11 plus entry

[mesha123]

Hi,

My Dd is in year 4. We do not have any grammars in our area.

Also the catchment area of the grammar schools doesn't cover our postcode.

I was planning to still apply through either academic or music criteria. Was just wondering that if she passes the exams can she still be rejected based on a postcode that doesn't cover their catchment.

Also I haven't actively started preparing her for grammar yet but which ones are better to focus on - academic tests or music?

She has recently started singing classes but I am not sure if by the time she needs to sit for the tests whether she will be ready for it.

Is it necessary to apply through both (music and academic) or either one is fine?

Many thanks and apologies for lots of questions.

I don't think anyone can answer this properly. You need to identify the schools you are interested in and check their entrance requirements. Maybe then you can come back here for more information on the experiences of other posters.

For what it's worth, the thing that struck me most about your post was the way it seemed to mix up entrance requirements for state schools (postcode) with those for some independent schools (possibility of music scholarships).

In any case, good luck.

If you are talking about grammar schools, focus on the academics. They won't be interested in her music ability.

If independent - she will still (most likely) have to pass the academic entrance exams before going for music scholarships.

Probably depends what area you are. The grammars by me have two entry criteria - top 100 or something are not reliant on catchment the. The rest are. The high performing comp you can get in on performing arts needs very high scores I think to get in.

Just to add - some schools have outer catchments but she would have to score way higher than those within catchment to get in. I'd look at individual schools and ask them directly. Or the other option is to move into catchment which will be more straightforward

It's for the watford consortium. They generally have a 10 percent selection based on academic tests and 10 percent based on music tests.

I am not looking for independents as I can't afford them

Do you mean the South West Hertfordshire Consortium, which includes some schools offering some places unrelated to place of residence, or specifically Watford Grammar School for Girls (which, like the other schools in the Consortium, is not actually a grammar school, but a partially selective comprehensive)? Either way, you need to check the specific admissions policy for each of the schools, before deciding whether it will be worth applying from where you are living now, or whether it would make sense / be possible to move into the catchment of the school you like best, before any relevant cut-off date.

Bear in mind that the admissions policy for your DD's year of entry - 2025 - will only be published at the end of February 2024, so could change between now and when your DD would be sitting the selection test.

You would need to read the admissions criteria for each school.

For example, parmiters have both an academic and a music aptitude criteria - academic up to 25% of places and music 10% - but they have a priority postcode area from which 95% of these places are allocated. So that's a total of at most 4 children under that criteria from non priority postcodes.

Yes for the south west hertfordshire consortium.

Do you admissions policy change that much year on year?

@PatriciaHolm

Thanks that's good to know..

If there is going to be a change in the policy, there will be a consultation for a period of a few weeks around this time of year - so late 2023 for 2025 entry - the most obvious place to look out for this is on the websites of the schools themselves. The admissions authority (the LEA for a community or Voluntary Controlled school, the Academy Trust for academies, the Governing Body for VA / Foundation schools) has to consider objections, but doesn't necessarily have to act upon them. Changes could be things like swapping round the order priority of 'siblings' vs 'catchment', adding 'children of staff' as a priority etc. I'm not in your area, but I remember reading something online about a 'cross-sibling' policy at the Watford schools (adding? removing?) a few years back, I think. That is the kind of thing which can affect the chances of a singleton / eldest child applicant getting a place, for example.

@MarchingFrogs

Thanks