What are the chances of getting in before September?

[Ooohee]

Does anyone have any experience of being placed on a waiting list and your child getting in before September?
We’ve decided to place dc on the waiting list for our second choice school as we no longer want first choice. Bit worried that they wont get in but also that they might be offered a space after term starts which would probably be quite disruptive.

I think in some LAs at least they assume that you will be taking up a place at the school you’ve been offered unless you actively reject it.

Every year schools get “no-shows” on the first day of term so it’s only at that point it becomes clear that the place isn’t being used and can be offered to the WL.

If you phone the LA they should be able to tell you your position on the waiting list and also how much the lists tend to move too.

I've contacted one school and they've told me we are the first on the list. They also said between now and the 17th march (which is acceptance deadline) that there is usually. High number of children who go elsewhere else and move. So I wondered whether they'd just start going down the waiting list then?

@billandtedsexcellentadventure sounds promising! Hopefully you’ll know if you get in sooner rather than later.

@Hiff i will phone next week if I haven’t heard back from them via email I think

Assuming it works the same as our LA (I suspect it does but check your LA website) then families have until 17 March to reject the place they’ve been offered. During that time they won’t offer waitlist places that have come up. Instead they run two rounds of continuing interest, the first from 24-28 March. So it’s during that 24-28 window that you may get offered a space, or possibly second continuing interest run in April.

I think we also have until 17th March to let them know, but I was already phoned on Wednesday by someone from the council to let me know that there was a place for DD in our first choice school (we were originally offered our fourth!). So it’s possible that you could hear anytime. Is there any info on the council website? I could see on ours how many people in the same category had missed out on the top school, so the maximum number who might be ahead of us. As it turned out, we must’ve been right near the top.

Good luck, I hope you get the place!

Just to say that we didn't have to accept our place. If we wanted to reject it, then we had to call or email the local authority. I'm not sure if this is their system across the county or just in our school which is selective entry and oversubscribed so, unless you put it down as first choice, you won't get a place and, having been offered a place, I think they can pretty much guarantee everyone will turn up. It's the sort of school where, even pre-VAT, most people would prefer the state grammar to any of the local independents so it as very rare for anyone to drop out even on that basis.

Have you heard anything?

I got an email a couple of days ago saying I should be contacted within the next week regarding the waiting lists. So still non the wiser really.

have you heard anything?

Just giving an update, we got offered our second choice school this week.

Just giving an update, we got offered our second choice school this week.