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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

SPGS actual offers and acceptances

220 replies

spnumbers · 22/01/2023 09:09

This has been mentioned a few times. Here's last year's actual results by school. The class was 113. 51 places were achieved by making 53 offers. That's 45% of the class. At that rate, it implies that a total of 4.4 offers were declined. If we think the other 55% is more likely to decline offers, then it's more like 7-12 total offers declined. Enjoy.

SPGS actual offers and acceptances
OP posts:
Lolakath19 · 06/02/2023 13:08

Oh my...well lets wait until Friday. Hopefully it was just a glitch..

LondonMum20222 · 06/02/2023 13:20

@Ernern Have you called them to ask about it?

Pleasegrowmore · 06/02/2023 13:22

So an update for anyone also in this situation and all the kind folk who've offered support..

Does seem to be a glitch! I emailed this morning, after doing so checked again and it had reverted to "applied" baffling. Then just got a response to say that the admissions team haven't made any changes to the system, not sent out any formal notifications and in fact don't even have a final meeting until Wednesday. They suggested that they are currently moving 16+ candidates through so perhaps some glitch from that, and they are checking with the IT department.

So @Rub19 seems we may still have hope :)

Pleasegrowmore · 06/02/2023 13:22

Ernern · 06/02/2023 13:02

The status has now changed back to "applied", lol
😂

Ah you too! Very odd isn't it! I think I'll just step away from my computer for the week.... *

  • i wish
LondonMum20222 · 06/02/2023 13:28

@Pleasegrowmore Great news! Am so relieved for you. And am super pleased that you checked!! Fingers crossed for you later in the week.

Parent123456 · 06/02/2023 13:39

Lets hope they were genuine ! It does reminded me of stories from last year where some people were emailed a newsletter and email address could read something like "acceptedcandidates" before the 11Feb and when some people found out from the website before email.
Our status says applied but we did not apply for bursary. Make me wonder if they treat bursary applications in a separate pool which would not be very fair..

Liam436 · 06/02/2023 14:37

Application to this school always seemed like kind of a lottery to me. I mean, when you have like, 2000 applications for 150 places, I expect they cannot take take time to consider each applicant.

BonjourCrisette · 06/02/2023 14:50

It's not 150 places and I'm pretty sure there are nothing like 2000 applicants.

The portal thing sounds very stressful. Good luck, and my fingers are firmly crossed for you all! Almost makes me grateful for waiting for the envelope through the door back in 2018!

Pleasegrowmore · 06/02/2023 15:38

Nowhere near 2000 applicants, and actually, given there are two sets of tests followed by an interview, I'm not sure you can claim it's particularly random or a lottery. Of course all exams involve a bit of luck (everyone has good days and bad days) and ditto interview, but it's pretty exhaustive really...

@Parent123456 I did wonder too.. but the response seemed pretty genuine. If it was a day or two before the results email I'd be more sceptical but I think an entire week in advance does seem a bit odd and indeed perhaps a glitch in the system.

Ernern · 06/02/2023 17:03

LondonMum20222 · 06/02/2023 13:20

@Ernern Have you called them to ask about it?

No @LondonMum20222 I was planning to call to inquire this afternoon but saw @Pleasegrowmore 's message. Thanks everyone for the support and encouragement.

I do hope that it's genuinely a glitch more than anything, though I have my doubts... anyway another 4 days of waiting and we shall all find out!

& to @Parent123456's point, I would not be surprised if the bursary applicants are being dealt with differently. Although I only suspect the requirements/expectations for a successful bursary applicant could be higher... all a speculation!

Parent123456 · 06/02/2023 18:11

If it is true that only bursary applicants had that update it seems very strange to me that it is just a glitch.

@Ernern that is what I am thinking as well. I am not thinking that they might have a pool of bursary applicant. Lets say 20 after 2nd stage and that not only those will need to meet the standard required but as they probably have a limited amount of bursary available will have to be the top 3 of that pool to be offered even if that means that some other applicants with lower standard but no bursary application will be offered..

Which does not seem fair at all.. :(😥

atticus77 · 06/02/2023 18:22

Parent123456 · 06/02/2023 18:11

If it is true that only bursary applicants had that update it seems very strange to me that it is just a glitch.

@Ernern that is what I am thinking as well. I am not thinking that they might have a pool of bursary applicant. Lets say 20 after 2nd stage and that not only those will need to meet the standard required but as they probably have a limited amount of bursary available will have to be the top 3 of that pool to be offered even if that means that some other applicants with lower standard but no bursary application will be offered..

Which does not seem fair at all.. :(😥

We had 'declined' in the portal and we haven't applied for a bursary

Not convinced by the 'glitch' message from the school, but we will see...

