Priority Rules
Go to Settings and open Priority Rules (admin only). Its subtitle reads: "Configure priority tiers for waiting list ranking and capacity planning intake".
Priority tiers do two jobs. They rank your waiting list, and they decide who gets a place when the Transition Planner has fewer places than young people who need one.
The six tiers
Every group gets the same six. You cannot add or delete them — what you control is the order, whether each one is on, and (for five of the six) the name.
| Tier | Who it can apply to | How it is earned |
|---|---|---|
| Leader's Child | Applicants | A parent on the application is recorded as a Leader, Volunteer or Commissioner |
| Ageing Out | Your own members, and applicants already in your group | Applied automatically |
| Sibling | Applicants | A brother or sister is already a member |
| Local | Applicants | Home address within your chosen radius — 5 km unless you change it |
| Helper Parent | Applicants | A parent helped at 3 or more events in the last 6 months. Off by default |
| Standard | Applicants | Everybody else. The floor — always considered last |
An applicant is checked against your enabled tiers in your order, and gets the first one that fits. A leader's child who also lives locally is a Leader's Child, because that tier sits higher.
Changing the order
Drag a tier to move it. Top is highest priority. Use the toggle beside a tier to switch it off — a tier that is off is skipped for everybody.
The order is not cosmetic. It decides who wins the last place in a full section, so it is worth agreeing with your group's leadership team before you change it.
Renaming a tier
Click the pencil beside a tier's name to rename it to something your group recognises — "Ex-Squirrels", "District transfer", whatever fits. A renamed tier keeps its rule; only the label changes. Once renamed, an undo arrow appears so you can put the original name back.
Ageing Out cannot be renamed. It shows a padlock and a Set by Scoutworks label instead.
That tier is applied silently to every young person moving up a section, without a leader ever choosing it. Rename it "Our own children" and it would still be the tier quietly given to every member in the plan — but nobody reading the settings screen would know. The name stays fixed so what you read is what is happening. You can still move it, and you can still switch it off.
The one tier that applies to your own members
Ageing Out is the only tier an existing member ever holds. It is applied automatically to everybody moving up a section. There is nothing to set, and no tier picker on a member record.
The other five tiers only ever apply to waiting-list applicants. A member cannot be a Sibling or a Leader's Child in the plan, even when they plainly are one in real life.
So the position of Ageing Out is really the answer to one question: when a section has one place left, does it go to a young person already in your group, or to somebody on your waiting list?
| Where you put it | What happens |
|---|---|
| Top (the default) | Young people moving up take every contested place |
| Below another tier | An applicant in that higher tier takes the place first. The member still moves — their row is flagged Over capacity |
| Off | Members moving up rank below every tier you have set up. They still move |
A young person moving up is never turned away — they cannot stay where they are. The tier decides who takes the places that count, and so who ends up over capacity and who ends up waiting.
Overriding a tier for one family
Scoutworks works the tier out for you. To overrule it, go to Members → Waiting List, and use Change Priority on a row — or select several and use Priority in the bulk actions bar. You can record a reason. The override stands until you clear it, and clearing it hands the applicant back to the automatic rules.
For the full picture of how places are decided, see How Recommended Places Are Calculated.
Waiting List Embed & Sharing
The Waiting List Embed & Sharing section (admin only) provides two ways to share your waiting list form with families:
Embed code
Copy the embed code and paste it into your group's website. The waiting list form appears directly on your web page, making it easy for families to apply without leaving your site.
The embeddable form is hosted at https://my.scoutworks.app/embed/waitinglist?group={your-group-id} — the embed code you copy already includes your group's ID, so there's nothing to fill in yourself.
Shareable link
Copy the shareable link and send it via email, social media, or your group's newsletter. Parents click the link and fill in the application form directly.
The public form is available at my.scoutworks.app/waiting-list, or directly for your group at https://my.scoutworks.app/waiting-list/{your-group-id} — the shareable link you copy already points at your group's form.
What's next
- Setting Up Your Waiting List — full setup guide for the waiting list.
- Processing Waiting List Applications — triage and offer places.
- How Recommended Places Are Calculated — how the tier order decides who gets a place.
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What's next?
Related guidesSetting Up Your Waiting List
How to enable, configure, and share your group's public waiting list form.
Read articleProcessing Waiting List Applications
How to triage applications, send offers, and convert accepted applicants into members.
Read articleHow Recommended Places Are Calculated
What decides who gets a place when there are not enough to go round — your priority tiers, the one tier that applies to your own members, and every rule the Transition Planner uses but does not show on screen.
Read articleGroup Settings
How to configure your group name, meeting locations, district data sharing, and other group-level settings.
Read article