A question re 11+application for Grammar

[IslaValargeone]

On the application form there is a space to sign if you are willing to allow the prospective grammar school to contact your child's current primary, in the event of a borderline result.
Does this actually happen in reality? I would have thought that if there were for example 100 places, then they allocate those 100 places to the top scorers.
They can hardly be undersubscribed, so where does the borderline thing come into play?

bump

Perhaps if a child does extremely well in maths for example but less well in English?

I think Rachel is right. I went to an open day at Henrietta Barnett some years ago. The headteacher said that they had an outstanding maths paper from one girl but the English was a lot poorer. They found that the girl was in an early stage of learning English and he mentioned that they would pick up on things like that. I can't say if all schools operate that policy though.

Here in Kent 25% of children go to grammar school; the pass mark changes slightly each year to reflect this. The first 20% are taken directly on exam marks and the remaining 5% on Headteacher appeals - where the schools offer evidence that particular children merit a place. This is often where only one paper has been failed and it can be shown that this was not indicative of the childs ability. Several years ago when I was still teaching we also had one girl whose mum had recently died, obviously badly affecting her. We (the primary school) were able to offer sufficient evidence of her ability and circumstances for it to be agreed that she should have a Grammar School place.

So it is very useful for exceptional circumsyances or where just one paper is too low a mark.