Parent123456 · 06/02/2023 19:12

Oh dear..
@atticus77 did it revert back to applied?

atticus77 · 06/02/2023 19:13

Parent123456 · 06/02/2023 19:12

Oh dear..
@atticus77 did it revert back to applied?

Yep

Parent123456 · 06/02/2023 19:58

lets see how it all untangle on Friday.. 4 nights!

Ernern · 06/02/2023 20:04

atticus77 · 06/02/2023 18:22

We had 'declined' in the portal and we haven't applied for a bursary

Not convinced by the 'glitch' message from the school, but we will see...

😕😮
I wish more parents would share... if any parent saw a different status, then it proves that the status would have been correct/real...

SamPoodle123 · 06/02/2023 20:35

Perhaps it was a mistake if no parents saw "accepted" status.

Waitingwaitingwait · 06/02/2023 20:36

Ours shows as applied…no idea if it was pre or post fix though. Unsure if I was quick enough to check when this kicked off…partially delayed because I had forgotten the password and took some time to figure that out. Now these posts have made me concerned too about the ‘applied’ status. All this waiting is a lot of mental torment.

Parent123456 · 06/02/2023 20:46

Cant see how the 16+ process would impact 11+ process as they say, or someone may have clicked inadvertently on update declined status 11+ rather than 16+..?
If that is the case I find it very surprising that so many bursar applicants (I admit Mumsnet one only) all had a declined status. If odds at this stage are more or less a 1 to 2 chance there is something fishy here lol
But let s try not to speculate. In any case I don t take the fact that my status did not change as a potential offer ...

LondonMum20222 · 06/02/2023 20:52

Parent123456 · 06/02/2023 18:11

If it is true that only bursary applicants had that update it seems very strange to me that it is just a glitch.

@Ernern that is what I am thinking as well. I am not thinking that they might have a pool of bursary applicant. Lets say 20 after 2nd stage and that not only those will need to meet the standard required but as they probably have a limited amount of bursary available will have to be the top 3 of that pool to be offered even if that means that some other applicants with lower standard but no bursary application will be offered..

Which does not seem fair at all.. :(😥

I would try not to speculate too much about this. At the SPGS open day we went to, Sarah Fletcher said they currently had 12% of students on bursaries, which would equate to 14 girls in any new year intake (and were planning to increase that to 20% in the next few years). The woman talking about bursaries was absolutely at pains to say that the two processes are conducted separately: ie the list of successful candidates is drawn up, and then that list is discussed between Sarah Fletcher and the bursary dept as to what was available for each student in need. She could not have emphasised more times that there were not "two lists" and that bursary students were not "bumped off" the list in favour of someone who could pay full fees.

Of course a bursary fund is finite, but my impression was that they tinker around with the figures for successful candidates who don't need full bursaries (eg five families might hope to get 50% but the school can only afford to offer them all 30% instead, and then either you find a way to make up the difference or you don't).

The bursary process will always be a bit of an unknown quantity but I would really love to believe SPGS that it's done as fairly as they described.

Obviously if anyone has any direct experiences of the bursary programme it would be great to hear from them.

Ernern · 06/02/2023 21:03

The next 4 days will be quite a torture!!! 😅

LondonMum20222 · 06/02/2023 21:04

@Ernern Last year (according to MN) SPGS emailed offers pre 9am on Thursday, so it may only be 2 more days of torture!

Parent123456 · 06/02/2023 21:13

fingers crossed you are right @LondonMum20222

(although this talk about willing to increase bursars to 20% still echoes in my head that bursaries are treated separately...)

BonjourCrisette · 06/02/2023 21:41

as they probably have a limited amount of bursary available will have to be the top 3 of that pool to be offered

This is absolutely incorrect. They are very very keen to have more bursary students and a member of staff who would know told my daughter last year that not enough girls are applying for bursaries. Having said that, the child still has to pass the exam though they do take account of eg prior schools attended.

What @LondonMum20222 describes is absolutely my understanding of the process and her figure of 12% is about right. I was at a parents' evening at the school tonight and Sarah Fletcher explicitly mentioned her 20% target for bursaries.

We do have direct experience of the bursary programme. Happy to answer (reasonable) questions. If you don't want to put your question on the thread, I am happy to answer PMs.

HighRopes · 07/02/2023 09:01

I’ve just been reading the bursary pages of their website. They say “We are proud that so far, no student who has passed our entry requirements has been turned away on financial grounds.”. It’s on spgs.org/support/support-us/

I’ve got my fingers crossed for good news for all of you on Friday.