waiting list experiences / help!

[pearlsthatwerent]

Just after a little advice - anecdotes - stories - cheerful reflections...

My daughter wasn't offered ANY of her preferred secondary schools (we weren't fussy - would happily have sent her to all of them - and we did include her catchment school). Instead she's been offered a place at a school across town (c. an hour's bus ride) with a less good reputation. We're in Cambridge, which seems to have had an absurd bulge year.

She is 10th on the waiting list for our 1st preference (240 PAN), and I'm just trying to understand how these waiting lists work. Does anyone have any insight?

In particular: are places offered as soon as they become available, or do schools / LAs wait until after certain dates - perhaps the deadline for acceptances?

If we decide to home-school or manage to find (and indeed afford) a place at an Independent, can we remain on the state waiting list?

Does 10th sound hopeful in this situation - bearing in mind the almost general over-subscription here? I'm torn between remaining optimistic and gently preparing my daughter for a change of plan, but I've no idea how much movement is usual on these lists, or when it happens (why would anyone change their mind in July??).

I'd be so grateful for any thoughts anyone wanted to share - we're thinking about an appeal too, but just hoping against hope that won't be necessary.

I'm not in Cambridge so they may do things differently, but in my bit of London they make offers as soon as they're available. I had friends get offers before the deadline for acceptance.

Very difficult to say on what's a good number to be as I think that varies a lot geographically. Some areas are much more mobile, especially if there are good private options or just a mobile population.

Places do come up late. House moves suddenly go through. People hold private places and forget to turn down their state place. We got a waiting list offer in August. And kids just don't turn up in September.

From watching our own place on the waiting list moves, I found we had a lot of movement early on. Another flurry around the borough transition day (when all the primary kids go to their secondary for an intro day) which I presume was because some expected kids didn't turn up and chasing them revealed they didn't turn their places down. The school my DD goes to then had another flurry around their summer school and a massive one in September. So after the initial period it was all around points where they would expect kids to be there and they weren't.

What I also found was we jumped faster the later it got, I think that's because by July/August people feel commited to their existing place and are less likely to move. So they burn through the waiting list looking for someone to say yes. In September the ones who said yes were the ones like you with rubbish commutes.

Go on all waiting lists but remember you can go down as well as up. I would have thought 10th might be reasonably positive, assuming she does not go down. If you HE or go private the LA is not obliged to offer unless you are lucky on wl or appeal. Do you have grounds to appeal for any of refused? Private schools will have notice periods so you could end up paying for two terms if a place comes up early in year 7.

Thanks so much everyone; I'm very grateful for these responses, and it confirms my sense it's worth hanging in there for a bit. And @LIZS , I think we do have grounds for appeal, but I'm not confident - I know how pressed schools are. Really helpful to know about the consequences of coming out of the system; I'll think it over, but may change the plan to sending her to the distant school at least for a bit if we're still waiting by September. Thank you @PurringTabbyCat : it sounds like you had a bit of an axious wait but it was okay in the end!

Definitely an anxious wait, and as LIZS said you can go up or down on the waiting list and we did both. So try not to get too obsessed with your position. Easier said than done.

It is hard knowing what to say to your DC about it as well. We didn't talk about waiting list position and were focused on the school in hand rather than thinking too much about what might happen. I didn't want to risk massive disappointment if the place hadn't turned up.

Sorry to hear this has happened. Are you also on the waiting lists for other schools that are closer?
Will your dc get transport from the LA? I'm familiar with Cambridge. Can you share which school you wanted and what you've been offered?

Does your area have a big turnover of residents each year (with the universities, the hospital etc, not just the young students)

Hello @mirror245 , and thank you. We wanted IVC - we go to a catchment school, but live just outside of catchment (about 200m); which means we're in but on the very edge of the catchment for Chesterton. We're on the waiting lists for both. We've been offered Coleridge: I haven't yet investigated transport as still in the reeling stage, but that's a good thought! @PuttingDownRoots You may well be right about the turnover; but I think that area tends to be more settled families (and other end of town from the hospitals). Fingers firmly crossed, in any case.

