Hi,
I applied for a grammar school place in Birmingham back in October as my son got a really good score in his 11+ exam and was confident he would get his first choice school since he is PP, lives in catchment and achieved above the qualifying score.
I was contacted 27 October for proof of address and replied on 28 as requested along with extra supporting evidence. I didn’t hear anything back from admissions, despite chasing whether everything was in hand in December and again January.
By February I was getting more anxious so sent a third email chasing it and again heard nothing until i finally phoned only to be told my application wasn’t processed because they never received my proof of address before the deadline of 31 October.
I have been relentlessly trying to resolve this because I sent everything by email as requested on 28 October. They said they didn’t receive it until December which is absurd.
I’ve since been emailed to say the application will be processed as a “late application” and on 2nd March, next week, I won’t receive any offers. This has practically shattered my world after my son prepared for the test for 2 years. It was a lot of hard work and emotional turmoil. The chances of him getting a space at grammar now is slim because we’ve been told he will go onto a waiting list for each of the grammar schools we applied for.
I have escalated it to a formal complaint with the council and am yet to receive a response from their “stage 1” process.
Can anyone suggest what else I can do or give me any reassurance about what might happen. I’ve been at my wits end for weeks trying to push for it to be processed as “on time” and to get offers made on 2 March, but since the formal complaint takes 15 days for a reply, I’m now at the realisation that the application won’t be processed as “on time” despite it being no fault of mine.