BUCKS SCORE 120 ,NEED TO APPLY FOR SELECTION REVIEW

Do you think moving her again would being her best interests overall?

Has your child also moved primary school ? Not sure how a head can add much weight to a review for a child they barely know if so. 100s of kids will attend the alternative schools, many of whom would do very well. Rather than ebacc look at value added and destinations. Do you really want your child in a school where they may struggle to keep up with their peers.

But you’re judging poor academic performance incorrectly - EBacc is not a measure of performance. Crucially, it’s how your kid does that counts, not how the remaining 300 do. Go visit some schools.

I feel bad. But I didn't account for this negative scenario. I was so confident she would crack this exam. If I don't move now, she will need to go to a school with poor academic performance. I am not experienced enough to understand the implications of sending her to such a school. Plus, I had been unemployed for an year, so moving around is draining all my savings, rents are ridicously expensive in areas around London where there are outstanding schools be it grammar schools or state secondary schools.

Yes it was but not anymore. We rented out that house on long term let and I can prove to the council by providing all relevant proofs on council tax, bills, license etc

The only challenging period we faced was when I was out of work for nearly a year. About nine months ago, I had to withdraw my daughter from her tuition. Additionally, we had just moved into the area two weeks before her exam, which made things harder for her. She struggled with the sudden change—from living in a house with her own room to a small flat where she didn’t have that comfort—and felt overwhelmed by starting at a new school, not sleeping well, and adjusting to everything at once.

Then you need to check that they will not use that address for admissions , especially since you moved recently. See https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools-index/school-admissions/school-admissions-guides-policies-and-statistics/guide-to-starting-school-or-moving-up-to-junior-school/understanding-the-terms-we-use/ as Normal Home Address. Was that the former family home?

I have another house that I let out.

Are you really going to hop around the country in the hope of finding the perfect school for your child? What was your plan for if they didn't pass the 11 plus? Would you be able to find another primary school for your poor pressured child? Do you have other children? This just baffles me tbh.

You can still begin the process for the selection review, which means the HT will be asked for their view on your DD's suitability for grammar and the score they gave before the exam.

You will be sent this. You can then decide if you want to proceed or not. It is started via the link on BC website, and they send you the head's form. To proceed you have to then upload your own evidence along with the head's report. You can leave it at this stage and the review will not happen, but you at least get to see what the head says and their score.

I'm not sure where in Bucks you are. There are some better secondaries in some places than others.

If you do go for a review, you will need to include previous years reports, which show that your DD consistently got EXS in reading, writing and maths. As the school your DD is at won't have them, it will be incumbent on you to provide them.

It's also important to remember that only academic ability should be included in a review. Anything else will be discounted and may prejudice your review as they only have minutes and need evidence of academic ability, not leadership, musical ability, sporting ability, etc.

Are there any extenuating circumstances? Anything major happened or illness, that could explain why she didn't pass?

If you do have any extenuating circumstances they can be included, but bear in mind they should have been reported to the school before the exam.

None of my children achieved the EBacc because their(grammar) school didn't insist on them doing all the EBacc subjects.
As PP said, look at the progress 8.

And you have no other address or house to sell?

can you please tell me what reasons you gave in the selection review?

Yes for the schools in HW and Chesham, they state that we need to relocate prior to 1st Sept. We moved here around August first week.

Ah ok I see, wasn't aware of this, thank you

@Prav86 I know what EBacc is.

My point is that an EBacc % being low tells you much less about how your child will get on in the school than looking at Progress8/Attainment8 for previous high achievers.

Across the country about 30% don't get a 4 for Eng Lang and again for Maths. A whole bunch of less academic kids will choose, if given the choice, not to take an MFL. Some schools force certain children to do EBacc, others let each individual child choose.

Are you sure your new address will be taken into account? Bucks 11+ is so competitive that the LA apply very strict criteria regarding residence for school applications.

From Google Gemini - "EBACC Score is a school performance indicator in England that measures how many students achieve a good grade (5 or above) in a specific set of GCSE subjects: English, Maths, Science, a language, and a humanities subject. It reflects the number of students taking and succeeding in these key academic subjects considered important for future opportunities in higher education and employment"

Going by EBACC Score definition above, it looks to me that this is a score we can analyse to understand if a school is focussed on academics or not ? Also, there are some secondary Outstanding rated state schools that do have top EBACC scores.

My worry is that, if we are unsuccessfull, she will end up going to a state secondary school with very low EBacc ratings.

A comment on this. Surely it is not surprising that a 'secondary modern' (ie a non grammar school in a grammar area) would have low EBacc scores? You have removed the top 20-30% of children.
Plus some schools force some/most/all pupils to do EBacc whereas others don't.

What you need to look at instead is maybe the progress8 / attainment8 of the 'previous higher attainers'.

There will presumably be a bunch of children like yours who just missed on a grammar place.

Thank you for your kind response. We moved into Bucks area just a fornight prior to 1st September cut off date. So, my DD started her year 6 in a near by school just this september. As she is still relatively new to her school, her teachers don't really know my DD that well enough.

I went to speak with them earlier this morning and her class teacher suggested that we go for a review and to write an email to the Head Teacher asking for her recommendation letter. I don't know what score the HT gave my DD, I was sugegsted to email her.

From last years selection review stats publsihed on Bucks Council website, 66% of canidates with 119 were successfull.

My worry is that, if we are unsuccessfull, she will end up going to a state secondary school with very low EBacc ratings. So I feel very conflicted on whether I should apply for a "selection review" or "to enteriely moved out of the area again to go to an area where there are outstanding secondary state schools" before the 31st October CAF Deadline.

PS my DD got in at selection review with the same score.

Are you in or out of county?

If in, what score did the HT give your DD?

Selection reviews are worth doing if your DD is EXS and has been consistently. Also if the head gave 2.2 or above. * *

119 is so close to the mark that it's got a good chance of succeeding.

The only caveat is, that doing an appeal after an unsuccessful review is very, very, likely to fail.

However, going for an appeal has more problems. Firstly your DD will not get a place at a grammar school on selection day. You then have to argue for each grammar separately. It's not as easy as other appeals, as you have to show the panel that your DD should have qualified, and convince them to admit, if the school is oversubscribed.

Honestly, go for the review. If it fails, then there is the 12+ and I know girls at AHS that have been admitted follthst.

This assumes you are in Bucks, as different areas may have different criteria.

In a similar boat with my DD this year, keen to know what happened in your case??

I don't think a character reference is considered in a revie (or appeal for that matter), it's purely on academic proof &/or extenuating circumstances.

Hi there,

My dd got 119 in her recent bucks.

HT is out of county and has graded her 2:2 and she has EXS for everything from year 3 to year 6 predictions.

Her character reference from HT is lovely.

What are the chances?