The Allocation and equal preference system

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London_Mum
Posts: 269
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2012 11:44 am

Re: The Allocation and equal preference system

Post by London_Mum »

No - each child can only get one offer and you cannot change your mind about the order between now and March (well not without being classed as a late applicant which means you go to the bottom of the pile for allocations which would be a disaster).

If your child scores top marks for every single exam, he will be eligible in theory for places at all of those schools but he will still only get an offer from one - the highest preference on your form that he qualifies for.
So, from your list:
1. If his Wilson score is good enough, he will get offered Wilsons. The council will tell Tiffins and all other schools not to offer him a place (even though he has a good enough score to get in) because he'll have his top choice of Wilsons and that's the end of the process.

2. If, however, he has passed Wilsons but with a low score, Wilsons will reject him and so Tiffins will become his default first choice school. It looks like he will qualify for this school and therefore he will get an offer from Tiffins




And so on......

* Each school tells the council whether he has done well enough in theory to get a place or not.
* The council won’t let him have 6 offers though so they will use your list to decide which one to accept on his behalf and which ones to reject on his behalf.
* They disregard any he does not qualify for and cross them off straight away.
* This is why it is so important to fill out the form in true order of preference.
* You can't go back in March and say that now he's done so brilliantly on SGS you've decided you want that one after all. You have to honestly tell the council which schools to turn down for him in the happy situation that he qualifies for them all.
* There is nothing to lose. By being honest, you will get the school for your son that you prefer the most from all of the onest he qualfies for. Putting a school lower down the list does not mean they won't want you if all the ones at the top of your list can't take him.
London_Dad
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2012 12:41 pm

Re: The Allocation and equal preference system

Post by London_Dad »

Many thanks threekids and London_Mum for your vivid explanations. Very helpful.
London_Mum
Posts: 269
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2012 11:44 am

Re: The Allocation and equal preference system

Post by London_Mum »

:D I over-egged it a little London_Dad
One of those things that has scared me a bit this year is the playground rumours implying that there is some secret system in operation. So many parents will still say that schools don't like it if you don’t put them first. This information is about 10 years out of date but people really believe there might be some truth in it.

I know for certain there are a few people who are listing a school first that they don't much want just because they think they have a good chance of getting a place there.
Some grammars give scores and some don't which leads people to believe putting a school with a known score first is a safe bet and not realising that, even if their true preference has no score yet and doesn't work out, they would still get the school with the safe score anyway.
People in that position could be really disappointed come March when they find out they would have qualified for several schools but are now irreversibly committed to the one they listed first trying to play safe when there was no need to.
working-mum
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 7:18 pm

Re: The Allocation and equal preference system

Post by working-mum »

Very helpful information Threekids. Thanks!

I have a question in my DS's case:

He passed Wilson, Tiffin (score 255), Sutton Grammar (1st phase), Wallington. My DS's order of preference is
1. Wilsons
2. Tiffin
3. SGS
4. Wallington

We don't currently live in Surrey although we are due to move to Surrey next year, we have to apply via our local council. I called my current council today that they said that they will forward my son's file to first choice Wilson (Sutton Council). If my DS's score is not high enough for Wilson (as Wilson will look at distance too) and he will be rejected by Wilson. When the feedback is passed back to my local council, my local council will then forward my son's file to second choice Tiffin (Kingston council).

My worry is by that time Tiffin might have allocated all 140 Children who choose Tiffin as first and passed Tiffin test. Then although my DS's score is high, he has no chance to go to Tiffin?

Any suggestions is appreciated.
London_Dad
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2012 12:41 pm

Re: The Allocation and equal preference system

Post by London_Dad »

Working mum, the process runs simultaneously. Your local council will send information all relevant councils at the same time to check the eligibility of your DS based on your order of preference. Therefore, you will not be in a disadvantageous position if your DS cannot get into Wilsons. Your DS will qualify for Tiffin in that case as your local council will receive feedbacks from respective schools (i.e., councils in which those schools are located) almost same time.
working-mum
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 7:18 pm

Re: The Allocation and equal preference system

Post by working-mum »

London dad, that is great. Thanks a lot!
luxor1706
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2012 10:09 am

Re: The Allocation and equal preference system

Post by luxor1706 »

ThreeKids, your diagram is very helpful - thanks. In the first iteration, you talk about the possibility 'if 1 or more than 1 place' is offered to the child. Can you also explain if in the first round, there are no places offered to a child - does the child go on the waiting list of the first preference school only or on the waitlist of the second and third choice school as well....(we have only 3 choices on our CAF)

would you also advice not putting a comprehensive on the form ? assuming that the council has to give you the default comprehensive anyway?
WP
Posts: 1331
Joined: Thu Jan 03, 2008 9:26 am
Location: Watford, Herts

Re: The Allocation and equal preference system

Post by WP »

Each of the schools ranks their applicants in order, and uses that list to make their initial offers and also additional offers for places not required by applicants with multiple potential offers.

The process ends when schools are no longer making additional potential offers to applicants who ranked them. This could be because the school is full or because they've exhausted their list of applicants. At that point their will be some applicants with no allocated place, because all their chosen schools are full with children who have scored higher on the schools' oversubscription criteria.

At that point, after everyone else has got one of the schools they asked for, the home LA of the people without offers must find them a school, from among the schools in that LA area (unless they negotiate something with neighbouring LAs) that still have places left. (These are the Non-Ranked Allocations or NRAs.) So you will get a comprehensive, but it will be an undersubscribed one, and may be some distance away. You may be able to work out what school this will be, by examining your LA's rules and historical data closely, but things can change from year to year. It may be wise to include a safe fallback option yourself to avoid getting something less desirable.
ThreeKids
Posts: 199
Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2011 1:16 pm

Re: The Allocation and equal preference system

Post by ThreeKids »

Luxor - I believe WP has answered your question. A child that does not get offered a place at all in the first iteration would follow the path of the child that has a non-first preference place until all places are allocated. Once all schools are at PAN they will not only have allocated their places but they likely have a waiting list too. However their will be schools that fail to reach PAN from children that have put that school down on the CAF. So the last phase of the process will be to match those schools with children who have not yet been allocated a place.

As WP stated these will be the less popular schools and there is no guarantee that they will be at all close to you. If eligible you would be placed on the waiting lists of the schools that you have out in your CAF but still may not get a place at any of these, so you would then have a place only at a school that you possibly never considered.

I am not sure what your position would be if you then tried to go onto the waiting list of a school that you would have been eligible for but did not put on your CAF. Locally there have been a few instances where boys in particular have ended up with schools they did not put on their CAF, but I believe in all instances they have been able to get into a local non selective that they had placed on their CAF. This via appeals and nail biting waiting for places to become available. It is not the easiest path to take!
SuttonParent71
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2012 8:31 pm

Re: The Allocation and equal preference system

Post by SuttonParent71 »

Luxor - it is recommended to add a local school preference - one you think you have a good chance of being offered on distance criteria - as a back up option. If you don't, and you are not offered one of your preferences, the council is obliged to make you an alternative offer but this might not be on national offer day if there are insufficient places remaining for all applicants. These places are - in London at least - are the less popular schools (as you talk of three preferences I take it you are outside of London, as all London councils give 6).

After national offer day many councils let you add more preferences, change your preference order and go onto waiting lists of schools lower on your CAF than the school offered. However, each council makes their own rules on this and you would be wise to check what the local position is - some are much stricter and don't give much room for manoeuvre.

Many selective schools have a lot of movement on their waiting lists as parents take up independent school provision, though this may be less so in the current economic climate so don't bank on it.
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