Anyone else losing their mind on a Y7 Wait List?

[ButterBeanBouquet]

Hi everyone,

I’m starting this thread because the summer holidays are about to kick off and the agonising wait for a Y7 Wait List place is slowly driving me batty. It's been an excruciating wait, since 2nd March / National Offer Day.

If you are also stuck in Wait List purgatory, please pull up a chair so we can suffer together!

We're waiting on a huge school with a PAN of 360 (own admissions, not council). Our trajectory so far has been:

• 16th March: Rank 17
• 7th April: Rank 9
• 17th April: Rank 10
• 7th May: Rank 10
• 2nd June: Rank 6
• 6th July: Rank 3
• Today: Just found out we’ve been leapfrogged back to Rank 4 by a late applicant in a higher priority category

I’ve done enough reading to know that late Aug/early Sep brings a lot of "churn" (no-shows, late house moves, private school double-holders finally releasing spots). But I just can't bear the wait, until then.

I'd love to hear from anyone else in this boat. Specifically:

1. Has anyone ever "given up" and voluntarily pulled themselves off a wait list in late July or early/mid Aug because you just wanted closure, bought the other uniform, and decided to commit to your allocated school? Or did you really wait until the very last minute?
2. Does anyone have any glorious success stories of being offered a place in late July or early/mid Aug?
3. Would anyone be honest enough to admit they are 'double holding' a place at both a state school and a private school? We live in an area with lots of private schools and I happen to know that the most recent family on our Wait List to be offered a place were given one, due to a dropout who finally opted for private school

(and if any school admissions gurus want to look at my ranks above and give me their brutally honest instinct on our chances, please do!)

Huge amounts of luck to anyone who is waiting for a Wait List place! x

Have you accepted the school that you were actually offered? I think it is important to do this and to try and be positive about it for your DC. They must be really worried about where they will end up.

Waiting lists fluctuate and it is impossible for anyone to say if you will get lucky with your first choice school. Families may move in to the area as well as out, and there could be more appeals. Also, given the current level of economic uncertainty, I think more families double holding with a private offer will actually opt for state at the last minute.

I think that with a PAN of 360 I would be cautiously optimistic in your position - but try to make sure your DC will be OK whatever the outcome.

Thank you, appreciate it.

Absolutely - we have most certainly accepted our 'allocated' school.

DD doesnt even know her rank on the Wait List school, and assumes she's going to allocated school which she's 'fine' with. She would be thrilled to find out she'd got a place at the Wait List school (our first choice).

We simply don't want to get her hopes up. The anxiety of the wait is all 'on me'. We have sheltered her from it and have only said positive things about her allocated school

3 years ago now, but we got a place at our first choice in early August. I had actually gone and bought the uniform for the school we'd been offered, I just returned it. Several friends then got places at the same school in the first weeks after schools went back. They all decided to accept despite having started at alternative schools.

We knew 3 children who were offered a place off the waiting list on the first day of term. 2 different schools. My son is in Y8 now and there was a lot of movement in the first couple of weeks of term of y7.

One family didnt send their child to the school they'd accepted on the first day so i dont know if they'd bought uniform. The other 2 families had bought uniform and did send their kids. Only to find out that the very next day they should attend the new school. I think they were allowed to wear the other school uniform for the rest of the week to give them a chance to buy the right stuff.

Don't leave the list. If you get a place in the first term you might still choose to move

Writing from the perspective of a private school ‘double-holder’ a few years further along in secondary school. I am about to withdraw my child from an oversubscribed state school to take up a place next year at an independent school. We’ve told the head of year and form tutor, but not had any information from the school about how we would actually withdraw (and thus free up a place for a kid on the waiting list). It seems to be entirely on us to follow this up, and with all the busy end of year activities for both parents and school staff I can quite imagine it being a few days (if not weeks) until this is all done and dusted. The only pressure is the moral obligation we feel ourselves to let a kid on the waiting list know sooner rather than later. I’m sure there are plenty of parents who don’t feel this obligation and are in no hurry.

I also remember in Year 7 entry several parents who had places at private schools were very slow to decline their state school places. Even though they personally knew kids in the neighbourhood who were on the waiting list…

My advice is stay on the list. Wishing you all the best.

This is all really interesting, thank you!

And very kind of you to recognise the ‘moral obligation’ you have, to whoever the child is that might want your place, bless you! Hope you manage to transition to independent smoothly and that DC is happy in new school x

‘Early August’ - good to read! I’ve read a lot of stories about offers in early Sep, but none about the school holidays, so this is great to read and gives me a tiny glimmer of hope that we may not be waiting until the 11th hour for an offer (if at all).

Bet you were thrilled, when that offer came! Thanks again x

Have you discussed with the first choice school how they handle it. The desired school around here has already shut for holidays and it’s relatively well known they don’t move the waitlist between 1 July and end of sept. They settle the other kids in and then have 10-20 kids start en masse on the 4th Monday in sept. I know a few families who just buy all the uniform of the second choice and class it as a sunk cost. Over the course of a secondary education its peanuts.

I’d be setting your expectations that you’re starting second choice in September. If your child can cope with that mentality I’d be preparing her to start schools twice over I’m afraid

Good question - the Admissions Officer confirmed today that yes, she will be in the office sporadically, over the summer break, to deal with any Wait List vacancies.

That is so interesting about freezing the Wait List and then batch settling 10-20 Wait List kids on the 4th Monday in September! I’m almost certain our Wait List school doesn’t do that, as they’ve mentioned ‘one in, one out’, but good to know, thank you!

