Late applications/appeal/11+ bucks

[beanhunter]

Hi. We have just moved to Buckinghamshire from a non 11+ area 100 miles away. Eldest due to go into year 7 in selt 2023 but will be assessed for round 1 on our old address. She has the option to sit a late 11+ but has had no prep and I have no idea whether she would even get a space if she passed as a late applicant.

we put the local comp as choice 1 but historically it’s always oversubscribed so I can’t see she will get a round 1 place based on our home address at the time of application and will therefore be offered a school 100 miles away. (I now see that prior council advised me wrongly to only put one bucks school and 3 for prior home local authority)

how do I best approach this after offers day? Do I appeal based on distance (but can I only do this in round 2 due to our address move timing?) - the local comp is 1.2 miles away and we are well within catchment. Next nearest state is 5 miles I think . Or do I just wait and hope she gets in off the waiting list? What about the 11+? If she gets over the magic mark can I appeal for a grammar on the same grounds? The system seems not very transparent and the council haven’t been the most helpful in telling me how to approach. Clearly she can’t go to a school 100 miles away.

I would not suggest high for September . It would be dependant on an offered place being turned down and your dc being top of the waiting list at that time, assuming they have passed the test. Ask LA about the timetable for the later round of testing and how that fits in with subsequent offer rounds. Historically, have either of those schools made later offers?

For SWBGS the key point is no.10 - so if they can’t take all of catchment then catchment siblings would be offered first - this does not keen ooc siblings would be admitted as they do not qualify under the catchment rule.

As I said earlier GMS, WHS and SWBGS have all made offers in later rounds in previous years.

obviously no one can predict the likelihood of an offer and it depends who’s in front of you - the OP moving in at less then 2 miles will have bumped others down the list similarly if someone moves in at 0.5 miles they will bump the OP down.

You don’t need to be qualified for grammar to list them in CAF but obv no offer will be made unless qualified.

@KittyMcKitty .. thank you

Bucks council should be able to give you the figures for later rounds if you ask them. Or ask on the eleven plus forum, someone may know.
I don't think there are many allocations beyond the first round & any that there are usually go to children who's families have moved close to the school after the end of October.

The grammar school are correct. It is absolutely nothing to do with them as county deal with exams for entries into 7, 8, and 9. It is also worth noting that hardly any grammar schools have places available for intakes outside of year 7. All you would do is join a waiting list. And of course you could be bumped down the waiting list if people that meet the criteria more than you join it.

And it is 100% transparent.

Year 7 entry: You apply to county and sit the test. If you qualify (get 120 plus) then you can apply. Whether or not you are offered a place is based on catchment and then distance for any remaining spaces. Scores don’t matter so it is very transparent.

Year 8-9 entry: You apply to county for late testing (deadline is usually Nov for February testing - it as last weekend). If you qualify you can be placed on the waiting list for your preferred school if there are no places. If there are places (rare) then it works the same as in year 7. Once the places are taken anyone left remains on the list.

After Year 9 the test results expire so you HAVE to test again.

Year 10-11 entry is managed by the grammar school you want to apply to. You apply and sit the test (also done last weekend). If you pass the process is exactly the same as years 8-9.

Year 12 - apply to the school and it is based on GCSE results.

I’m mostly watching this astounded at the number of people from Marlow that are here. I thought I was all alone! 🤣

Good luck OP.

Hi all,
my child qualified for 11+ buckinghamshire.
i work as a teacher in one of those schools.
We live out of catchment, how much being a teacher could influence the admission of my child to the same school I work!?
i commute everyday so my child would accompany me.

You would need to look at the admissions policy of your school. Some of them do have children of staff above catchment.

They are telling me it is only for undersubscription!
if they cannot fill the places they use this criteria to fill their spaces?!

There is a misunderstanding here.

If the school is undersubscribed, that means they haven't got enough applicants to fill all the places available. In that situation, everyone who has applied will get an offer. The admission criteria don't play any part in this, nor can they be used as some kind of way of filling places with people who haven't applied for this school.

The admission criteria apply if the school is oversubscribed, i.e. there are more applicants than places. The criteria decide the priority order for applicants, which then determines who will be offered a place.

No Bucks grammar schools are undersubscribed. Which school is it?

Don't rely on "what they are telling me". Do your own research. Their admission policy will be on their website. As others have asked, which school is it?

Latin grammar school

This might be useful. Looks like in previous years all children of staff (who had a qualifying score) regardless of catchment were admitted.

Link here: services.buckscc.gov.uk/school-admissions/schools/137344

They do hide their admissions policy though - no wonder you couldn't find it!

Royal Latin School?
Children of staff are 4th after looked after children, children in catchment & siblings. It's all on your school website. Which categories were allocated in previous years will be on the Buckinghamshire council website.
(Others typed faster than I did)

Er, you work at the school?
then you will be aware it has a website, which contains the admissions criteria, yes?
See point 4) : children of staff who’ve either worked for 2 years at the school or were recruited into a shortage specialty.
Are you either of those things?

No guys I found in Latin Grammar School there s a criteria called children of staff. I work in another school; they are telling me, children of staff is not a criteria for them!!!
and I m like make one !
is that so complicated?
i might need to approach admission team to understand whats going on!!!

Schools can choose to have children of staff as a criteria, it can help with staff recruitment/retention. But they don't have to.

Changing admission criteria takes time and consultation.

As this is an appeal anyway it is somewhat irrelevant as provided you passed the exam it is about balance of harm/benefit (unless grammars have other rules?)

You won't get any exception made . Each school has their own admissions policy although in essence most are similar. Your dc has to qualify like any other child, according to their 11+ result and admissions criteria. So living out of catchment is a significant disadvantage.

The poster says their child qualified. I think this has got confusing because the poster has added to another thread (about an appeal) rather than starting their own.
This school (assuming "Latin Grammar School" is the same as Royal Latin School) has children of staff as one of the criteria, and all who applied under that criterion were offered places last year. However this does not mean children of staff at other schools!
You don't need to approach the admission staff, you just need to read the admissions document someone linked to up thread.

So you aren't staff at the school you want your child to attend? Are they part of the same Academy Trust?

It's pretty unusual to have criteria that say that your children can attend your school of choice just because you're a teacher at a different school! It's normally there to make life easier for teachers to have their kids at their place of work and improve staff retention.

I have occasionally seen it that children of teachers can attend wider schools within the Trust.

Sorry, to clarify, "children of staff" means children of staff AT THAT SCHOOL.