Secondary school later allocations: what was your waiting list position?

[Mummyspider27]

If you got a secondary school place on the 2nd/3rd/4th round of allocations, what was your waitlist position?
Can’t find any stats on the average amount of reallocations that take place.
Thanks in advance x

You do realise this will be very dependent on school and area?
Some areas have huge amount of mobility and some schools have a lot more places than others. I'm not sure generic experiences are going to help you.

Absolutely, but would be good to get an idea. “240 spaces at the school and I was 6th on the list and got a place” “190 spaces and was always 2nd on the list and never got offered a space”. Just an idea would be nice x

The information will not be helpful as it varies year on year too. one school in our area went to waitlist 40 one year and the next year made no offers off the waitlist at all!

Yes it won't really give you any idea though @Mummyspider27 as others say.

If you were able to say where you lived then that might help. I gather some areas (obvs London is one due to mobility of population and numbers using private) have a lot of movement, others very little.

You might be number 1 on the list all through the summer at our closest super-popular school, and not get a place (I have certainly known years where that has been true). And yet where you live, schools may give out WL places down to number 10. Or number 50. And all that will vary year on year.

Where do you live? Cities will tend to have more movement i expect simply because there's more crossover in catchment. It depends on whether there's a lot of grammars or private schools or good comps though really.

It's a how long is a piece of string type answer.

I suspect if you are No1 on our high school waiting list you still won't get a place. It has an unusually high number of appeals and it's already a bulge year. Historically any additional spaces end up taken by successful appeals which are different to a waiting list place.

Ok, thanks all. Make perfect sense. I can see how it can change so much. We are in an area for Grammar Schools (it’s not a Grammar we are on waitlist for). Also lots of private schools in the area. It’s a popular secondary school serving lots of villages. It’s obviously impossible to say. Just wanted some hope!!! x

What part of the country?

Was 1st on list and got offered 2 days after the waiting list became available

Does anyone know if admissions teams work over school holidays? The waiting lists were 'locked' on 27th March, it has been easter holidays since, I wondered if they would be contacting people now or once schools go back on Monday 13th?

You might be able to request the information you are after from the school itself or LA. My friend did this recently. In our area (oversubscribed state, no grammar) most of the movement seems to happen first round then there is another jump in late June, late August, then there are always a few who don't show up in September. Good luck!

Hard to say, I got an email from appeals team today so they are working at my LA not sure about admissions, you could try ringing to see?

We were no 1 after first round but have since moved down the list, Yorkshire area, so I’m not holding out much hope. Waiting for the appeal dates. Depending on which category you are in on the admissions you may stay at the top and have a good chance? It’s so stressful I hope it works out for you

At my child's 1st choice school- PAN 232- she was 16th... was told this in April.

I called back 2 weeks later and she'd gone further down to 17.

Was disheartened and waited a month and she was back at 16.

2 weeks later (early June) I called and she was at number 6. The very next day I got an email offering her a place!

Her second choice (siimilar PAN, sch further away) she started at 45th place, went up to 43 and then went to 65th! When the lists closed she was at 57th. Absolutely no chance at all for that school. Luckily got her first choice in the end.

they do in my area

That gives me some hope we are no 14 for one of our schools, will find out if any change once the schools open again