Secondary schools Waiting list process PLEASE EXPLAIN

[Kalimero]

Can please someone explain how does the Waiting list process function?
I hear that you can get an offer even in September but isn't it that everyone has to accept or decline offers in 1st and 2nd offer rounds? How is it possible that people still drop offers in September?
Also many say lots of movement is happening in July/August - why's that?
Is it because people don't decline schools as after second round there's no date deadline?
We are on waiting list in Camden and Westminster Councils. At the moment at 13 highest/ 20 lowest ranking at schools targeted by kids who also target private schools. Do we stand a chance?
This secondary school place allocation process is so confusing and stressful 😳

Some people will be moving areas. Some people will be holding state and private places to hedge their bets. Some people will just change their minds. Every one of those then sets off a chain reaction of other places being released and re-offered.

People may accept an offer but stay on the continuing interest list for a school they had ranked higher. If a place comes available then their spot in the other school becomes free. You are not compelled to go to a school even if you've accepted a place there.

Every child who is actually going to go to a private school or is going to be home schooled but whose parents don't yet feel able to make that decision for definite yet (want to see if they get a promotion, or if they can sell a property at a good price perhaps? Or whether their own new-startup business gets off the ground? Or just feels that the world is so uncertain with threats of war and terrorism etc) is fully entitled to keep hold of a state place for as long as they want it. They can accept the place in March, but then decide against actually starting. The place does not stop being their place until two weeks into the first term in September, at which point the school is allowed to remove them from the roll if they have not attended at all.

When the place becomes available it will be offered to whoever is highest up the waiting list who still wants that place. Some people will decide that they would rather be resigned to getting used to their less-preferred school rather than living in uncertainty and may drop out of the waiting list from above you.

People move, change plans, might hold places at state and private and opt for the latter, decide to homeschool, have a successful appeal or alternative waiting list place come up, not all areas require acceptance but assume it until told otherwise or no-show come September.

In London there is a bit of a chain reaction because there is so much movement. One of DDs friends got an offer for Camden School for Girls about a week before school started. So she gave up her place at Mary Mags, which someone else will have taken and left a space open at whatever school they were supposed to go to. Plus people hedging their bets between private and state schools and people who decide to move.

Yes as others say, people may make a late decision wrt private schooling or HE. I think that's especially likely in the current climate of VAT and rising private school fees, CoL still going up and uncertainty of current climate – both private and HE have cost or earning implications. So some places may become vacant in August or September that way.

Anywhere with a large population is going to have more movement as people perhaps move house, change jobs, leave the country (! a friend of mine had a place at the local comp for their DC but moved back to their home of New Zealand in the summer before they would have started). More private schools in London too which will bring greater fluidity of the WLs.

Where are you on the WLs @Kalimero ? sorry it's not clear to me unless you mean you are at spot 13 on one WL and spot 20 on another.

I am sorry you are finding the process stressful and I can well believe it is esp with such uncertainty. It shouldn't be confusing tho as it has to be consistent and transparent, following the criteria laid down by each school.

Thank you all for explaining, it paints clearer picture.
In one school we're position, 13, another 15, another 20, those are the best positions.. for another one we're but further away we were on position 41, but this week fell to position 51 . It goes up and down as well so that brings another level of uncertainty

Remember your position on the waiting list can fall as well as rise, e.g. someone may make a late application and leapfrog you as they live nearer, live in catchment (unlikely in London), better meet a faith requirement, aptitude, fair banding assessment etc. Unusually, some families even relocate abroad and the child does not turn up at the start of term in September and schools then have to spend time trying to track them down.

In Bromley last year the council just failed to process the offer for the empty place over the summer. The school told them in July they had a space and yet we didn’t get offered it until a week into term. The school told me they were also trying to trace a no show so they could give that place away. Another child moved abroad in October so another place became available.

Also you get 5 days here to take or pass on a offer from the wait list so if you are say 9th place then you may be waiting for 8 families to discuss it and decide not to take it.

13, 15 and 20 all sound very promising, though if any of the schools have a fair banding test (such as Camden School for Girls, St Marylebone and Grey Coats) that would presumably be your waiting list place within your band. Still it feels like at least one of your places may come up.
Another poster mentioned a friend's DD getting a place at CSG just before term started. I also know a friend's DD who got a place at CSG the day before the first day of year 7! It was their first preference school and they had originally been offered their sixth choice on offer day (being offered a few of the ones between one and six during the time between offer day and September).
So yes people drop out or switch all the time, right up until and beyond September. We also know of someone who dropped their St Marylebone place last summer in July, when they got offered their first choice private school from the waiting/reserve list.

Yes it's band A 13, band B 15, A 20...

Thank you for sharing 🙏🏼

Hope you'll see the list move.

Positions ~13 - 20 isn't comfortable but it's not over either. Probably the movement come in next windows over coming months - such as: post-Easter, June/July as families finalise plans, and a smaller wave in late August when people relocate or change their minds at the last minute.

All the best!

Thank you 🙏🏼

We are or were almost at the top of the waiting list when places were notified but have received confirmation of Appeal date/time which must mean that we are either no higher or have been pushed down further?

Next notification of wait lists places will be in six weeks with further offers 10days after.

Had hoped we would have received an offer as we were so high.

to give you anecdotal evidence, we were 16th on the list for our chosen school. 2 weeks later we went down to 17th. A month later, I called and we were 5th (June). The next day I got an email offering us a place! My daughter told me that there was a no show too in her form and that new people turned up a couple weeks into term.

I'm in SE London.

There are a lot of private schools and some grammars nearby. I think some people accepted private places and this freed up grammar places which freed up secondary places. This is the movement.

I was pleasantly surprised to get the place too as it's a sought after school and in most recent years we'd have had no chance. The low birth rate has increased all catchments.

Is this a waiting list position?
How can I check it?
I am also on the waiting list for Westminster 13+.
Has Westminster shared the waiting list ranking as well?
🙏

We are now 2nd (as of last Wednesday) on our 2nd choice waiting list - it's all very nerve wracking!

This is for 11+ entry, I don't know if it's the same for 13+. As for 11+, it depends on the school you applied for. Some schools waiting lists are maintained by the Council, some schools are dealing with the waiting list themselves. Call the Council admissions and they will tell you your child position.

You are getting confused between state school admissions via Westminster council and the private school Westminster. This thread is for London state schools.