Unsuccessful grammar school appeal

[Will2]

Good morning all,

I'm looking for further advice from people who have found themselves in this situation, or any advice from ex panel members which may prove beneficial please.

We got the awful news that my we didn't win my son's grammar school appeal on Friday, with my son being devastated.

We felt we put a compelling argument together;however the panel we had must've felt the schools case was heavier considering our of 39 cases only 1 case was upheld!

My main argument was around a rare medical condition he has and how this impacted him on the day of his first test. He scored above the pass mark on his verbal reasoning test but didn't perform to the best of his ability, citing how he was struggling to focus and concentrate which connects to his condition (NHS diagnosis letter of his condition was provided as evidence) - this is the main reason why he didn't achieve the historically high entry score because he achieved a brilliant score in his spatial reasoning test.

We are waiting for feedback; however the panel didn't ask us one single question about his condition during our individual appeal hearing which my wife thought was quite strange. I just thought they must've researched it and understood how this could've affected him.

The other point I felt was strong in our argument, was how our son is musically gifted and what the school we were appealing for could offer him. He has a grade three certification from the trinity college in London (soon to be 4) and this particular school has a recording studio (his allocated school doesn't have this) as well as opportunities to represent the school in this field.

We highlighted other points during our appeal and I'll be honest, I came away from our appeal quite positive, boy was I wrong!

Any advice from this point forward would be much appreciated. I'm waiting on the feedback which I hope will give me closure. Such an awful process to go through. Thanks in advance!

I think if your child has a medical condition you are meant to evidence it well in advance before the tests to get extra time and a separate room (if the medical condition warrants it). You can’t wait until after and claim it impacted them. There has got to be a process that is followed well in advance that has some objectivity in it.
So many people are now chasing grammar places and they are rightly allocating some places to pupil premium with lower scores (that is objective too).

Also, just like tutoring, people have now caught onto the appeals tricks system too. If everyone is now claiming they eg need their kid to get in to study Japanese/Latin (because they did it on Duolingo for six months) or play their clarinet etc the schools can’t go over the numbers they can accommodate safely!

There are loads of musical and intelligent kids around who also have health conditions but these grammar school places are just extremely limited and competitive. It’s a bit like the elite uni system. You don’t need to get in to do well in the long run though it’s just one opportunity of many.

How come he didn't get schools 2 & 3?
Were they also grammars, or just long shots non-grammars?
Did you appeal for them too?

I cant offer any practical advice but try and think of this like the burnt toast theory - the allocated school may be just what he needs, or the grammar may have been awful (they already seemed to dismiss his medical/support needs!) try and be positive, whats for him wont go by him as my gran used to say 😊

Our area have been clear that appeals are purely based on whether scores took into account an issue or not at the time of the test So if they had allowances (extra time) for something already then the appeal won't go through or if there was an issue known about before the test then again it won't go through. It's mainly for people who have got medical evidence that their DC was vomiting through the test or broke their arm on the way to school in the morning of the test as far as I could see. Nothing to do with extra curriculars.

They weren't grammar schools no. They were non-grammar schools. No idea why he didn't get given at least one of his preferences. I think that's why everything has felt even more so difficult. I don't understand how the local authorities allocated the places. I know certain children who put our 2nd choice school as their second school choice and got it. My son's friend, who lives 7 doors away from our second choice school and put it down as his first choice didn't get allocated a place either! We only live just over a mile away from the school as well. My son's allocated school is just under 3 miles away.

We have appealed for option 2 school as well.

Thank you 😊

. My son's friend, who lives 7 doors away from our second choice school and put it down as his first choice didn't get allocated a place either!

That is quite surprising unless there is a system of feeder primary schools, or random rather than distance based selection, or faith.

ETA the admissions criteria for each school should be on their websites, as you say you don’t know how the LA allocates.

I've heard of this in our area and I think it's because there is one very very unpopular school and several schools within a mile of each other so the nearest ones to them became over subscribed.

@Will2 you should be on the waiting lists for the 3 schools you didn't get. There's quite a lot of movement so you may get a place through that.

Your letter should state why he missed out on a place. The Admissions criteria might include ehcp, lac, siblings, faith, feeder school all before distance for example.

I don't understand how the local authorities allocated the places.
I know certain children who put our 2nd choice school as their second school choice and got it.

This really should be explained (and almost certainly is)
on your home LA's website. In a section which ours, and our neighbouring LA, asks parents to confirm that they have read and understood before submitting their CAF.

However...

Each school which you name as a preference on your CAF considers the application with no knowledge of where else you have applied and ranks your DC purely according to the school's oversubscription criteria.

Your LA collates the responses regarding each of your preferences and allocates either

• the highest of them which can be offered, where more than one can, or
• the only one which can be offered, if that is the case, or
• the nearest school to your address, in your LA, with a place still available once all those who have it as their own highest effective preference have been accommodated.

The third scenario appears to be the relevant one here.

So the DC you know whose parents put the same school as second preference as you did were ranked high enough against that school's oversubscription criteria to be offered a place, and could not be offered their first preference. Your DS, simularly not able to be offered his first preference, was not ranked highly enough by this school, either, nor, it seems, by your third preference.

Was there actually a local school less inconvenient / less undesirable than the 'nearest undersubscribed' school you got, which you would have been offered, had you named it as a preference (and if so, have you now applied for it)?

