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.

@Gobbolinothewitchscat well that’s amazing really not long to wait. We will be advised 25 April. Please do update us. I’ll be thinking positive thoughts for you on Tuesday.

I think we'd have a reasonable chance at appeal, primary school have written a letter in support of DC to stay with their cohort for a good reason. However DC is quite keen for a fresh start and I don't know what is best! I am a lone parent so no one to discuss the minutiae with so it's down to me and my spreadsheet. 😁The weight of parenting responsibility is heavy sometimes!

That's such a long time. I really really hope you might hear something before then. We are lucky we will hear so quickly and need to remember that.

There's still lots of time to go til the beginning of September too and a lot can change. Keep telling myself this is a marathon and not a sprint. Have you looked on the eleven plus forum? It has some useful stuff re waiting lists in the forums

Vent here! It's a special kind of agony I think!

Appeal.
Make a good case and fight it.
Such an awful situation.

I haven’t been on 11 plus forum waiting list chats. Maybe I’ll check them out thank you. I have put in appeal for 1st choice but that seems a long shot process too don’t think anything will happen with that any time soon.

Thinking of everyone who might hear some waiting list news this week - and also of those who won't. Fingers crossed for some happy updates!

@pearlsthatwerent thank you so much. I’m a bit deflated this week. The councils I’m
liaising with are not giving anything away and say no updates until 25 April. One school said end of March they may be able to tell me waiting list position and other school said they have no indication (which as same council seems odd) I feel like everyone is giving me radio silence.

Also getting an automatic reply from admissions this morning, which is a shame as they'd previously been so helpful, but at the same time I completely understand!

@shockeditellyou i think they are going to button down the hatches until 25 April where we are. I’m sure they are inundated. I also appealed my first choice. Had not appreciated that the appeal would not be heard until June. I was barely coping with waiting until waiting list offers 25 April let alone June!

We're pulling together our appeal cases now. Not sure who best to ask for data - the school itself or the LA?

@shockeditellyou here the LA controls waiting lists until 25 April then hands back to the school to manage thereafter.

Just checking in how is everyone. It’s a bad day for me. I seem to start the week anxious and get better as the weekend nears.

Yes, I’m feeling a bit low today. I think I’ve started to lose my patience. I could persuade myself to wait for the last two weeks because people were thinking whether they will accept or reject their places. But today is the first day after the deadline and we are further down at the waiting list. LA could not tell whether they are releasing spaces to the waiting list or still processing the application. I can’t see any progress and don’t know how long we have to wait. Hope someone has good news to share to keep the encouragement going!

It's just horrible. Isn't it? Sending solidarity to you.

What is confusing me is how schools can give waiting list places pre 15 March because they don't actually know who might have gone on a waiting list as it is the LA co-ordinating it all was my understanding

We were initially told 2 on list by the school on 2 March and I'm praying that's still the same. However, I'm worrying that hordes of others have joined the queue in the interim.

The school emailed us last week to say that the waiting list is being sent to them by the LA on Monday next week and they will update re waiting list places and make any offers a day or so later. So they take control back on 25 March essentially.

What a flipping nightmare this all is and made much harder by the fact that no one tells parents clearly what is going on for each school

Thank you @Gobbolinothewitchscat!
Hope you will have some good updates next week!

The problem for us it’s that we are allocated to the school which is far away with one hour bus journey from where we live, as we are in the oversubscribed catchment. We have a little one in KS1 and we foresee it is very difficult for us to send both to schools which both schools are farther away. DC is much calmer than me and he said he is okay with any secondary school. But yesterday he told me that he gathered from his friends he will get a place in the catchment if he keeps on waiting. I told him that we would try our best to sort out the transport problem for him but it seems so helpless as a parent. I have to act so resiliently but the truth is I’m not actually. I just keep worrying a lot and thinking about the worst!

I too am having a difficult day i agree with @Dparent before today people were deciding but maybe as the it’s the first Monday after the deadline I thought some glimmer of hope would land today but if anything it all seems more hopeless and frustrating. @Gobbolinothewitchscat your LA seems one month ahead of ours although I’m sure 25 March may as well be 25 April when you are in limbo, it’s close and I’m sure you’ll have a positive result then.

Sending you all a virtual hug. It's horrible. From my perspective, I think finding out the waiting list place will be potentially horrible but quite cathartic as it feels like a milestone to reach.

I just really wish things would move faster for the rest of you. Our council website says they will make second round offers (in April) but when I contacted the school, they said that was only for schools the council was in charge of admissions for - so non-academies.

I don't want to give duff advice here but is it possible to contact the schools and see if they can give any update sooner? @Rinse123 - I know one school said maybe end March? I really hope that might be possible.

@Gobbolinothewitchscat one of the schools said that they won’t have any information sooner. Another said if I go back to them end of March they should be able to tell me WL position. I think 1st choice school are pushing back as they don’t want to deal with it and they hope that we will leave them alone but as you say as an academy they have more control than they are letting on.

Thank you for the virtual hug. Greatly received. :-)

You are very welcome.

I actually think the School Admissions Code should be extended to set out exactly what must happen after offers are made. This is madness - some councils assuming that if they don’t hear, the offer is accepted. Some withdrawing an offer bur giving s certain amount of time. Some giving some more. Some having different dates for waiting lists etc. It’s chaos and not good for children or their families.

@shockeditellyou any response from admissions?

@Gobbolinothewitchscat Completely agree! This is chaos: I feel like I have spent HOURS trying to piece things together, and the most helpful pointers and information have come from this thread, not the Council website. How hard can it be to work out best practice and offer a procedure for everyone to follow? What about the children with parents who don't have the time - or the research skills, resources, patience - to find a way through the labyrinth?

@Rinse123 and @Dparent I hope you're doing okay today, and things get brighter as the week goes on. My sense is that there's quite a drawn-out process; myself, I don't see how it takes more than a minute or two to read a rejection email, update the list, and call the next parent down. Or why some Councils won't give out infomraiton that they must have. Clearly there are complexities I have not appreciated.

It seems most of us are in it for the long haul; but I haven't given up hope of one or two early graduates...

@pearlsthatwerent thank you for your message today. I vowed last night that I would have a better day today but I’m not sure that I actually am. New approach is to ask if they know how many declines they had. I figured this is info you must have at LA. As you say you’ll know then how many WL offers you’ll be sending at this stage. Although that doesn’t help as I’ve no idea where on the WL I sit it’s all I’ve thought up. 3rd choice school got no declines. Bexley council came straight back. No reply on 1st and 2nd choice as yet. If another 0 declines I’ll definitely feel all hope is lost.

A friend at work went through WL offers in Kent (different part of Kent though) eldest declined but got WL place. Currently with her next child she’s been declined but is hopeful 25 April will bring WL offer as with the eldest child. That gave me some hope!

Thank you @pearlsthatwerent and feel a bit letter today but unfortunately still no updates from LA. I keep telling myself that the admission team willl get in touch if there are spaces. They may take longer time than we expected to go through the reject list, prepare an offer letter and press send to the WL.

Last night was a bit emotional as I was thinking around 6 months ago, me and DC were going to different schools open days and discussed together how we put our preferences after our visits. But eventually we’ve got a place we haven’t been to.

Hi gang - I got a lovely response from the LA which has given me the info I need. We've moved up the WL a bit but not enough to make a difference, and our LA doesn't make any offers after the end of the month until 2nd round admissions have happened.

I also know that others in our situation will appeal too and it's horrible thinking that my DC will be up against their friends when it comes to a panel deciding how many it can over admit :(