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Original poster

Has anyone relocated to a grammar school county (for that reason) just before start of yr 7?

26 replies

Riverside1 · 29/04/2015 11:47

How does it work if you live in another county? Thinking specifically of Kent where i know you take the Kent test. When would you a) find out if DD had passed b) how can you apply for a school if you don't live there yet? ie would only move if got a place, which i assume wouldnt be til march/april?

Anyone moved for this reason for start of yr 7?

thanks

OP posts:

stitch10yearson · 29/04/2015 11:49

its a bit late if you have left it till then. Most people usually move by year 5 beginning at the latest. Exams are held at the beginning of year 6, so ideally, move in year 4. Although I know people who move before starting primary, just because of the grammar schools

springlamb · 29/04/2015 11:55

You need to start thinking about it in Yr 4 or 5 if you want to take the Kent test s you'll need to think about specific area of Kent, living arrangements, any tutoring required etc. Isn't the test usually held in September of Yr 6?
We made the same move 2 years ago (ALondonBorough - Kent) but DD was adamant she would not take the test, so we didn't have that in the equation.
Spent September/Octobér whizzing up and down to open days in Kent. Put in her application on the Croydon form for 3 schools in Kent, she got her first choice the following March. We moved in the summer. Your present home borough passes on the form to your destination borough, and then you take part in their process.

Original poster

Riverside1 · 29/04/2015 12:00

Ah sorry stich10yearson, I didn't mean for this year. Just trying to work out our options! DD1 currently in yr 4. Ideally we would like her to stay where she is til end of yr 6, hence the query but I can see that that may not be feasible.

OP posts:

Original poster

Riverside1 · 29/04/2015 12:03

Thanks Springlamb, sorry cross posted. Problem we have is not wanting to uproot DD1 before end of Yr 6, so this is difficult logistically.

Can you actually apply to a grammar if you don't live in the county (and wouldn't until after you'd actually been offered a place)?

OP posts:

bigTillyMint · 29/04/2015 12:06

You can apply to the superselectives in Surrey - mainly boys, but a couple of girls. Children travel to them from all over. Kent may be the same?

mugglingalong · 29/04/2015 12:10

You can but then she wouldn't only need to pass it but would need to pass it very well. Some grammar schools just take the nearest x% - you wouldn't stand a chance with those ones if you don't live nearby. Others will allocate some spaces for children out of area, but the pass mark for them is higher and they might take the top 50 girls say, but you won't know until after allocation day in March whether your child is in that top few girls.

Hakluyt · 29/04/2015 12:10

You can apply- but most Kent grammars are oversubscribed and have a distance admissions criterion, so you would be very unlikely to get a place.

Original poster

Riverside1 · 29/04/2015 12:14

ok thanks - so basically if out of area it's risky and you would need to be there before yr 6 which would mean putting her into a new school for one year :-(

OP posts:

Hakluyt · 29/04/2015 12:17

If your're talking about an "ordinary" grammar, rather than a superselective it's more than risky- the chances of getting a place are as close to zero as anything can be.............

Hakluyt · 29/04/2015 12:18

Sorry - and to add to the bad news, thye take the test very early in year 6, so she woild have to cope with doing it in the first couple of weeks of a new school...........

mugglingalong · 29/04/2015 12:19

Kent is a mixture of superselectives and 'normal' grammars taking the top 25%. Thinking about it some of the other normal grammars do have a few 'governor's places' - requiring higher marks for children living further away but not as many as the superselectives.

If you think that she is in the top 3-5% then superselective application out of area might work, otherwise if in top 25% you would need to move by the Oct of yr 6.

Original poster

Riverside1 · 29/04/2015 12:20

thanks Hakluyt, we were thinking about Highworth in Ashford due to train links and I used to live nr there. DD1 could possibly get into a superselective but I am not so sure about DD2 (bit early to say) and so I wouldn't want to take the risk.

