Hi Mumsnet 11+ crew, I feel for you all with the nerves this week. Thankfully it's behind us as my DS was a 2021 applicant. All our outcomes (we only did 3 plus one non-selective state school) came on the equivalent of this Friday, and the first email to arrive was a (cold as ice) straight 'no' from St Paul's - a shock after 3 rounds including what seemed like an impressive group interview performance (remember these were all online during Covid so we got rapid feedback from our son). Thankfully the other two (KCS, his first choice, and LU) were both positive shortly after so we could breathe a sigh of relief. SPS was only our third choice (maybe even fourth after a local state option as opinions diverged on SPS).
If it helps for those thinking about Wait List movement timings (from our sample of one), we let our son's school know the outcome ASAP - can't remember if it was the following Monday or the week after, as half term followed immediately. So the offer to continue at the same Prep into secondary was declined soon after the results, and we informed KCS and LU right after the offer holders events, c.23&24 Feb, from memory. The state option came through in early March but it was never a genuine consideration post the KCS offer (wasn't one of the really academic ones), so that may have been released the same day to some hopefully happy family.
Our experience suggests that little movement happens in the first couple of weeks but it should start moving thereafter. We know of one DS that got into KCS via the WL. As some have stated Everyone's Invited may have been a factor, plus perhaps fewer Overseas candidates during the pandemic.
Remember the schools will be trying to get their own acceptance lists squared off with children who really want to be at a particular school and kids can only take one place (even with our relatively small number of applications we had turned down 3 out of 4 offers by early March), so I echo what has been said earlier, engage with the current schools Future Schools team (if there is one) to reiterate strong First Choice preferences from WL, and similarly with the secondary school admissions team. A nice call with a consistent message every couple of weeks will have you front of mind if a space comes up, even during the summer (this approach worked for us in relation to our DS prep school place in year 1). It's a volatile time economically, some kids start but don't settle and end up moving on, and international families leave London all the time. If your child is broadly at the right academic level, a place will almost certainly come through eventually, even once the school year is underway.It's a volatile time economically, some kids start but don't settle in and end up moving on, and international families leave London all the time. If your child is broadly at the right academic level, a place will almost certainly come through eventually, even once the school year is underway if you still want it.
Hopefully a long but useful thread during a nerve-wracking time. Very best of luck in the next few days and weeks!