11 Plus Exams Forum

My god daughter will be moving from Paris to England soon. Does anybody know what the procedure is for a child from abroad moving to an 11+ area? She will have already done a year of secondary school in Paris by the time they move - she will be nearly 12. Is it possible to join a grammar school in Year 8 - and if so, how does it happen? She is bilingual, and, judging from what I've seen of her work over the years, most definitley grammar school material.


Thanks

Katel - probably best to ring up the LEA in the area your goddaughter will be living in and ask their advice.

My son came home from his grammar school one day last week and said he'd been showing a new boy in his class around the school. The boy had just moved to this country from abroad and my son said they now had one extra in his year 8 class, no boys had left. I found myself wondering then how that had happened, but clearly it does!

Thank you Bexleymum - the problem is they aren't sure where they are going to be moving to!

Hi Katel,

At my DC's Grammar, in Gloucestershire, children do join under some circumstances, from the waiting list even in Y11. They also arrange a test for late tests, but I'm not sure of these procedures.

I would also say to ring the LEA concerned or the schools themselves to find out.
Best wishes PM x2

Katel
I moved to the UK 4 years ago with a school age child and had to seek a "casual admission" place as they are called. Kent LEA were worse than useless I'm afraid- we moved in July just after term had finished at her last school (and at private schools here in Kent) and were told that we were breaking the law if we waited until September to start her at a new school!

What I had to do, and your friend should do, is to contact individual schools in which they are interested. Each school is responsible for it's own casual admissions; the LEA don't have anything to do with it. Most grammars set exams each year for children seeking places other than at the normal time. If the child passes (ie shows that they are of grammar standard) they go on the waiting list if there is no place available. Different schools test different subjects and hold the tests on different dates. Might be worth contacting the schools BEFORE they decide where to live.

Kent99 wrote:Katel
I moved to the UK 4 years ago with a school age child and had to seek a "casual admission" place as they are called. Kent LEA were worse than useless I'm afraid- we moved in July just after term had finished at her last school (and at private schools here in Kent) and were told that we were breaking the law if we waited until September to start her at a new school!

What an extraordinary thing to be told! The law says that children have to be in full-time education, not that they have to go to school. You would have been within your rights to educate your child at home.

In Bucks you have to apply to the LA for a casual admission and testing can be arranged - the popular GS will be full though.

Guest55 wrote:In Bucks you have to apply to the LA for a casual admission and testing can be arranged - the popular GS will be full though.

Then you can appeal if it's full and you pass...

Yes but remember they have already had appeal for Y7 places - not many transfer appeals succeed in Y8

Y
My main irritation was because she had already completed the school year and was on Summer holiday!