Secondary school waiting list question

[SAO77]

Does anyone know if your original offer is automatically withdrawn if you make it to the top of the waiting list for your first choice? We were given our second choice, which we accepted, but are still on the waiting list for the first choice and wonder if we should take ourselves off it now, as we've found out all our DS friends are going to the second choice and have kind of made peace with it. MTIA

No, not automatically withdrawn and many people when later offered a place at their first choice school go on to decline because they're already set up to go to the one where the place was awarded

This is LA specific. In some locations if you're offered a waiting list place at this stage they will automatically make the change (and withdraw your existing spot) so you need to check with your particular LA.

If I were you I would take your child off the waiting list for the first choice as I have heard cases where a parent accepted their second choice, child went to settling in sessions and was happy with the second choice - then, they were able to be offered a place at first choice and the LA withdrew the place at the second place school! They then had to go through an appeal to get their place back at the second place school that they had accepted and had settling in sessions at!

It might be that your LA would wait for you to accept first choice, if offered, before withdrawing the place at the second choice - but I would either take your name off the first choice waiting list - or at least check with your LA that this scenario wouldn't happen to you, or you could be in a difficult situation.

My son is yr 8 now but we applied thinking he would go to a private school, so just chose state schools based on distance. After being turned down by all private schools we realised he'd have to go to whichever state school he got allocated. He got our 4th choice but I had since learnt that under no circumstances would I want him to attend our second choice school, and he had a reasonable chance of getting a place there through the waiting list - he was automatically added to the waiting list for all higher preference schools. So I rang the second choice school and asked them to remove him from their waiting list - the staff member I spoke to was surprised as most people were ringing to be added to the list, but I had discovered that the school were not good at supporting pupils with ADHD and my son would have really struggled there - and I was not taking any chances with the risk he might get a place.

I hope your child is happy at their school - I think having friends going there is really beneficial for transition. No one from my son's school got a place at 4th choice, and he has found it hard, but it is a much better school for him than the second choice we had listed. All his friends got our first choice (our closest) but because of the stupid admissions system our son didn't get a place.

This is absolutely NOT how it works with our LA.

We have been expressly told that if you stay on continuing interest for a higher preference school, then if a place comes up you will automatically be given the higher preference and you will automatically lose your lower preference place.

So it’s vital you check with your own LA.

Thanks for sharing this - I have heard about this and it is what I was worried about on behalf of the OP. I'd definitely be taking my child off the wait list in their position.