How ridiculous that you can pass the 11+ and not get into a grammar school.

[RockingChair]

Not that mine are doing it, but I couldn't believe that there are a great many children who, after learning they have passed the exam, are not even being offered a place.

Surely they should do as they did in my day 30 plus years ago. X amount of grammar places, the top x amount passed the exam. Everyone got a place at their grammar school.

What must they be doing to these children who are distraught on learning they have not made a place.

I almost feel like a march ! Absolutely dreadful to play with these childrens minds, who now may not think they are good enough.

Will get orf me soapbox now.

It doesn't work like that here in Essex, Rocking Chair. There is no pass or fail. The top scoring 120 girls taking the 11+ will get a place at the grammar school. Nobody knows before allocation day how they have done in the 11+ which means people can use up several of there 4 spaces on their application form with grammars when in fact there child may not have scored highly enough to be considering a grammar. Equally mad!

Where we are, everyone who ?passes? gets a place at a grammar school. However, you may not get a place at your first choice of grammar school ? this will depend on various criteria such as distance from school, whether a sibling attends etc etc.

I?m with seeker, hate the system despite having a DC in it.

I hate the system a friend of mines son has just had this experience, he passed the test with a very high score. He is the brightest child I have ever met and is very well suited to grammar. However, he was not offered a place. He and the family are devastated. He is one of two in our school that this has happened to this year. Both were achieving level five maths and english in year four. Now they both have to go to the comp where ony 23% get five GCSEs.

We have this in the village where I live. We are in the catchment area for the grammar. Everyone who gets over a certain mark passes it but there aren't enough places for all of them. So rather than give the places to the top scoring 100 (or however many places they have) they give them to the 100 children who live nearest the school. As we're out in the sticks rather than in the town there are often kids who don't get in. I know other parents in the village who have moved or are currently up for sale to move closer to the school. Their kids are only in Yr 4 so I hope they pass, how bad would that be to go through the upheaval of moving and then your kid doesn't pass. Thankfully DD is quite dim so I don't have to worry about it.

In Kent I believe that around 25% of each yearly cohort is deemed to be selective (ie passed the 11+ but it is not described as pass or fail). Because the distribution of grammar schools around the county is not evenly spread, either in location or population, it leads to some areas being oversubscribed and others undersubscribed.

The grammar schools in the County also have widely varying criteria for allocating their places. Some are super-selectives and choose on score only regardless of where the child lives - could be Mars if they score highly enough. Others work on closest distance to the school and accept all passes but would take out of county applicants as last priority. Some have designated catchment areas, some don't.

Each year in Kent around 100 children who are deemed selective and not allocated grammar places or do not get a grammar place near to where they live. It can be a complete lottery if you don't live in the right area, or score highly enough.

I'm in one of the counties bordering Kent that doesn't have any grammar schools. Children can do the 11+ and apply to Kent's. Mad really.

Where we live (Gloucestershire) we'te told reasonably soon after the exam whether the child has achieved a 'pass' score. It is also explained that there are only 120 places so your child may still not get in.

If your child does achieve a mark high enough to be within that allocation, you are told.

You are also told what position your child is on the reserve list if they're not in the top 120.

No catchment areas, so children do travel in from outside the county.

I am very very glad I don't live in a grammar school area and have no grammar schools within remotely travellable distance.