Living out of county - think I made mistake with CAF

[miag]

I was advised (wrongly now I know ) to put faith GS down as 1st preference as sure of place if passed 11+. Could not be sure of SWB or WHS even if passed (DS manged a good score). If get offered Faith GS can I still request waiting list for SWB as it is 2nd place on CAF? REally stressed as would actually prefer SWB. Any advice welcome.

[andyb]

As far as I know you can go on the waiting list for any school you are qualified for. After allocations you can ask for a transfer appeal but I'm not sure where that would leave you in relation to the school you are offered - you wouldn't want to be in the situation of having no school place.

A reminder that schools should be listed on the CAF in your true order of preference.

[Sally-Anne]

Hi miag, and welcome!

First things first, I have edited your post to remove the score. As scores are irrelevant in Bucks above 121, we prefer people not to post them.

You should accept the place at the 1st preference school on 1st March. As Andy says, you can then go on the waiting list for SWB, WHS (I am a little perplexed on that point though - you say you have a son - "DS", but WHS is a girls' school!) and any other Bucks GS you wish to consider.

I am afraid the chances of getting a place from the waiting list at SWB are not good though - as you can see here, only catchment children were allocated places last year, and not even all of those:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/school ... n-profiles" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; That would have been the case even if you had put it down as your first preference, so you can at least stop beating yourself up on that count!

If you go to a transfer appeal and are unsuccessful, you still keep the place originally offered.

Sally-Anne

[miag]

Thanks for replies...it is a DD! I have been told that you cannot go on a waiting list in Bucks for anything lower on your CAF than what is offered. Do you think that if we are offered Faith GS we can still go on waiting list for SWB and WHS?

[Sally-Anne]

Thanks for replies...it is a DD!

Glad we got that sorted out!

I have been told that you cannot go on a waiting list in Bucks for anything lower on your CAF than what is offered.

I was going to be somewhat scathing about your source of information (I am curious to know who it is), but in fact the Parents' Guide http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/assets/conten ... _Entry.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is rather confusing on this point, so I will forgive them!

In the flowchart on Page 13 showing the admissions process it makes the following statement:

Parents can put their child’s name on waiting lists for any higher preference schools that could not be offered.

I suppose someone could easily interpret that as meaning that you cannot go on a waiting list for a lower preference school, but in fact the statement is only referring to the far more common situation where a lower preference school has been offered.

However, on Page 18, the following statement appears:

Ask to go on the waiting list for your preferred school(s); these could be your original preferences or any new preferences. If you change your preferences you will need to make your new preference order clear.

There is nothing to prevent you from changing your preferences after 1st March and going on the waiting list for SWB and WHS, and you will not lose the offer of the place at the faith GS if you do.

What you must not do is change your preferences before 1st March, because your application will not then be considered in the first round of allocations, and you risk missing out on the faith GS place.