RGS - HW Appeal

Eleven Plus (11+) in Buckinghamshire (Bucks)

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Hpatel
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Nov 24, 2013 6:31 pm

RGS - HW Appeal

Post by Hpatel »

Hi,

My DS did not got admission in RGS-HW, which was our first choice in CAF form, I am guessing because we are too far from school, we are in Bracknell.

I am planning to appeal for RGS-HW.

I would like to hear experience of parents who appealed for RGS-HW against rejection based on distance & there success tips. :D

Kind Regards,
Hemant.
Rob Clark
Posts: 1298
Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2008 1:59 pm

Re: RGS - HW Appeal

Post by Rob Clark »

Are you aware the Bucks GSs have catchment areas? RGS very rarely has places for boys beyond about 8 miles and Bracknell must be more than twice that distance.

Assuming your DS got the required mark in the 11+ there are other Bucks GSs that traditionally have taken children from some distance outside their catchment areas, but RGS is not one of them. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but it's not really worth appealing, you're not going to get a place there.
kittymum
Posts: 925
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 10:42 pm

Re: RGS - HW Appeal

Post by kittymum »

As Rob says it's about 25 miles to High Wycombe for you - my understanding of over subscription appeals is that you have to prove this is the only school for your ds - in that distance and crossing counties it would be a struggle to make that case.

You must have read the admissions policy before applying - Bucks allocate catchment then distance, looking at past allocation profiles they have never gone that far, so you must have known your chance of getting admission was very slight. I would save yourself and your ds the unnecessary stress of an appeal and big up the school he has been allocated. Am I right in thinking you applied for Slough schools too? Surely they would be closer and more accessible for you?

An awful lot of the RGS boys come from the other side of the school from the direction you would be travelling from so your ds would potentially be a very long way from his friends. I live near Wycombe and bearing in mind the schools which are closer to me feel that RGS is just too far to travel.
anotherdad
Posts: 1763
Joined: Mon Jan 24, 2011 5:33 pm

Re: RGS - HW Appeal

Post by anotherdad »

Hpatel wrote: I would like to hear experience of parents who appealed for RGS-HW against rejection based on distance & there success tips. :D
I don't think you will hear anything because I doubt there will have been many successful appeals against rejections based upon distance, and certainly not the sort of distance you describe. As Rob Clark has said, you're highly unlikely to succeed I'm afraid.
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: RGS - HW Appeal

Post by Etienne »

RGS appeals may well be hard to win - but that depends on the strength of the school's case (and quite possibly on the relative strength of all the other appellants' cases too).

Just to be clear - if you go to appeal, you're not appealing "against rejection based on distance".

The admission criterion is irrelevant - just so long as it's been correctly applied.

You could live a very long way away, but win your appeal if you have good enough reasons for seeking a place.
my understanding of over subscription appeals is that you have to prove this is the only school for your ds
No! :)
That sounds more like the test to be applied when the school has a social/medical criterion. This is usually applied very strictly by the admission authority.

For example, a child with a medical/social condition could well be refused admission (a) on the basis that this is not the only school that could cater for the child's needs, and (b) none of the other criteria are met.

However, if that child's case went to appeal, the outcome is then determined by a balancing exercise.

The Appeals Code clearly sets out the test to be applied where oversubscription is concerned:
"The panel must balance the prejudice to the school against the appellant’s case for the child to be admitted to the school. It must take into account the appellant’s reasons for expressing a preference for the school, including what that school can offer the child that the allocated or other schools cannot. If the panel considers that the appellant’s case outweighs the prejudice to the school it must uphold the appeal."
Etienne
Yummiemummie
Posts: 160
Joined: Mon May 23, 2011 9:02 pm

Re: RGS - HW Appeal

Post by Yummiemummie »

A few years ago we didn't get RGS despite being in catchment along with lots of the catchment area! We had already chosen an inde for our son, but others were offered grammar schools some distance away, eg Chesham.
OP think carefully about the long term effects on getting your son to and from school in rush hour, in bad weather, when one of the almost weekly pile ups happens on the Handy Cross roundabout. Also on his ability to have a social life!
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