Urgent - School admission Error - Offer withdrawn

[Faith2022]

Hi,
A grammar school where my sister's daughter applied to, sent a letter in May 2022 and they congratulated her that her daughter has passed the test and was added to the waiting list for Year 9 entry. But within 24 hours, the same school sent her a letter and advised that her daughter did not pass again.

The grammar school has refused to explain how they arrived at the lower score which made her daughter non selective. The first letter that she received in May 2022 stated her daughter had a total score of 122 whilst the second letter showed the score as 101. My sister has refused to tell her daughter as she already celebrated with her and it is difficult to tell daughter that she did not pass again. (This is so confusing to a young child)
We have an appeal this week and I would appreciate any assistance.

Thank you all in advance.

There was no place given to someone else though. The girl wasn’t ever offered a place. She was only added to a wait list.

The child might be in a Middle School (where I live middle school is Year 3 - Year 8) or she might be at a Prep School

Even if she was on the airing list, how likely would it be for a place to come up before end of year 11? Where I live they take kids in y7 and y8 but unless someone moves house, it's unlikely to get a place. My neighbour's sons are in year 11 and year 8 and they've never had a new person join l.

The Head Girl aspect doesn't mean as much as you think. State schools aren't allowed to discriminate according to behaviour so a child with average behaviour is treated the same as a child with perfect behaviour. At my kids school Head Girl is picked by the kids so is a popularity contest

Be very careful what you say / how you phrase things at the meeting. Realistically is there any/minimal chance they are going to change their minds, and offer her a place?

Subject access request if in UK might concentrate their minds, together with informing them without prejudice before appeal that you have sought specialist legal advice if the school are refusing to be transparent and that you are giving them a final opportunity to revert to their original decision.

She's 13. Not a 'young child' who won't understand she hasn't got in.

She was accepted to go on the waitlist. This was subsequently withdrawn.

I get this is disappointing but unfortunately them's the breaks when it comes to selective schools.

You just need an explanation of what the admin error was.

If she is doing well at her current school and is happy and confident then, in my opinion, that's a more successful school experience than struggling in a grammar school.

I went to a grammar school and was very average. The teaching was also very average (or in fact below average) because the teachers didn't really need to do very much for their intelligent pupils to do well.

If this is her second attempt at entry and if the score is in fact 101, then a challenging grammar school is not a place for her.

Perhaps a tutor once or twice a week to stretch her academically, if she is not being challenged enough, would be more beneficial.

It will be a shame for your niece, but if she didn't achieve the pass mark, she would struggle badly at grammar school. She needs to know sooner rather than later that the school has made a stupid mistake and she won't be going there in September.

I'm not sure that she does need to know, does she? Her mother can simply tell that there are no vacancies for children on the waiting list. Which is probably correct anyway, Grammar schools get very few drop-outs.