11 Plus Exams Forum

My son was aiming for full marks, not just a pass - but I've received an email today saying he hasn't even passed. He's amongst the brightest at an academically focussed prep school. Has anyone else received an odd result?

We did in Bexley Tests.

Hi, I think you can ask for a re-mark if you think that something has gone awry with the paper. - Actually not sure about that. Why not ask Etienne ( usually in appeals) if you can PM her on this? I'm sure she has answered something similar in the past.
All the best
Bougalou

If the school thinks that the child should have passed, but didn't - have they appealed on your behalf? From what my son said, I thought that there was no way in heck that he had passed, and we had almost resigned ourselves to thinking that anyway. When I spoke with his teacher last week, I asked if she would support an appeal, and she had said that any child who had not passed (schools had results two weeks ago) who they thought should have passed, an appeal had already been filed by the school. So, at this point, I don't know if my son passed on merit of the test score alone, or with the assistance of the school in an appeal process. But either way, I know that his school (a local elementary school) has done what they can to assist all students they thought capable.

The trouble is the school will usually only appeal if the marks are only one or two marks away as its easier to prove the child just didnt perform on the day. Also, our HT told us that she would only appeal if she had evidence to support in each area and if there were more than one child in this position at the school it was often the case of deciding who had the strongest case as taking lots of children to a panel carried less weight than taking one 'dead cert' that the school backed 100%.

Hi Donald

I have known this happen on occasions. I knew of a very bright boy last year who just got the mark he needed, and another boy who unquestionably should have passed but missed out by a few marks.

I can't tell from your post of course, but there is usually an explanation somewhere behind it. Did something go wrong on the day? Did he find the tests much harder than what he was used to? Did he burn-out with tutoring (no criticism intended - my own older son did)? Was one paper much weaker than the others?

Your first step should be to discuss this with the Head of the Prep School. AFter all, you have paid them a lot of money and been led to believe that your son is very bright. They have a lot of explaining to do!

I wish you luck.

Sally-Anne

I'm an out of county parent, hence his school wouldn't have been informed. I'll wait for the paperwork tomorrow and see what he has scored. He enjoys exams, relishes the challenge. Goodness knows whats happened, just hope I can unravel it quickly - complete disaster from this end.

we are an out of area candidate, and our school did indeed know the exact scores last week. You can also email the admissions team at the KCC for the scores, they informed me on the phone this morning I was able to do this.
kent.admissions@kent.gov.uk