92% receive one of their preferred schools

Guest55 · Post by **Guest55** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 4:34 pm

Guest that is incorrect - no point in taking the 11+ as you would get first choice even if your child got the 121 - would only get Grammar if first school over subscribed.

All preferences are looked at to see which can offer a place then you get the highest ranked with places [assuming, if a Grammar, that you qualified]

The system changed to this two years ago.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 6:14 pm

March Hare wrote:I am curious about this too, so I have sent a request to Bucks under the FOI Act. They claim they have to respond within 20 days, so I'll post back when I hear from them.

That's twenty working days of course, which, taking Easter into account, might mean until 10th April!

Sally-Anne · Post by **Sally-Anne** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 7:18 pm

And knowing Bucks, it could get lost in the post too, so March Hare could be May Pole by the time we get any news!

Sally-Anne

Sally-Anne · Post by **Sally-Anne** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 12:01 pm

An interesting article in today's Telegraph on this subject: "The myth behind school admissions", showing that 1 in 6 children failed to get into their first choice school nationally.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... nedu10.xml

And in Bucks the figure was 43.9%!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... xml&page=1

It isn't clear how it relates to those passing/failing the 11+, but it is among the worst results in the country.

Sally-Anne

Post by **patricia** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 12:21 pm

Dear Sally-Anne

I think those figures are distorted.

A large number of parents WILL put a Grammar School as their first choice, as only approx 30% of children gain those places, there WILL be a fair number of children NOT given their first choice. If they put 2 grammars and then an Upper, it could well be their 3rd choice.

Wish I knew the REAL figures. I truly believe its distorted due to the fact parents must choose the order of preference that is their TRUE wishes and many, as I stated above will rank Grammars first, but not get in.

Patricia

Sally-Anne · Post by **Sally-Anne** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 12:28 pm

patricia wrote:Wish I knew the REAL figures...

So do I, Patricia, so do I! I suspect that if you're better at maths than me, it is probably possible to extrapolate some sort of numbers from the information we have. But it won't be me that tries!

Sally-Anne

Post by **patricia** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 12:44 pm

Dear Sally-Anne

Over to Forumadmin [ the statistician ]

Patricia

Post by **hermanmunster** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 5:27 pm

today's times:

Almost one in five families has failed to get children into their first choice of school this year, according to a survey of councils by The Times.

If replicated across all 150 local authorities in England, 108,000 families could be preparing to challenge the places allotted their child, nearly double the number in 2005.

Nearly half of children in some local authorities, mainly in London, were not granted their first choice of the 600,000 who received secondary school offers last week.

Alan Johnson, the Education Secretary, admitted yesterday that choosing a secondary school was one of the most stressful decisions that parents had to make. At the same time, new research revealed that most parents choose schools on the basis of location and reputation, rather than exam results.

In the village of Laddingford, Kent, Jessica Faulkes, 10, is one of thousands left devastated and without a school place. Having narrowly failed her 11-plus, she was turned down by the nearby Mascalls school and instead allocated a place at a secondary in Maidstone, an hour and a half away by bus.

In Kent, more than a quarter of parents failed to get their first choice of school, compared with a fifth last year. Of the 28 authorities questioned by The Times, Wandsworth children fared worst, with 48 per cent not admitted to their preferred school, followed by Lambeth and Buckinghamshire, with 44 per cent.

Last year 83,000 children were denied their first choice and in 2005 almost 63,000 parents lodged appeals to be placed in a different school. Just 36 per cent won their case.

hugh · Post by **hugh** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 5:48 pm

That is a rather misleading article. London is a far more complicated situation than most LEAs and it's long been common for there to be problems.

The other two authorities cited both have grammar schools, so presumably some of the many who fail to get their choice of school includes those who chose a grammar but failed the 11+?

Guest55 · Post by **Guest55** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 6:52 pm

44% sounds too high - 30% who reach 11+ qualifying should mostly get first choice but not all.

I don't think that as many as 14% are withdrawn from the 11+ - there would be no point in taking 11+ if you put an Upper first -

So does this 44% exclude the Grammars from the choices of those who don't get qualifying score and treat their top Upper as their first choice?

Questions, questions -