Results 2014

[twinksy]

They can't really do right for doing wrong - if they open the website then people who don't have access to the internet and/or those who did not register for email notification/applied using a paper version would say it wasn't fair to them! The post is out of their hands - Royal Mail are a law unto themselves! There is no advantage to the small number who know early as no appeals etc move forward until after the acceptance deadline (which is usually a fortnight ahead!!)

Appreciate what you are saying, the advantage is that they do not have the protracted and drawn out wait. First class post friday and web site open from sat would workish? Also gve parents the opportunity to manage whatever the outcome was in terms of placement.

Given big governement drive for people to be online who isnt these days realistically or at least have access? Just my opinion and I know Im feel stressed and anxious xx

[scaredycat]

Perhaps the main consideration should by our DC's who have to go to school on Monday with some knowing and some not, potentially. Whilst DD should be fine with her first choice school I know that she has friends who are borderline and may not get the news they are hoping for or may not have heard yet. It will be tough on those children who might find out on Monday morning, to have to go into school and equally tough for parents to have to send them in without having a bit of time with them whatever the outcome. DC1 was an 11+ non-qualifier an we knew we would have to appeal (which we did successfully), I can remember that allocations day was quite a tough time, so it does seem unfair that its been dragged out when children could have had the weekend to get their heads round it all too!

I doubt it makes any difference to admissions as they will still get the same volume of calls, only now they will be more irate I suspect!

[FluffyCat]

I have no inside info on why this has happened, however, I'd like to offer up a logical explanation?

The letters will have been posted on Friday. There is no facility for specifying a particular delivery day with Royal Mail. If they were sent second class, then they could take 3 days to deliver. First class should be delivered next day. However, if they're posted on a Saturday by first class then due to the way Royal Mail operate there is far less chance that they'll be delivered on Monday, especially if delivery is outside the 'local' area (by local, this now means anywhere served by the big outbound sorting office at Bristol).

So it comes down to 'deliver on Saturday or Tuesday'. If they choose to send the letters on Saturday, Shire Hall will have even more 'phone calls to deal with on Monday morning with the anxious out-of-county parents joining the parents panicing because they've not got the school they wanted.

As a minority of parents getting the letters early isn't legally disadvantaging anyone, I suspect that's why they send the letters on Friday.

I assume OOC students can only be notified by post. Those people in county who filled in the online form are supposed to be notified online only, not by post. Perhaps it would be advantageous to ask to be notified by post, not via computer.

[Gladysova]

I had an email from shire hall informing me that as I applied via post, my preferences would be sent out on Friday by second class post to arrive by Monday - if I'm lucky it might get to me within 5 days.

The way OOC works is this - GCC send the preference letter to the appropriate county council, who are then responsible for posting out to relevant parents- it is entirely possible that these councils posted out first class on Friday rather than second hence a small number of OOC parents having the results yesterday.

I have been worried about my DS with a score of 224 for Tommies, although the post that was made by tpstps re 213 - if correct- has alleviated some anxiety.
The issue of some children going to school knowing and others not knowing is not good especially for children with similar scores in the same schools.