If in London and you got a place at your preferred school via the waiting list, how far down were you and how long did you have to wait for your place?

[CloudsOverHead]

We're 40+ on the waiting list for our preferred school (250 intake) but before any second round offers were made. I was told by the admissions people that there was a lot of movement to come (in London so always lots moving in/out/going private) but don't know whether to hold hopes high or assume it's never going to happen.

In previous years, I know people who were in the 60s on the list (same school) who got their place in early April but others who only moved from 50ish to 30ish before giving up in August.

Really interested to hear other experiences please!

we are in Bromley too........hoping for BW but have Coopers
, how about you?

@SueSue12 we want Darrick.
Have you been given a waitlist number?
Really hope you get lucky 🤞 x

not yet - havent phoned up yet as dont really want to know! think it may depress me! good luck too

@SueSue12 its so depressing.
If you are close to BW you may be lucky.
Have no idea what happened this year, lots at our primary didn’t get their 1st choices, we got our 3rd x

We too are desperately waiting for our 1st choice. Waiting for the council to respond is like pulling teeth. I wonder how much more movement there will be over the next few months?! The council have told us that no offers were made in august last year which doesn’t bode well at all. I’m hoping the transition day will create some movement and mean any parents holding both private and state will make their choice. Although if they are tied into a terms fees I’m sure that’s already been made. If these people do exist, I do wish they would release state places they have no intention of taking up. There surely can’t be many.

@Turquoiseturtle3 do you think many people who intend to go private keep a state place as well? I naively thought they'd make up all the declines from the first round and they're all out of the system now.

I definitely don’t think there would be many, but I’ve heard of people keeping their state place “just in case”. I think the vast majority probably decline but there are usually no shows at the start of term that end up being released so….

We are not taking the place but DC was low 20s on a waiting list for a school that takes 70 selective out of 280. DC was offered a place just before Easter.

We are on a grammar school WL. We can see the data for how quickly that school's WL moved in recent years - and about half the time offers went up as far as our own WL# (mid-20s). Obviously we aren't telling our DC any of this, and are being super-positive about her 2nd choice school.

However: is there evidence that WLs are moving slower than normal this year?
Due to the private school fees hike, the cost of living crisis, and the baby boom of 2012.
Anyone heard anything to support that? Is this the year the WLs dried up???

@SleepyRooster was there a baby boom in 2012? I had in mind that it was the 2009/10 years that were highest and then it started to go down? I remember from reception that 2013 was particularly low.

From a 2013 news report on ONS data:

"The UK population has grown by more than 400,000 in a year after the biggest baby boom in 40 years.
There were 813,200 births in Britain in the year up to 30 June 2012, which is the highest level seen since 1972."

news.sky.com/story/amp/biggest-baby-boom-for-40-years-in-the-uk-10437932

@SleepyRooster oh wow! I guess that would explain why it all seems to be moving slower than in previous years😞

Right I've promised the family I'll try and forget about it all for a bit given there's absolutely nothing we can do 😞

Good luck to everyone waiting!!

Well, that's what I'm wondering- does the population uptick actually make a difference or not?
It's an easy answer but is it correct?

Where I live (South West london) the 2012 birth rate was the peak after which it drops dramatically which I think is the case for most London boroughs. It went up slightly between 2013 and 2014 but the overall trend is a dramatic drop.

Primary schools here are now fighting to stay full. One of our local primaries used to be 4 form intake (120 kids) and has only had 40 first choice applications this year so looking unlikely it will fill even 2 classes.

Our waiting lists for Yr7 are moving much more slowly than in previous years. I've heard for our 1st choice school around half the number of places became available after the acceptance day than they usually see. We feel really fortunate to have got a place in the 2nd round of offers. We have plenty of friends waiting who would have got in in every previous year on record.

This isn’t looking good at all for those waiting then, especially if you are further down the list like me. We were hoping it would follow the same pattern for the last few years but clearly not.

🤯 that’s not good news!!

You would think that LA’s obviously would have know that this year would be hard to find places after the primary admissions in 2016 for our kid. I’m assuming the same happened when we applied for primary (although in our area we have a lot more really good primaries than secondaries)

Let’s hope the schools we are waiting for and surrounding ones miraculously put on a bulge class 🤣🤣 xx

This may be a stupid question but in the admissions departments how much is automated and how much is dependent on the people working there? Could staff availability also be an issue with fewer people around meaning places being offered at a slower rate than previous years so just taking longer for the movement to happen?? Clutching at straws I know!

I can imagine it’s a slow process. I guess they have to contact people to offer, wait for them to call back etc, then I suppose give them an amount of time to make a decision to decline/ accept.
It must be tedious but I guess you have to give people time to respond, I know I would be vexed if I missed a call and then they offer to the next person but I wish it would move quicker xx

@Fruits81 when I spoke to the admissions people they said they email out the offer and then give people 10 days to respond. I didn't think they called.

Also maybe a communication delay if you get a place at a school in one Borough and then release a place in another? Wonder how that works?

@CloudsOverHead oh wow!! 10 days to respond, I didn’t know that.

I know in Richmond, for grey court they have only made about 5 offers in a month. I know this is for one school but the volumes dont’t seem huge/unmanageable.

They also now have primary school admissions to deal with so this must be a quiet time for secondary as they must stagger them for a reason…

Anyone got any updates? The Surrey grammars are moving, albeit slowly

@Turquoiseturtle3 we moved forward 14 spaces from the second round but still feel too far away. Especially as I hear from others it’s moving only very slowly 😞Am trying to hold out as long as I can before calling for an update!

What’s your rough waiting list position? Do you have any idea from the council how many offers they usually make? I’m going to ask again in a few weeks as almost don’t want to know.

Early 30s now. Didn’t ask but will next time. I feel the same and not sure if I really want to know 🙁