accept the offered school if they can. Then an offer of a place at a higher preference is pure joy. Additionally it varies so much by area. My school has been able to offer 2 places to the waitlist (which in itself is unusually high) but it’s highly unlikely that we’ll offer any more now.

We are in a city (not London) where we do get some movement because people opt for independent. Maybe 5-10 places in this school on average I would guess.

Update: 3rd on allocation day; after first round of offers we are now 12th. I assume a load of people must have made late applications. It's unbelievably depressing.

Looking to how to move forward positively with the new school. We have our appeal coming up but unlikely to win it.

@AvaCallanach sorry it wasn't better news for you. Hopefully your appeal will be successful.

@AvaCallanach I’m sorry, it’s so disheartening. How is your DC about it all? I really hope your appeal is upheld, it’s incredibly stressful

Yes it is stressful and very upsetting. Thanks guys.

However, my DC is a star. Done another drive by the offered school, talked about how to make friends etc. This too shall pass!

@AvaCallanach you are doing the best thing as a parent, preparing DC well and being optimistic and positive, it’s hard when inside you want something different for them.

We are on the waiting list for a Kent Grammar and currently 5th on the waiting list.

Anyone know if Grammars normally move by this much before September? I can’t find any info online about typical movement and the school won’t share how many students they took off the waiting list last year

We had the third round of allocations today. No place offered and moved down to 6 and 16 on the waiting lists. Appeal not until June. So disheartened

@Thischarmlessgirl sorry to hear that, its so disheartening isn't it. Hope you get some good news soon.

We've been 5th since March 1st, additional rounds been and gone and still 5th. I think we have given up hope of a place now but miracles happen sometimes I suppose....

There seems to be a lot of differences in movement around the country. DD has gone from 71 to 40 to 23 for her 1st choice. A few of her friends have got places in the last week. We're not giving up hope just yet!

@bex12345 Sorry to hear you are stuck too, are you appealing?
@ExiledinIslington that sounds promising there’s so much movement where you are. It’s gone the wrong way here!

Sorry not better news for you.

We were offered a place at our first choice school today 😊 Apparently our appeal was successful even though I didn’t know it happened, The school is an academy and sent me a letter today to say that our appeal have been successful and my child has been offered a place. I’m so relieved!

Great news Thischarmlessgirl, lovely to hear another happy ending!

Fantastic news - the best kind of surprise!