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Original poster

Urgent - School admission Error - Offer withdrawn

33 replies

Faith2022 · 06/07/2022 22:35

Hi,
A grammar school where my sister's daughter applied to, sent a letter in May 2022 and they congratulated her that her daughter has passed the test and was added to the waiting list for Year 9 entry. But within 24 hours, the same school sent her a letter and advised that her daughter did not pass again.

The grammar school has refused to explain how they arrived at the lower score which made her daughter non selective. The first letter that she received in May 2022 stated her daughter had a total score of 122 whilst the second letter showed the score as 101. My sister has refused to tell her daughter as she already celebrated with her and it is difficult to tell daughter that she did not pass again. (This is so confusing to a young child)
We have an appeal this week and I would appreciate any assistance.

Thank you all in advance.

OP posts:
BaronessEllarawrosaurus · 07/07/2022 10:20

With regards to being on the waiting list, for the 10 years that my dc attended our local grammar school there was only 1 pupil admitted from a waiting list following the managed move of another child. No one gives up the place unless they absolutely have to. Being on the waiting list is no guarantee of a place

BungleandGeorge · 07/07/2022 10:15

She’s currently in year 8 and head girl? That’s very unusual what sort of school is she at?
the way I read it they haven’t offered a place, only to join the waitlist but I think they should provide some evidence/ release the exam paper for scrutiny.

LIZS · 07/07/2022 10:14

Being head girl is not going sway opinion if she has a score which misses the benchmark. Even if she had passed the wl is ordered by admissions criteria. How old is she if applying for year 9 entry waiting list?

Original poster
Faith2022 · 07/07/2022 10:09

Thank you so much PatriciaHolm. I will attend the meeting with her tomorrow. We are putting together some questions. I don't trust the school as I think they gave it to someone else. My niece is the Headgirl in her school. The mother decided to change her school as her class Tutor encouraged us that she needed something challenging. She is clever and gets nearly 100% in this school. I pray at this stage for God's perfect will for her. But, I think it is good to challenge things like this especially if you are from the BAME group.
I really appreciate your advice. 😁

OP posts:
Original poster
Faith2022 · 07/07/2022 10:01

Thank you so much. My niece is the Headgirl in her school. But, the mother wants her to be in a challenging environment and she really wants to transition to a Grammar school.
I think the school intentionally changed the mark as they have refused to show us the transcript or any proof.

OP posts:
prh47bridge · 07/07/2022 09:56

Agree with PatriciaHolm. It doesn't sound like an offer was made but, even if it was, it was withdrawn quickly. An appeal is unlikely to succeed. However, they should be able to explain what went wrong.

ittakes2 · 06/07/2022 23:08

I think you have a right to ask some questions but you are best to find out the cut off school - around us its 121 - and if you are the same with her grammar being 121 and she really did get 101 then sorry she would struggle at a grammar school.

PatriciaHolm · 06/07/2022 22:47

There are only a few reasons that an offer can be withdrawn, but an error on the part of the admissions authority is one of them, and 24 hours would be an acceptable time frame in which to do it. So on the face of it, if they made an error, they are within their rights to withdraw the offer (even though it wasn't actually an offer, just a place on the waiting list if I read correctly, but a place conditional on having passed the exam so I think the same principles would apply in this case)

They should be able to explain what has gone wrong though, and why.

The appeal would need to prove that the detriment to the school of taking another pupil into a full year would be less than the detriment to her of not attending, as well as proving that she is of grammar standard, which the new score - if correct - suggests she isn't.

So you have 2 hurdles - proving she is of the required grammar standard, and then if you do that, that the detriment to her of not attending is higher than that to the school - so what does this school offer that she needs particularly? any specific subjects, specialisms, clubs? Just "its a grammar" isn't enough.