@pearlsthatwerent both IVC and Chesterton are excellent schools but very oversubscribed. It's a shame as you were just on the cusp of catchment. There's probably not much movement on waiting list as people move jn specifically for those schools, and little movement out. Coleridge is a good school though. I've teacher friends in it who enjoy working there. If you live Histon Road/ impington way then transport would prob involve a good bus ride. Your dc may be eligible for transport if it's more than 3 miles.

We got an offer from waitlist a week after offers day! We are in London though - much more movement. Do many go private in your area? That always makes a big difference to waitlists.

in London like others and prob there is more movement here. DS was 35th (Pan 180) and got a place in June. I know lots of people who have got into a very-desired quite small school near me off the waiting list, so things do shift. We went down the list at first, and round us, they don't offer second round places until about a fortnight after acceptance date (they chase acceptances - they don't give places away if parents don't answer...)

We do live over 3 miles away @mirror245 , but only just: I'll look into it. In the meantime hoping for a happy waiting list ending like @Verite1 and @Pipeskeepleaking - I think a few people do go private, but imagine those on the fence are being cautious over the proposed VAT on fees. Sounds like it's not impossible things will move, but it may take a little while... my poor shredded nerves!

I thought of another question: those of you who spent some time on these lists, did you keep ringing / emailing every now and again to find out where you were on them, or did the LA or school let you know periodically?

I emailed my LEA every month. Had to try hard not to do it more often than that!

@pearlsthatwerent our borough has an online waiting list checker. I may have checked it obsessively. We were on another list in another borough (we're on a border) and I never rang them because we were so far down it felt pointless.

Is your dc 10th on waitlist for both schools? I would imagine space might come up if they go private but tbh those schools are comparative academically to most of the privates in Cambridge.

How big are the intakes for the schools? 10th on the waiting list for a school with a PAN of 180+ is maybe a bit different to 10th on the waiting list if they take 120 or less students each year!

A lot will also depend on how many people move etc. It may just come down to luck. It may well be worth appealing if you can find some strong arguments!

So @mirror245 we're 10th for IVC (PAN 240) and somewhere in the 40s for CCC (PAN 190 = no hope at all) - and you're completely right, @Postapocalypticcowgirl , it's going to be LUCK, isn't it. As I've recently discovered, just because something happened before or would have happened differently last year, doesn't mean that it will happen that way this time around!

I just want to go into battle for my shy, clever little DD - but not much I can do except strict rationing of the nuisance calls (good tip @Meredusoleil ; v envious of @PurringTabbyCat online checker). So many thanks to everyone who's shared stories - it's calming and cheering hearing good outcomes.

Hi, does anyone have any idea about waiting list movement for Parkside and St Bede’s ? Just wondering whether we still have a chance 🙄

Hello @MyPearlPeer - I don't, but you can ring the Council admissions office and they will tell you a) where you are on the list, which you may already know; and b) what happened last year, i.e. which number they offered down to. No guarantees that things will happen that way this year, but it's some information at least. Also heard that end of March is the time to ring back to check waiting list movement (once acceptances / rejections have come in and non-replies chased).

In my daughter's year there was definitely a fair bit of movement on the IVC list. There will be some who applied who also applied to private, so they'll free up places.

Hi, my daughter was offered a place in Coleridge as well. We didn’t apply there at all. So I feel your pain. My daughter is not happy. Hoping that we will get a place from a waiting list on St Bedes, CCC or IVC

My DC was offered St Neots! On waiting list for St Bedes, IVC and CCC plus I will appeal. We are in NCA catchment but at a CCC feeder school.

I don’t think we have much chance at St Bede’s as we are not religious but hopefully parkside 🤞. We won’t appeal - don't really have any ground
to complain about the school admission process.

I thought an appeal for secondary was based on the school you want offering something your child would gain more benefit from, when weighed against the disadvantage to the other children of the school taking on an extra child eg your child regularly attends dance lessons and the school has links to the local theatre (or similar). I thought only infant school appeals were due to issues with the admission process.

We got a place at St Bedes today from 8th on the waiting list, but they were 11 over PAN so it was really 19th position I am guessing. So there is movement!