Grammar schools

[Tiredpanda]

Please can someone advise how applying for grammar schools through the local council form works?

If I put a grammar school first and my child doesn't pass the test and her local closest school (which her sibling attends) is second choice, could she miss out on a place there?

No she won't miss out on the place at the second choice. The schools don't know where on the preference list you have put them.
As a sibling she would probably be near the top of their priority list anyway (assuming they give some preference to siblings; most non-selective schools seem to)

where are you?

It does vary from area to area.
For example, where we are the test is next saturday, 11th, and the results will be out in about 3 weeks. That is before the CAF form has to be in.

So, you have the result and know that you child has passed or not. But a pass does not guarantee a place.

The form though is actually fairly simple. You put the schools down in the order that you want them, so in your case, grammar first and then the closest school.
If you do not get a place at the grammar school, then your second school will effectively go into first place, and you will be considered alongside those who put the school first.

No, it doesn't work that way. What happens is that you are ranked - by the local authority - against each school''s entrance criteria for each of the four schools you name on your application form regardless of what order you put the schools. If your daughter does not pass the 11+ and you put a Grammar in any place on your form, she will automatically be declined a place at that school. You can later appeal for a place but in the first round of allocations, she will not be offered a place if she doesn't pass. If you put down three other schools and she qualifies for a place at all of them, she will be offered the school that is highest up on the application form. It won't matter that you have put a Grammar first. You will be allocated the school for which you qualify that is highest up on your application form. That is why schools always say 'if you really want this school, put it first on the application form'. It doesn't mean you HAVE to put them first to guarantee a place at their school, it means that you put the schools in the order you want them. Sorry that is very waffly...I hope that makes sense!

PS you should get the 11+ result before having to put the school application in though?

'if you really want this school, put it first on the application form'.

It actually really annoys me when school ssay this because it is so misleading.
For most people that means - if you don't put us first, you won't get a place, which is not true and actually illegal to say.

If you put them second, and you don't get your first place (eg because they don't pass the test for grammar) you are considered alongside the kids who put it first. Technically it isn;t quite like that, but the effect for you is that.
Most people think that they give out all the first places and then any left over go to those who put it second. They don't.