11 Plus Exams Forum

Judd has today published its admissions policy for 2016.

The school will reserve 135 of 155 places for applicants resident within a defined boundary area, mostly West Kent, and the remaining 20 places will be for boys who live outside the boundary. Selection within each of these applicant groups will be based on score.

The boundary for preferential treatment is the same as proposed and consulted on; the numbers for the within-boundary and outside-boundary applicant groups have changed slightly.

Here is the link:

http://frog.judd.kent.sch.uk/user/74/123080.pdf

Although I applaud Judd for this, I wonder how much difference it will actually make? I wonder how many from outside this boundary have places for this September.

I don't know if the figures for 2015 are available yet, but there were 40 out-of-county places awarded in both 2013 and 2014, and there must have been further places allocated to Kent children outside the West Kent boundary area in those years too.

Do we know if those 40 mentioned were awarded and taken up, or just offered?

If they were taken up, it represents an additional 20 places for those within the boundary. I am guessing those outside the boundary but still in Kent that took places were a very small number.

The Judd source of the figures, which is the 2016 admissions consultation outcome document, reads as if the 40 places were taken-up places, but I'm not sure.

The link for the Outcome document is:

http://frog.judd.kent.sch.uk/user/74/123079.pdf

Thank you, yes I'd agree it reads as those that have taken up offers. In which case, and as you say, taking into account those outside the boundary but within Kent, it does seem to be a more significant shift than I thought.

In case anyone is interested: I noticed on the Judd website today that Thursday this week is the last school tour date this side of the Summer holidays.

Visitors are shown around by sixth formers for about an hour. I found talking to the guides the most useful aspect of the tour - and there is a rather wonderful Chemistry teacher who may invite your DC to participate in a little experiment if you catch her at the right moment.

Also their open evening on 2nd July...

It must surely be a significant shift to give priority on the majority of places to west kent boys. It will make the cut off for children in this area much lower. They will be much less selective, similar to tgs.

What is skinners policy?

It will make it even harder to demonstrate a need for more grammar places in west kent for boys via a sevenoaks annex or new school or whatever people like to call it.

I wonder what drove this shift from super super selective to mostly serving west kent - it's the type of shift judd fought against several times when kcc objected to their current policy several times several years ago via the school adjudicator.

The shift was because when KCC asked the school to put on another class a significant number of the extra places were taken by Out of County boys thus defeating KCC's objectives of creating more GS places for boys in Kent. There is an explanation of the Governor's reasoning on the website. The governors are apparently trying to achieve the in county / out of county balance pre 5 form entry and ensure that all boys in Kent have access to GS places ( this has driven the shape of the inner area).