Secondary school place allocation - 1 March

[LilySLE]

How is everyone feeling about the fact that we find out tomorrow which secondary school our Year 6 children will be going to?

I am wondering whether to stay up till midnight to wait for the email 🙈

Yes, but this cohort starts from birthday September 2012. So you would be more looking at 2013 birth rate.

@WingSlutz @Helenjohanna

Fair point. Thank you.

Thanks @Rekka. Although I'm kind of assuming the birth rate didn't collapse in 2013, rather just came down a bit from 2012. don't correct me I'm catastrophising

No email yet but couldn’t wait so checked portal and it was on there. Thank goodness! Top choice offered even though it’s not catchment, a massive relief and year 6 DD gone off t

That "come down a bit" from 2012 would help significantly for this cohort.

Hope yours can get in where they want to go!

Anecdotally... due to house moves I've done in year admissions a few times in different parts of the country. DD2 in current yr6... always easy to get a place. DD1 in current Yr8... its been appeals, no school place for 2 months at one point, a bulge class in one school... All our friends had similar issues with that year group, none with this year group.
As I said anecdotally, but this session to be a smaller cohort.

Your borough might have catchments, but most of London is by distance.

Though I do know that one school not far from here uses a lottery, and another a named feeder school system.
The only ones I can think of with catchments (usually called priority admissions areas) are a couple of primary schools.

Most important message for today is that, if you don't get a school you like, no matter how much you hate it do not reject it
Wait a bit, calm down, think about your option and if considering an appeal think about starting a thread here asking for advice

@Rekka no I'm panicking 😂😂

Posting this on here too as I see there's two offer threads going.

Good luck everyone getting offers today. I was here the other year and we did not get our first or second choice (not unexpectedly, they were long shots based on distance criteria). We didn't really have grounds for appeal so just sat on the waiting list and eventually got an offer for our first choice in late August. I had some friends who got offers in the first couple of weeks of term as well. This was in London where there is definitely decent movement on the waiting list.

You do have to accept the offer they give you, even if you don't intend to take it up. We couldn't be told where we were on the waiting list until a bit after the deadline for offers and the initial waiting list moves. It was April before we knew. Started at 29 which sounded hopeless. Bounced up and down the waiting list all summer until eventually getting the place. It is agonising but we're very glad we held out.

It's going to be a loooooog few hours!

<eyes wine, checks time>

We got first choice. It isn’t the best school in the country, but it’s the best school locally, so I’m pleased.

Feeling envious of those of you in the areas who know already! We won't find out until 'the afternoon' apparently.

I’m in Kent and apparently they don’t send out emails until after 4pm. I’m trying to remember how it was for my DS (but he’s in Y12 now). Im still checking emails and portal now though (just in case!). Feel sick. I’m praying we get 1st choice. I’ll be ok with second choice. For primary, she got 4th choice and initially I was gutted (my son was at a different primary school so it was a logistical nightmare), but she’s thrived at that school and absolutely loves it.

First choice is half a mile down the road from us. And DS can walk DD to school and back which would be great.

good luck everyone x

30 mins to go for us. Tense!

Got the email before 8 and I've been trying to log on ever since to find out! Just keeps timing out.

Your borough might have catchments, but most of London is by distance.

catchment means distance e.g nearest parishes, meters from school or nodal point. I live in Richmond Borough.
The catholic use lottery if there is more applicants within catchment parishes than places but it is still catchment based for those who fulfill catholic criteria.
Also we have feeder schools to those catholic schools

Finally got the email. We got first choice. Strangely I have mixed feelings about it and not entirely sure why.

Catchment usually means a priority admissions area, but is colloquially used to mean "area from which children normally get a space".

Our area has feeder schools and priority catchment areas.

Catchment for us is nothing to do with distance. It's a map divided up into different catchments. Our catchment HS is not the closest school.

Our LA clearly likes to keep people on their toes as after saying it would be the afternoon, I just got the email! Got our first choice.

Turns out it was actually midnight!!

And we got first choice, the one we wanted so happy and relieved here.

Good luck everyone.

With grammar waitlists when are they updated (if they have movement) I asked where my DS was on the waitlist but local council couldn't say as said it was inaccurate.

"The catholic use lottery if there is more applicants within catchment parishes than places but it is still catchment based for those who fulfill catholic criteria.
Also we have feeder schools to those catholic schools"

This is actually only in some schools. Usually Catholic schools just have an admissions criteria that gives priority to Catholic children. There may be a practising requirement as first priority. Then Christians of other denomination etc with distance used to differentiate within each individual criteria then. Catchments don't really exist in many areas now- it's just distance. So while this may apply to some schools or other criteria- for instance priority for feeder schools within a trust etc, it is certainty not to all at all.