Anyone heard from Tiffin Boys Sixth Form - interviews?

[Vive42]

DD is keen to go to Tiffin Boys for sixth form.

We found on another forum website that by now, last year, a lot of people were having interviews and had heard from the school.

So far we've received no further communications from Tiffin Boys about DD's application.

Posting here to see if anyone is having interviews and if we should expect a rejection. 😞

A close friend’s daughter went yesterday . I would imagine she is a potential Oxbridge candidate and had a series of 9s for mocks . The interview was more of a tour chat type . It was a conditionall offer pending results . There were 20:35 girls and similar for boys .
I had telephoned the admin office last week & asked if no news meant not making the cut . In our case it was probably a poor case as they hadn’t even asked for mocks / references despite having sufficient for last years results . I sent the mock results a couple of days ago which they asked for only when I prompted via email . When I spoke to the admission lady last week , she said it wasn’t an absolute no that I had not heard , going into my daughter’s file. I asked her if not hearing had meant she had not made the first round annd therefore waitlisted , again she said thy are processing for the week following the aster . She did say that they actually take a fair number on the wait list on results day so it felt she was indicating this as a likely scenario. The girl I referrer to in the first paragraph is the crème de l crème, taking 12 exams I would imagine mostly if not all 9s. Lovely girl too . After speaking to my friend , I imagine the fact that there were interviews for about 50/60 would mean that this accounts for the 60 places available . It felt from the admin lady that a number are likely wait listed, but the week after Easter it the following one before the children go back was when we were likely to know . The lady who had written about her neighbour’s twins . A precious thread had talked about it being subject dependent too . I note the girl had picked Maths , seemingly from the link in that thread 203 studied Maths . Our friend’s daughter is not going to .

I thunk assuming no for us is a likely scenario ( wait list ) , but it seems the next couple of weeks is when we would know .

Wondering if we should collectively raise a complaint with the governors with regards to the admissions process?

Thanks all for the update. Yes, unfortunately I assumed it was a no for us.

@Luffers1972 I don't think raising a complaint would make any difference. My feeling is that if DD doesn't get in, it wasn't the right school for her.

Sorry to hear this. My daughter and ai loved the school when we visited however I’m not impressed by the school’s admissions process.

The Tiffin Girls process sounds much fairer. Ring on the day.

Wouldnt this be a better way for the boys school to go.

Can you submit on results day and hope for a place?

Does anyone know of anyone who has successfully achieved that?

Yes, my DC knows someone who did that. And I believe the rejection letter encourages it.

Thank you dredded. A small ray of hope!

I wander if you have perhaps you have all received an email this morning which states that a clerical error was made and we should have had an email on March 1st stating that processing will be done by April 30th.It looks like a blanket email.
@Luffers1972 @Richmond001 @dredded

@Vive42 - I actually know someone who received a place the day before school started so I guess although rare ,anything is possible.

Hopefully we will know as soon as possible. April 30th seems a while, but at least we have a date now.
Happy Easter

@INJU79 yes 😔
snippet below:

We are writing to you to apologise for an oversight in our communication. The email below should have been sent to you by Friday 1 March, but due to an administrative error, this did not happen. We can only apologise wholeheartedly for any upset and distress this may have caused you or your child. We want to reassure you that communication is ordinarily something we pride ourselves on. We value every application that we receive and we are sorry if this lack of communication created a different impression. We are now nearing the end of the selection process and you will hear from us in due course. -

We got the same email. I'm wondering how they figured out the email didn't reach us.

Perhaps the admission lady reads Mumsnet. 😂

@anoukis I was wondering and thinking the same - LOL
I usually just check my sent messages to ensure that I have actually emailed people haha
Not sure how this oversight happened.

My daughter has just been invited in for an interview, first week back after Easter. So first round offers are still being made.

May I ask what grades your daughter got in her mocks?

Yes I’d be interested to know too if happy to share. My daughter obtained 9 grade 8’s in her November mocks and we have heard nothing. Probably due to her A level choices.

@AnneTeddington thanks for letting us know. My daughter has 9s and 8s and no invite so assuming it is subject choice specific. Congrats to you and your daughter.

Hi Richmond001
My daughter got four 9s and four 8s in the mocks if we are counting the 8 needed for entry. Her subject choices were English Literature, History and Psychology. The email said 'following her grade estimates and reference' they would like to offer an interview.. etc I assume the reference was from her school.

"following her grade estimates and reference' they would like to offer an interview.. etc I assume the reference was from her school"

Clause 1.9g of the National Admissions Code says school admissions policies must not "take account of reports from previous schools about children’s past behaviour, attendance, attitude, or achievement" so this is another part of Tiffin's process that breaches the code. Honestly, they're wide open to appeals. 😂

But people can't appeal until they have a rejection letter.

Even two of the comprehensive schools we have applied to have taken up references from our teacher. Grey Court just requested one!

Yes, sixth forms often seem to flout the rules quite badly. The policies are visible on their websites, but there is no "coordinated admissions process" like there is for Reception and Year 7, so the online application forms and behind-the-scenes procedures seem to be a bit wild west.

The application form for Tiffin asks questions about hobbies, interests, aspirations etc, which aren't allowed.

@dredded
why do you think no one has taken them to task on this?

inertia?

too much hassle?

I seem to remember The Oratory got into trouble with their admission’s policy some years ago.

Need an active group of parents willing to go the extra mile.

No, it just needs one parent to refer their policy to the schools adjudicator. Easily done, and can be anonymous: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-admissions-arrangements#object-to-a-schools-admission-arrangements.

I might have done it myself, but the existing policy, with all its flaws, worked in my favour in a previous year. 😁 For those that do get a conditional offer, it's good to have the relative certainty of a place, rather than having to wait until August.