2024 waiting list/appeal support thread

[Hopeful88]

I thought I'd start a support thread for everyone in the same position - either waiting on appeal outcomes or hoping for a secondary school place from a waiting list.
I've read all the advice I can and I'm doing the best I can but I'm still struggling with the unknown.
We're currently in the 20s on the waiting list for our first choice school and an unknown number for the second choice.
Fingers crossed for everyone in the same position. 🤞🏼🤞🏼

Number 2 on the list seems pretty hopeful though, you’ve plenty of time yet, though it’s frustrating.

I don’t have an appeal date/time yet, but the dates are set and they are only running over 2 days so I’m not sure there’s that many really. I made a decision to appeal based on the specific needs of my child and which school could best meet them, I have no idea where they are on the list currently, and no way of knowing (in our area at least) at the point the appeals needed to be submitted.

@KirriIrry thank you for replying, and so kindly. Yes number 2 is promising, and I know there were 3 late applications so number 1 on the list will be one of the other poor kids with distracted/ stupid parents.
Feel unable to function as I know the sole reason this is happening is because of me. The alternative is not at all viable.
I know my appeal is extremely strong and that 3/3 late appeals last year for this school were upheld. Its just the waiting.
I wish you all the best and hope it goes well for you

Thank you @onwardsup4 fingers crossed for you too.

My DC also really high in the waiting list (no1 for round 2 and 3). Round 4 is next week so we might still be no1 if nobody has moved in closer than us.

I’ve got a feeling that a lot of private school kids parents are holding onto their spaces as they can’t quite bring themselves to turn down a good state school place with the likely fee increases under Labour. We have been number 1 the entire time and our school only admitted 2 over PAN, we know two people who turned down their places so that means that almost everyone accepted a place and is still holding onto it…. When September comes, I wonder how many will wave goodbye to their private deposits and how many will decide that it’s still worth it even if fees are up 20%.

Well, I made some phone calls and we are as expected position in the list for 1 school (basically, forget it) but considerably higher up than I expected for the other! Our lists go over to the schools control today so now anyone can add themselves to the list, which means we are pretty likely to get bumped down, so I won’t get my hopes up (well, I will, obviously. Already have). Hopefully the grammar appeals will help us out.

Well I've done my weekly email to admissions on the waiting list and we're now 3rd, up from 5th in a month.

No appeal for us as checked and they never go over PAN so didn't seem like much point.

God it's exhausting. Good luck everyone and let's hope May brings some happy news...

That’s really good news! I’m sure there’ll be more movement before September.

I thought the point of an appeal was the PAN isn’t relevant; if the appeal is upheld they must give a space. I am probably wrong but I hope I’m not!

Sorry what I meant was that I checked the yearly roll numbers are there was only 1 year when they went over the PAN and therefore accepted an appeal, therefore concluded that appeal wasn't worth it...

It's not the school that 'accepts' an appeal. If a pupil was admitted via appeal, it is because the independent appeal panel, to which both the school (properly, the admission authority, whether a representative of the school itself or the LA, depending on the type of school) accepted that that child's case for admission outweighed the schools case not to accept another pupil over the number already planned for. The panel's decision is legally binding.

As a point of interest, unless the data you saw actually says that the year group being one over PAN was due to a single appeal having been upheld, it is possible for more than one appeal to have been upheld, but the number on roll eventually to stabilise at a lower number over. (Also, if not specific that the excess was due to a successful appeal, being over PAN could also be due to the late finalisation of an EHCP naming the school).

if you email the school they will provide you with appeals stats for previous years - number of appeals submitted and number that succeeded. I agree with PP that you can’t work this out from PAN and number over PAN.

Say 5 appeals are successful taking the school 5 over PAN. The school can stop offering to anyone from the waiting list if places come up (eg kids moving away) until/unless they get back below PAN.

Oh I'd thought that appeals were independent from the waiting list. Thanks, I'll take another look.

Appeals are, in the sense that schools are not permitted to stop offering from the waiting list, should places become available, just because there are appeals pending, which the panel might uphold. (Also, appeal panels are not allowed to consoder the position on the waiting list when assessing an appellant’s case - the presenting officer will sometimes ignore this and include it anyway, ?they think a position near the top will mean that the panel will think there's no need to uphold the appeal, because the child is bound to get in from the waiting list, or from the other pov, ?telling the panel that the child is way down the list somehow gives the message that the appeal can't possibly have any merit. Or just ignorance of the relevant Code. Who knows).

But although successful appeals will take the school over PAN initially and it must put up with this, 'life still goes on', so to speak, and if more than the number of successful appeals places ate subsequently turned down, more the school can offer again from the waiting list, up.to PAN. Or, say, 5 appeals are upheld, then four places turned down, the nett result is PAN plus 1, which in itself says nothing about the number of successful appeals.

This is all starting to really affect me day to day. First choice school still hasn’t updated on wait lists. Still no dates for appeals.

The allocated school was in the local paper last week due to another incident there. I feel sick to my stomach with worry.

I can feel your frustration @AllSuggestionsTaken and keep finger crossed for you on the waiting list position.

Here we had a very slight movement on the waiting list after second round. It seems that we are losing our hopes now. The thing I have to do it’s to learn how to accept the truth. Although I found some people were giving bad comments on DS’s allocated school, I have to teach him to move on and try his best in everything. Both DH and me were not from prestigious schools but we could still thrive and know how to give the best to our dearest children.

Well - we're in off the waiting list! Feels like we can finally get on with the rest of our lives....

@shockeditellyou congratulations glad you got what you wanted

we find out tomorrow if we will be offered a space or where we are on the waiting list

sorey seem silly asking what is the round 1 round 2 ect everyone’s talking about?

Amazing, what a relief. One more down. 🙂

Thanks both.
@Mummyk13 Our LA runs two rounds - the first round for on time applications, for which offers are released on 1st March, and a second round after 1st March when they go through late applications. This varies between LAs though.

Oh fantastic news @shockeditellyou !
so pleased you can get on and make plans and enjoy the summer when it comes!

@shockeditellyou big congratulations so happy for you

@shockeditellyou really pleased for you!

@shockeditellyou ahh ok so tomorrow would be the start of our second round so we find out if anyone declinds there space and see if we then get offered our first choice if not we find out where we are on the waiting list I so hope we get offered a space 🤞I can’t imagine any more waiting it’s been awful 😞

We are number 15 out of 18 so I have no hope