Do waiting lists vary for reception classes a great deal

[dulwich Jon]

Hello;

We were unable to get into any of the 6 schools we requested for our 4 year old, to start in September, and were given one 2 miles away, which we have declined.

We wee 30th on waiting list for our preferred school, 3 weeks ago. This has now dropped to 20th.

Has anybody experience of this before?, and has anyone ever gotten into a school when starting of at such a high place in a list? I am unsure how this things shake down in these months.

thanks

DJ

[Cora]

There is no telling but I think it would be very unlikely by the beginning of term but possible in the first year or so depending on the school. There will still be lots of movement but it will be up and down and I would have thought the main movement would have already happened?...

[edanna]

Hi Dulwich Jon, maybe there are other schools nearby that have a shorter waiting list, which are off you radar? Don't know where you live though. Southwark may be able to suggest which schools are more likely to have places.

[metham777]

The waiting lists are managed by the schools 6 months into the school term and the schools seem to pick and choose from the list if places become available so you may have a bit of luck later in the school term.

[Renata Hamvas]

Hi Dulwich Jon, did you apply to your closest primary? With the current demand on primary places, you are more likely to get a place at your local primary, as others further away will be full. If you live near the borough boundary this may be in Lambeth or Lewisham. If you didn't, I would suggest you add your child to the waiting lists of your closest school. Yes, there will be some movement on some (but probably not all the primary school lists). If people move into the area closer to the schools you have applied to, you could find yourself moving down the waiting lists. Sorry Metham777, schools do not pick and choose from waiting lists (if you know of a Southwark school doing that please let me know!). Applicants are ranked by admissions criteria of the school. Applicants can jump up the list due to a newly diagnosed special educational need or if their sibling joins the school.

Renata

[Renata Hamvas]

To add, Cora is right, any major movement is likely to have happened. Any movement now, is due to applicants being recategorised or moving into or out of an area. Dulwich Jon you don't say which school you are 20th on the list for. Movement does vary beween schools. If it is a school with 90 entry this year, it is more likely to have some movement than a school with 60 or 30 intake. At the beginning there is quite alot of shuffling of places as some children take up slots at fee playing schools (eg a child with place at a school B), there is then a reshuffle of the places freed up eg child with place at school A goes to school B and child with place at school C takes up freed up place at school A, leaving a vacancy at school C and so on.

Renata

[Carbonara]

The advice is usually to hang on to an offer until another becomes available.

Have you put yourself on the waiting list for all schools you would reasonably consider? Not just the original 6 on your preferred list? You don't want to end up with a school even further away than the offered school. Are you on the waiting list for your nearest school?