Btw, if you have a genuine reason to suspect that for either of your non-selective preferences, places were not allocated as they should have been, then you should make this known immediately to the admissions team.

I agree. My daughter started playing the flute halfway through Year 3, had passed her grade 5 theory and grade 6 practical before the end of Year 6, and she wasn’t considered gifted by any means.

I'll be honest, I'm not entirely sure how they treat each child's application for places; it seems completely alien to me.

All I know from speaking to other parents in the past who missed out on the grammar school place due to score, is that they all haven't got their second preference choice, when putting the overly subscribed second best school in town down. It's almost as if it goes against parents when putting this school down as second choice.

I've got no idea whatsoever why my son's friend missed out considering this school we are now appealing for is seven doors away from his house!

No that would not be the case, preference is not taken into account on assessing eligibility for a place, all applicants are ranked for each school according to its Admissions criteria and the highest preference for which a pupil qualifies is offered. If none are qualified for it is usually the nearest with a space available that is offered. Your lack of understanding of the process suggests that neither 2 nor 3 were realistic options for your dc as a back up plan. Have you checked the Admissions criteria for those schools and the offer letter to see why you missed out?

It's almost as if it goes against parents when putting this school down as second choice.

It doesn’t, and cannot.

The algorithm sorts all candidates for all the places they list by the admissions criteria, whatever they are.

If Katy is the younger sister of Jodie, and Jodie goes to Blue School which has a sibling preference, but Katy smashes the 11+ test for Red School, it is possible that Katy is near the top of the algorithm’s list for both Blue and Red.

Then, and only then, is Katy’s preference taken into account. If she put Red School first preference, she is given it, and everyone in the Blue School list moves up one place. And vice versa if she put Blue School first.

Katy also vanishes off the list for third preference, Yellow School, where perhaps she was in place 100 as that is a distance criteria school. Nonetheless, everyone at 101 and below moves up a spot when Katy gets her first preference.

However, some children don’t come high enough up the lists for any of their preferences and hence are given a place at the nearest school with a space.

We lost our appeal on Friday too. We had specific medical need with all the paperwork from professionals and my DD had met the qualifying score (it then goes on distance only which is why we didn't originally get a place).
We are pretty upset and I really do sympathise with you. I honestly can't imagine how she will cope at any other school but she has her second choice which starts transition next week. If it doesn't work our we will be applying for an EHCP which I presume you could for your son if the medical need meets the criteria?

Sorry to hear that. I hope your daughter settles into whatever school you decide on.
The sympathy is appreciated! Shame so many people are quick to attack rather than to listen to what you have to say in this day and age.
We are in the process of appealing for the most over subscribed non-grammar in our area which will be tough.
The EHCP is something we are going to explore.
Thanks for you kind words.

All schools are supposed to cope with dc with a medical need. Not just grammars. ECHP won’t necessarily name a grammar either if dc hasn’t qualified.

He will be ok from a friendships POV - a blank canvas is a great thing .
DS went to a new school in year 8 knowing no one , he had been bullied at the old school. He is now a popular boy with a wide friendship group . Hopefully you can build him up over the summer .

I know which school you are talking about as my son goes there. How about the non-oversubscribed grammar school in another town in the same county which is about 30mins away by train where a score of 220 would gain your son a place? I have a few friends with children there and they seem to be thriving.

I teach at a girls grammar and to be honest it's incredibly rare a place is won at appeal. Any places awarded are in addition to those already offered a place, so imagine if all 30 won their appeal the school would be over subscribed by 30.

Pp scores are often significantly lower due to the lack of opportunity for a child from these backgrounds to be tutored.

Just as an aside, had you applied for accommodations for the entrance exam for him? If he has a medical condition that is likely to impact on performance during things like external exams, then it may be the case that he would benefit from accommodations - maybe a rest break during the exam, so he can calm down / re-focus, or even extra time, if his processing speed may be affected.

Obviously this is no help to you now, but may seriously be worth considering when they are at secondary school, and also for external exams? It would be worth speaking to the SENCo about it.

How far away from your house is the allocated school, and how far away from your house is the grammar school that you appealed?

A shorter journey, and the ability to have friends close by can make a massive difference.

The option is always there to apply there for sixth form - if you / he are really keen on that. You sound like very engaged parents, so could potentially buy in support in years 9, 10, 11, to supplement the learning at his allocated school, and make sure that he achieves at the highest level possible at 16, which will open up options for him for sixth form.

I also agree with a pp - that it really doesn’t follow that those who achieve highest at 11 in selection tests go on to achieve the highest at 16 / 18… I have known several cases like this (where the highest performer at age 11 didnt do so well at 16 or 18, and where mid-level performers at 11 did really really well at 16 & 18).

Our local grammar system is different in that a pass is 121 and over. I knew of a child who got 120.5 and still missed out on appeal as they had not achieved certain grades in their previous sat tests. did your son do well on his last sat tests?
I think you would be surprised how many other kids got grades between your son's at 235 and the pass at 242 - and then again the number that got more than 242. 7 points under is not a near miss. That said I think all parents with hopes for kids to enter a particular school can be sympathetic to you and your son's disappointment. It so much pressure for the kids and its not a fair system.