I did double hold for a month or so and then took the private place. Stay on the list.

Ours came a week after their new starters summer school they run end of July, so I'm guessing someone didn't turn up to that! Don't suppose your school does something similar do they?

Unfortunately they don’t offer a Summer School - wish they did! Very interesting. You’re right - someone probably didn’t turn up to that!

My daughter just got offered a place at her first choice school (Ursuline in Wimbledon) on Wednesday. PAN 210... I was keeping track in Chat GPT:

6th March (offer day) 49th
13 April 25th
19th April 22nd
5 May: 20th
8 June: 15th
6 July: 4th

And then she got offered a place 15th July.

We were told that Merton/school don't process admissions over the summer break, so if no offer before last day of term (today) then it wouldn't be re-looked at again until September 1st - but I can see that your school does things differently so I hope you might get a place over the summer.

I am not sure what we were going to do if she actually started at the other school. It's a tricky one... obviously every can do as the system allows them to but I wonder if families holding two places know how difficult it makes it for the child wondering which state school they will go to.

Good luck!

Gosh, you made huge progress from 49th to an offer! Congratulations!

Hearing about schools ‘freezing’ their Wait Lists over summer is really interesting, because I thought that if any school received a call or email relinquishing a place, then they legally had to offer it to the next child on the Wait List, immediately. But you and others have said that for some schools, a ‘summer freeze’ is their procedure. So this is all really interesting intel, thank you! (It might also be helpful for current Y5 parents to know, too).

Congrats again!

It hugely depends on the schools in your area. If private / grammar then you'll see more movement.

One of my DC got a place in October half-term at our absolutely favourite school. I had not even bothered to track the waitlist position (we started in the 70s, so there was no hope!). Shocking as it was, we took the place and had to move home for it as well. It was tough on DC and took a term to settle, but very happy with the change.

I would say, keep your options open until Christmas (sounds insane, but 7 years is a long time and switching to a better school is worth it in the longer run). In Sept, waitlists move fast and most people decline the place as their DC are settled / refuse to move. Councils have to wait longer if someone is a no-show at their school and give them a period of time (7 days I think) before they can offer their place to the next person. Similarly if a waitlist parent does not reply to their email, the council have to allow them 3 days (or 7 in some councils) before they can offer their place to the next person. So even if many are not interested, the paperwork can take days before it lands in your mailbox. Keep your DC open to change (without negative talk about the current school). When we took our offer it was from private to state, so we had to pay 2 terms fees as well but we still took it.

Don't leave the waitlist. Most schools will operate some thin cover to keep the places moving (no school wants an empty unfunded seat).

Play the long game and hold your nerve. Position 4 is very optimistic. Good luck!

Last year we held our nerve until last minute including not labelling the uniform of the school we had a place at until the night before. Day 4 of term we got a call about a no show place at our first choice of school. Day 5 we viewed it again and bought new uniform. Day 6 she started. Week 7 she got over the shock and realised we had done the right thing. Good luck!

I live in an area where there's a lot of movement in the first week or so after they go back. My friend works in admissions and said it's mainly private school no shows but it can take a few days to get hold of them and find out where the child is that hasn't shown up as they could in theory be ill or something.
We are an 11+ area which may make this type of behaviour higher than other areas perhaps.

I'd also agree with being open to moving in the first year. Secondary school is a long time, in my experience friendships are very fluid in Y7 so whoever your kid is hanging out with in week 1 will probably be history before Y8.

But also don't build up your preferred school too much as it might not turn out as you want. I know people who moved and didn't regret it. I also know people who stuck with the school they were given because it won them over and didn't regret that. The ones I know who moved mostly did it because the first choice school was an easier commute.

Yes - I got an offer the day before term started. I declined it because we were happy with the offer we were currently holding and tbh I couldn’t face going out to try and buy new informal same day: my neighbour was ahead of me on list and also declined it. I imagine now even if people are offered they may not take it as mentally they are settled with existing places.

Cues but legally offering a place ‘immediatly’ doesn’t trump an admin roles right to their contracted annual leave. If their contract is terminated time o ly you can’t ask them to give up an afternoons holiday to process the waitlist. The perk of those often low paid jobs is the summer holidays. I can’t see them volunteering to give up an afternoons holiday in the middle of their holiday

Clerical staff are absolutely entitled to their annual leave over the summer break.

However, as I mentioned above, our Wait List school's Admissions Officer explicitly confirmed to me that she will be checking in sporadically, over the summer break, to handle vacancies. She was also very active during the Easter break.

We’re on primary school waiting lists and have ultimately given up hope at this point but are sticking on the waiting lists just in case. It is tempting to come off them just to have a final answer and move towards acceptance!

Our council have confirmed that admissions staff are working over the summer and will contact us with places if available. They claim that’s the case for places at all schools, even the ones who manage their own waiting lists (but the schools themselves have OOO messages on saying back in September so it’s not clear what’s going on there).

Low paid jobs - thanks

Sometimes inconsiderate families relocate abroad or out of the area in the summer holidays without informing the school / LA. They then need to track them down to check the child is not ill at the beginning of the autumn term. Remember people may move into the area or a LAC may leapfrog the list. In some areas not so many children are entering independent schools so some state schools that routinely over offered to account for those that turn down the state place may be unwilling to do so knowing they will have to honour the offer.

Make sure you are clear on the date / process if your LA routinely closes the list and everyone needs to reapply. This stops people remaining on waiting lists for years.