Waiting lists

[Purplewisteria9]

Hi, does anyone have any experience with secondary waiting lists and when they stop moving? We have moved from 37th to 20th place since offer day. The school is very popular but is near to two private schools. Will all of the private places now been offered/accepted?
Thanks

Yes, they will have been offered and accepted, but parents may hold on to the state place until September in case of any change in financial situation between now and then.

The last movement is likely to be 2/3 weeks into September - there may be "no shows" when term starts, but they won't offer their places until they've verified that they're definitely not coming (private and failed to turn down the place, or elsewhere in the country because they've moved over the summer). At that point, some people on the waiting list may turn down an offered place, if the child is already settling into a school they're reasonably happy with.

Quantity of movement is anybody's guess - depends on population mobility, whether people are hanging onto state offers as insurance, and how desperate those on the waiting list are if places are offered in September.

Were there any appeals? If they've taken three on appeal, then there will have to be four drop out before they go to the waiting list.

Does the council or the school in question publish data on how much the waiting lists moved between March and September of the previous years?

Some publish this data, but not all.

Also, for what I have seen, where this data gets published it tends to be based on distance. Eg the council will tell you the maximum distance was 1000 metres in March and 1400 in September, but not by how many places the list moved. I'm not sure if any council publishes this data.

The school near me had offered everyone on the waiting list a place by mid October. This is in a highly transient area in London with a 120 form entry and 80 on the waiting list.

Oh, wow. May I ask what area / what school?

Thank you for your helpful insight. There have been appeals but the list has moved after them so guessing they already back down to pan now

No they don’t publish this data unfortunately

Wow this is positive! We are not in a transient area, it’s just the private schools I think people opt for over this school. But the pan is 230 so good size

Paddington Academy in Maida Vale London. The admissions team at the school gave me this information based on September 2024 start.