OP posts:

springlamb · 29/04/2015 12:23

I can't say specifically about the grammars, but I cannot see why not, as they are going on the same form as your other choices. Our timescale was decision made in Yr4, area decided upon and possible schools in Yr5, schools viewed and form submitted Autumn of Yr6, house on market January of Yr6, school place known March of Yr6, house sold and new house purchased June of Yr6, (we camped out with a relative till the end of Yr6 so dd could finish school).

You have to work the Kent test into your equation and find out where the test is being held for out of borough candidates.
You submit your choices form to where you're living at that time, they send it on to the authority where your choices are located. There is a space on the form for a note explaining you are moving by "the summer of whatever year" and expect to be living in such and such an area. Because of my Yr 5 research I was able to give the first part of postcode, but I didn't have a fixed address at the time.
I wonder if it would be easier applying to grammars because if your dd is a resounding Pass at the test, she'd be offered a place anyway.
DD's first choice school automatically offers places to the top 20% of candidates at their own exam which is held in November, so she may have got in under this umbrella. But the process would have been the same.
We also took the decision that come what may we would be here ready for the start of Yr7 even if we had to rent a property if ours hadn't sold, and we put that on the form too!

springlamb · 29/04/2015 12:25

Highworth is very oversubscribed.

Hakluyt · 29/04/2015 12:26

"I wonder if it would be easier applying to grammars because if your dd is a resounding Pass at the test, she'd be offered a place anyway."

No she wouldn't!

Theresomethingaboutdairy · 29/04/2015 12:26

I have a dd currently in year 4 and a DS in year 3. We are moving to Kent at the end of this term for the grammar schools. I am reluctant to make the move but am hoping it will be worth it in the end.

Hakluyt · 29/04/2015 12:27

Highworth is oversubscribed and has a distance criterion.

IKnowRight · 29/04/2015 12:27

You're unlikely to get a place straight away unless your child is already in a local primary school and takes the 11+ with the rest of the year, the grammars are all oversubscribed and it's rare for places to become available once y7 intake has been allocated.

Hakluyt · 29/04/2015 12:29

Probably not the right place to say this- but I do hope that the people moving to Kent for the Grammar schools are also moving for the High Schools as well.......................

mugglingalong · 29/04/2015 12:31

Yes the admission distance for a normal grammar school if in top 25% is probably not too different than for many other popular secondary schools.

Yes test is in September. Not sure whether they take your address as being when you take the test in Sept or when you apply in Oct.

If it is a superselective then moving might not be an issue (although distance might still be used as a tiebreaker) but it definitely would be if it wasn't a superselective. Some schools will have a different threshold for nearby applicants so it might be ok for dd2 if you were living near enough.

Original poster

Riverside1 · 29/04/2015 12:32

Thanks all. The Kent test does have a particular day allocated for out of county applicants so there must be some provision in the allocation process by schools, but I can see that it significantly reduces chances of getting a place (though DD is scoring in top 5% in NFER tests).
Back to the drawing board!

Best of luck Theresomethingaboutdairy!

OP posts:

Stillwishihadabs · 29/04/2015 12:33

Ds has just got a place at an undersubscribed Kent "normal" grammar school (having missed the superselective cut off by 0.5%) from out of county. So it is possible, they are not all oversubscribed. It has a good ofsted and excellent exam results too. Please pm me for more details. We may move or he might commute.....

mugglingalong · 29/04/2015 12:33

Or friends with the local vicar or priest Hakluyt!

steppemum · 29/04/2015 12:37

not all kent grammars are location dependent.

I think my nieces school has no distance criteria in their entrance criteria. It is done on test score alone. So if you score high enough you get in, where ever you live.

If that is the case then you can move whenever you want. The danger is that if your dd gets a decent score but not enough for that school, and your next option does have a distance criteria, you are sunk.

mugglingalong · 29/04/2015 13:15

From what I can see Highworth is not a superselective which means it is easier to get into but you would need to live nearby. You can ask Kent what the furthest distance offered was but interpret this with caution as the birth rate has gone up for your dd's age so it is likely to be smaller. The good news is that with a sibling priority and not being superselective your dd2 would stand a better chance of getting a place.

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