Anyone else stuck in waiting list limbo?

[AmeliaEarhart]

… And haven’t gone the appeals process? We were offered our third choice school back in March 1st. DH and I are happy enough; it’s not perfect but has enough going for it that we’d be okay with DS going there (walking distance, good facilities, great SEN support) but DS is completely against the idea. He has ASD and can be extremely rigid so we’ll be in for a tough time changing his mind. It doesn’t help that only one other child from his class at primary is going there.

So he’s on the waiting list for choices 1 and 2. Number 19 for school 1 and 9 for school 2. Neither is straight forward as both schools have multiple waiting lists (1st choice because it’s an academy and faith school with different admissions paths, and second choice because it has a banded intake). Everyone keeps assuring us that, being in central London, they’ll be lots of movement before September and DS might still be offered a place at either school. We didn’t consider appealing as our reasons for preferring schools 1 and 2 (other than DS’s insistence that he’s not setting foot in school 3) are that they have better results, which doesn’t seem like a strong argument!

Is anyone else in a similar situation? How are you feeling about it? Are you prepared to hang on in there until September, hoping until the bitter end for a place at your first choice, or preparing your child (and yourself) to settle for what you’ve got?

When are the induction type activities? I think these are typically after exams so late June/early July? I think that's the point where you probably need to commit more strongly to the school you have.

as you're in London, I guess you will see a lot of people who are holding private and state school offers start to release one of them?

Yes, I’d really like DS to do the induction for the school he’ll actually be going to, especially considering his additional needs 😬

I need to contact 1st choice school after the holidays to find out if his position has changed since the second round of offers on 30th March. That’s the school most likely to have places freed up by families accepting private school offers, judging by the destinations of his current classmates.

In some LAs near me there is an official ‘second round allocation’ which isn’t until mid April so whilst DD’s school does drip drip wait list changes, nearby Kent doesn’t, it is more in chunks. Check with the admissions person at the schools and find out any triggers for when they allocate new places. Good luck!

I feel your pain….
We are 10th on waiting list for our first choice (and intake of 270)…. Haven’t seen any movement on wait list, and no mention of 2nd round of offers here.
So frustrating waiting… and so much uncertainty.
My son, is heartbroken…

Yes me too-she’s devastated not to get first choice and we’re quite a way down the list so it feels really unlikely but this limbo is the worst. Sending hugs 🤗

Is your wait list moving at all?

Second round of offers has already happened for the borough that school 2 is in (we live on but border of 2 boroughs so applied for schools in both). As we were only 0.14 of a mile further out than the last child admitted in DS’s band, I was overly optimistic and thought he might get a place then, but was surprised to find out that there are 8 other children in his band within that 0.14 mile radius who are above him on the list!

I haven’t been in touch with 1st choice school since early March when I requested that DS be added to their list (it wasn’t automatic as it’s an academy), and the office told me to wait a few weeks before contacting them again to let the dust settle.

I wish we could figure out how to persuade him on the school he’s actually been offered. Why is your son so upset hayh? DS isn’t sad, just adamant that he’s not going to allocated school!

The school allocated is fine, but none of his friends are going. To him it’s the end of the world, he is quite an anxious child, so not as simple as ‘just get on with it’…. Had this have been my daughter it wouldn’t be an issue. Fingers crossed…

I am and its all I think about from the second I wake up to the second I fall asleep! I am in Birmingham and we dont have to accept offers here we just have to contact LA if rejecting the place so Im not sure when there will be the most movement on the lists? Im thinking it will be September when people dont turn up? Anyone in Birmingham know?

Taking over… I agree… I am constantly logging on to see if wait lists have moved…
Absolute nightmare.
The whole admissions process doesn’t seem consistent, I was told (for essex) places are awarded as and when they come available…

So DS is up to 16th for 1st choice school. I feel like the big flurry of movement everyone promised always happens in London just isn’t this year.

I really need to figure out how to sell DS on his allocated school!

Waiting lists do seem slow in London this year!

On waiting list here as well. Our allocated school ought to be ok, but I’d really like our first choice. I’m not massively hopeful though. I keep checking online. We did move up a few places today but still 25 ahead of us. I know other people waiting for the same school who all live closer too.

Im still living in this uncertain hell! My problem being my daughter simy cant go to her located school as it might aswell be shut down its that terrible so currently she has no school to go to so every day is a day soent in this nightmare of everything hanging on the wait list coming true for the school she NEEDS!

simply and allocated

Im that flustered and at my wits end with it I cant even write properly!

Are you only waiting for one school or do you have other on your list @Bellawella1978? If there are any others near you. I know not everyone has as many schools around them as I do!

Hi @ColdHappyBap. I am on other waiting lists but only one with a realistic chance where I am in position 6. In Birmingham there is a shortage of secondarys to go around it seems and we dont have this 2nd round of allocations I have read about on here. So who knows!

I will keep my fingers crossed for you. We don't get this second round either, I think it just sort of moves in dribs and drabs. Especially as we border a grammar school area so people get grammar school places off that waiting list and free up places here.

Thank you @ColdHappyBap !
And me you!

Its so hard though isn't it!? The question of when is a question with no anwser and its something we have absolutely no control over!

I find it odd, so little (no) movement.
waiting waiting waiting. 😢

Same. I’m wondering if the sudden rise in the cost of living has led to people who were planning on going private changing their minds and hanging on to their state school places instead.

I kind of wish DS hadn’t done so well on the banding test for choice #2 as the “catchment” for the lower bands was bigger and we probably would have a place there by now.

Just keeping thinking of different things in my head….

are they holding back places until appeals are heard?

my LA says they offer places as and when they come available, but I also know if one definite refused place.

grrrrrhhhhhh

Its the same here, no movement.