Anyone else waiting for grammar school results?

[Dynamix]

Just wondering if anyone would like to accompany me on the horrible journey which is waiting for grammar school test results. My DD sat the grammar test a month ago (can't really believe it was that long ago!) and results are due out mid October. There's no specific date given which makes it even more fun

Passing the test would be only our first hurdle as we are not in catchment. Places are allocated to those in catchment and then, if there are places leftover, by distance (not score) after this. I feel that if she at least passes it will do wonders for her self-esteem even if she doesn't make it on distance. We have not pressured her at all and not tutored with an agency, but I went through the materials available from the County online with her so she knew the question types likely to come up. She came out of the exam fairly positive and answered everything on the papers so fingers crossed! This. Is. So. Painful. Though....

It was interesting as for the late places DS didn’t have to sit 11+ and instead sat two exams based on national curriculum maths and English. There is a suggested catchment which we are just outside of .
loads did sit for the main entry - 400 or so I heard for 160 places- but I don’t think enough passed. DS has two very clever friends who scored just too low. DS is almost youngest in the year and I believe they take that into account with our local grammar .

He's done really well. I do worry sometimes wonder if things like that happen where we are too but we just don't know about it!

That must be really tough. I have another child but there's quite a big age gap so we'd probably look round all the schools again etc when the time comes. I agree about not knowing what's happened on papers sat on one afternoon! My DD is bright but frankly who knows under all that pressure.

@FairlyIncognito out of curiosity, are you based in north west?

Waiting here - 18th for results. Test sat at beginning of September and headteacher appeals have all been done. It's so frustrating that they make you wait for so long when the headteacher knows now!!

So the HT appeals on your behalf if you're near cut-off and you wouldn't even know? That is strange!

No, PaintedNailsAndBraidedHair we are in south west

@Dynamix I feel your pain as we are also anxiously waiting for 11plus results. Well, I'm the anxious one - my son is relaxed about the whole thing thankfully. Not too bad when I'm at work but I feel the weight of the wait in the evenings and at weekends. I know it's not the end of the world he doesn't pass - but the not knowing is getting to me. My son had a stage 2 test last Saturday and a sport aptitude test yesterday, and now that's it: we just waiiiiiiiiiiiiiit. Good luck, everyone!

Waiting here too! Sibling is already at grammar so thinking how to handle it if they don't get in.... performed amazingly in mocks but wasn't so sure she performed as well on the day....

It's such a long wait! We're trying to big up Plan B but it's harz!

@MagnaQuestion Ah yes, tricky if one child 'makes it' and the other one doesn't. My sons are in Y3 and Y6, so I might find myself in that predicament in 3 years' time. I'm also praising Plan B in front of my son - but inside, I'm not convinced. We live in the heart of a Grammar area - so the top 10% get creamed off by the Grammars, which makes life tougher for the Comps. Best wishes to your daughter. Performance in mocks correlates strongly with performance in actual tests - so she's well placed to secure a place.

Similar area here I think in that I don't like my plan b but she is bright, will do well etc.... it will be okay....

Is still remember getting my 11+ results. Was awful. Failed by 2 points due to nerves. Ended up at local upper. Horrific school.

@MagnaQuestion Identical reasoning here. Do keep us posted.

@forevercooking Such an unfair system, isn't it? Do you think your life would have been much different if you had gone through the Grammar system?

It is an unfair system in a way. Although giving the chance of a grammar education to those who could never else have afforded it is also a good thing. I massively regret not appealing the decision. I had a horrible middle school teacher who was very alike Miss Trunchbull who told mother I was better going to an upper and excelling than a grammar and struggling. Despite me being in top sets my whole school career. She put us off appealing and I'm still a bit bitter about it as I ended up in a horrible upper where we couldn't keep teachers. We were in special measures for 15 years and at one point couldn't even go to school every day as there was not enough teachers to keep it open. As a result the 'brighter' pupils were largely left to their own devises while they dealt with the problem children. My school work suffered and I barely scraped any GCSE's even though I was deemed as 'heading for Oxford' when I first started. For this reason I have specifically sent my children to a school that still does the 11+ exam so I can give them the best chance. On the other perspective my friend went to the grammar and found it very hard, and never went on to university and now has a job not a career. It's difficult

Have you checked the different entry points? Our local grammar’s website has all the info laid out clearly , so mentions how many spaces there are left for each year group (often zero with waiting lists but not always ). The difficult bit is ours won’t allow a second application within a year so the exam for late entry to join during the first term can’t be done for many children if they’ve just already sat the 11+ .

Ours will set you a test the following year if you want another chance but I can't find out much about 12+ - if its the same material or a years more study?

There are other entry points, but from what I've heard it's extremely rare for any places to come up. When they do they have a large waiting list of children who have sat for in year entry. I really think this is our one shot as I'm not sure I could go through moving DD from another school even if we did secure that magical place (except of course if she was very unhappy).

i get that Dynamix and do really hope she gets a place .
where we are for late year 7 places it was two exams based on national curriculum maths and English and not 11+. If we’d tried for 12+ there would have been science too but currently no spaces available

@forevercooking Oh, dear - not exactly a positive experience of secondary education. You seem to have bounced back though thankfully. I also know several Grammar-educated people who, professionally, have not done particularly well in terms of salary and job satisfaction. Only anecdotal but I'll remind myself that if my son doesn't get a Grammar place!

Kent I assume? Also waiting for the 18th here... 😬😬

I don't think you can really compare the stress of the prep for the 11 plus test with the actual grammar school experience.

As someone else mentioned, a state grammar is just a school, with teachers teaching the curriculum for pupils to sit (pretty much) the same GCSEs as any other school.

I was in your position last year, and my DD has recently started at a super-selective grammar. She says that people don't seem to compare 11 plus results or look backwards in any way. She appears to have less homework than her friends in other local schools, and is not showing any signs of being pushed hard. I appreciate it is likely to ramp up at some stage, but so it should in all schools as they approach exams. Once they start, it's just school!

(Best of luck to all for the next couple of weeks. I do remember refreshing my inbox rather a lot!)

Just to reassure you @MagnaQuestion we had exactly this scenario a few years ago, DS at a grammar, DD2 didn't get a place and went to the local, not terribly good secondary modern. Wind forward a decade and DD2 now has a first class Masters in a hard-core STEM subject from a world-leading university.

She achieved this through her own hard work, determination and focus. She literally could not have a higher achievement in her field if she had gone to grammar.

@thing47 Love this! Thanks for sharing.

@thing47 That's great to hear! Well done DS!

Or even DD 🤦‍♀️