11 Plus Exams Forum

The official figures for take up of places in Grammar Schools for Year 7 are now on the Bucks CC website.

They are on Page 18 of this link, although helpfully published vertically, so you may want to print that page (or see a physiotherapist after reading it online!):

http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/moderngov/Pub ... Public.pdf

The bottom line on the 12+ is that there are places at the following Grammars:

AGS (Boys) - 1 place
AHS (Girls) - 37 places
Burnham - 47 places
Chesham HS - 38 places
Royal Latin - 1 place
Henry Floyd - 31 places

All of which is great news if you live in Aylesbury or around Chesham, as even though the numbers can change during the year, there is no way that all those places will be filled before next September.

The Upper school numbers are also on there for those who are interested, as are the 1st preference allocations. The real pinch point is still DCGS, which turned away 27 1st preferences.

Sally-Anne

Looking at the numbers in more detail, the total number of vacancies is 146 at present. Last year, of 223 children who took the 12+, 153 passed.

The odds on getting a school place for this year's cohort would therefore be around 95%, compared to 59% last year.

And I am sure that a 12+ pass rate of 153/223 (69%) is higher than it has ever been in the past?

Sally-Anne

Oooh I love reading threads which are just what I want to hear!!!!

Have printed out all 27 pages of the report and will snuggle down tonight in bed and read the report cover to cover

Don't anyone tell me I'm boring!!!

Thanks Sally-Anne x

Marvellous ! Lots of nice numbers to get excited about !

Thanks.

Also some are only just above PAN so an appeal would stand a good chance as numbers are below historic numbers.

Thanks for posting this, Sally-Anne - it is certainly interesting stuff! I would just like to clarify something, however - if a school has stated in its allocation profile that it has offered places to all in-catchment, all siblings and some out-of-catchment up to a certain distance, yet still has one or more places to spare, does that then mean that there were no more applicants? In which case, shouldn't the allocation profile have been "all offered"?

A good question, Guest.

The explanation lies in the fact that the Allocation Profile is published in March, whilst these figures are the actual take up of places in September. A lot can happen in 6 months!

Two schools fall into the category you describe - AGS with one spare place, and Burnham GS with 47 places. (The remaining schools that still have places were "All Offered" on the Allocation Profile.)

Burnham illustrates the issue best. In March Bucks were only able to offer places up to a certain distance because they had more applications than places. However, many applicants did not take up their places because they had passed the entrance exam for one of the Berks Grammars. Therefore, by September, all applicants had been offered places and there were vacant places left over.

Burnham is an extreme case because it is (allegedly) one of the weakest Grammars in Bucks and it is so close to the County border.

In the case of AGS the 1 spare place is probably just a few people deciding to go elsewhere over the course of 6 months.

Mystery solved?

Sally-Anne

Thanks, Sally-Anne - however what about the one place at RLS? The allocation profile for September 2007 still states a distance. Presumably the discrepancy arises because there was nobody left on the waiting list when this Intake Summary was produced in November?

Sorry - I missed RLS in my reply. Yes, just as for AGS, it would be one or two people not taking up places between March and September for all the usual reasons - moving house, changing their minds, going private, etc.

Note though, the final numbers on the link I posted are compiled after the first week of the autumn term (even though they have only just been published) because, believe it or not, there are people who accept places and then the child doesn't turn up on the first day of term. They have gone elsewhere but not bothered to tell Admissions or the school.

That can - at least in theory - lead to children being offered a place at their first preference GS after they have already started at a lower preference school, just because someone didn't make a phone call.

Sally-Anne

indeed!!! Unbelievable.

Many thanks for your reply.