Grammar school appeal and we can't attend the hearing

[Eatsleepwork]

Ds narrowly missed passing the eleven plus and we are planning to appeal. We have very strong evidence that he is of the required standard and will have support of the head teacher but we just received the hearing dates and both dh and I are out of the country for all of them. We could possibly ask mil to attend the hearing (she's just retired as a primary head so knows her stuff) but I think this is putting too much pressure on her. We also live 400 miles away! Alternatively, ds had a tutor for a while who would possibly be willing to attend.

Any advice on this would be aporeciated- as far as I can see it's not compulsory to attend but would it affect the chances if we don't?
Tia

Hmm tricky. Have you looked at the stats of how many kids missed by the same narrow margin or less? I suspect, given that we are looking at the top end of a statistical bell shaped curve that if the school filled with the kids at 95% or above there are a vast number in the " just missed" from 94.5-95%.

And if this is a grammar with a pass/ fail mark thrn even more would be " just under".

By all means try but unless you have compelling reasons for underperformance on the day ( eg admitted 2hrs later with appendicitis) then I think this is an appeal that is unlikely to succeed whether you are there or not ...

Sorry , maybe others have a more optimistic take on it?

I'm no expert in these matters but I would think it a bad idea for his tutor to attend if you are trying to prove that he is capable of meeting the demands of a grammar school ie surely he shouldn't need a tutor if he is bright enough/how did he miss out if he was tutored...
I would request an alternative date explaining the circumstances. Failing that, if your mother is willing to travel the 400 miles and wants to do it, I would ask her but yes it is a big ask given the distance.

Thanks.
I'm aware that it will be difficult and even if they decide he is of grammar standard there may not be a space for him. However, if one became available this year or next we could tgen find IT easier to get a place.
Without boring anyone, ds is acing level 6 papers on all subjects and didn't go to an official tutor, just a friend of a friend- it was more somewhere quiet away from siblings with no distractions to do some past papers. On the day of the test he flipped out and couldn't finish the paper. School have been working with him on this and he is now much better under stress conditions!
I'll rethink mil attending as it may gd our best hope

both dh and I are out of the country for all of them.

couldn't one of you change your plans?

Your second post does suggest he would be suited to grammar. Is it super selective in an otherwise comp area, or is it standard grammar in a grammar area? If grammar area I would think you have more chance of demonstrating a grammar would best meet his needs.

This is helpful, thanks.
It's one of seven grammars in our county with lots of comps at varying standards. We would be appealing on non qualification as we have mock sats scores, cat scores, reports from head and class teacher and free access to all classroom work. I understand that this doesn't mean it's a certainty though and others will have higher scores.
Other issue is that someone was ill right next to ds during the test, which didn't help! He just didn't perform under pressure on the day but we/ school believe this has improved dramatically.
Much to ponder, thanks again