Appeals
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Louise
Appeals
11 plus results have recentley been released in Bucks and I have been following parent's comments with interest. They appear to be able to appeal quite quickly. My son took his exam at King's in Grantham and we can't appeal until March - once all place have been allocated. Does anyone know if this is the same throughout Lincolnshire or are there any appeal taking place before then ? Just curious. I feel we have such a long wait to appeal.
Dear Louise,
I believe that the system is the same throughout Lincolnshire. I understand that the Council took advice from their legal department before deciding to keep the system the same as in previous years despite the fact that the 11 plus results date was brought forward. The thinking behind this seems to be that qualifying in 11 plus should be treated the same as an oversubscription criteria and therefore it cannot be appealed against until you have failed to get the school place. I am not absolutely clear whether the foundation schools must follow the Council's decision on tis matter.
I have to say that I find treating the 11 plus result as an oversubscription criterion unsatisfactory. The whole point about oversubsciption criteria is that they only come into play if a school has insufficient places to meet demand. If the school is not full then they must admit the applicant except in very limited and unusual circumstances. A Grammar school, however, does not have to admit any child who has failed to meet the qualifying standard, no matter how many places they still have.
I think the Bucks system is relatively clear cut and consistent because it has a county-wide selective system and almost all of its Grammar schools are controlled by the council. In Lincolnshire there is a mixed system and a large number of foundation schools, each operating its own admissions policy. Just from what I hear anecdotally there seem to be variations between the schools in what happens in regard to 11 plus testing. Some seem to go out of their way to make sure that children with any disability are tested in such a way as to minimise any disadvantage they have; others make no allowances whatsoever. Some clearly invite primary headteachers' views at an early stage if a candidate has narrowly missed the mark (even to the extent of having changed a marginal fail to a pass before the results even went out); others seem to rely more heavily on the appeal system.
It does seem cruel to make people wait for so long to appeal. It is also clearly a disadvantage not to be able to appeal until after places have been allocated. It could result in somebody not gaining a place they would have succeeded in getting had their application been processed at the same time as the children who passed initially.
Louise, if you, and any of the other people in the same situation, feel strongly then do write to the Governors of the School and to the County Council about it. Sometimes the voice of the people "on the ground" does not get through and it is just possible that if it did so things might possibly change....
Wish you all the best
I believe that the system is the same throughout Lincolnshire. I understand that the Council took advice from their legal department before deciding to keep the system the same as in previous years despite the fact that the 11 plus results date was brought forward. The thinking behind this seems to be that qualifying in 11 plus should be treated the same as an oversubscription criteria and therefore it cannot be appealed against until you have failed to get the school place. I am not absolutely clear whether the foundation schools must follow the Council's decision on tis matter.
I have to say that I find treating the 11 plus result as an oversubscription criterion unsatisfactory. The whole point about oversubsciption criteria is that they only come into play if a school has insufficient places to meet demand. If the school is not full then they must admit the applicant except in very limited and unusual circumstances. A Grammar school, however, does not have to admit any child who has failed to meet the qualifying standard, no matter how many places they still have.
I think the Bucks system is relatively clear cut and consistent because it has a county-wide selective system and almost all of its Grammar schools are controlled by the council. In Lincolnshire there is a mixed system and a large number of foundation schools, each operating its own admissions policy. Just from what I hear anecdotally there seem to be variations between the schools in what happens in regard to 11 plus testing. Some seem to go out of their way to make sure that children with any disability are tested in such a way as to minimise any disadvantage they have; others make no allowances whatsoever. Some clearly invite primary headteachers' views at an early stage if a candidate has narrowly missed the mark (even to the extent of having changed a marginal fail to a pass before the results even went out); others seem to rely more heavily on the appeal system.
It does seem cruel to make people wait for so long to appeal. It is also clearly a disadvantage not to be able to appeal until after places have been allocated. It could result in somebody not gaining a place they would have succeeded in getting had their application been processed at the same time as the children who passed initially.
Louise, if you, and any of the other people in the same situation, feel strongly then do write to the Governors of the School and to the County Council about it. Sometimes the voice of the people "on the ground" does not get through and it is just possible that if it did so things might possibly change....
Wish you all the best
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Louise
Alex, thanks for your comments. Wish I lived in another part of the country - I've been saying that for years now, even before the 11 plus business. I take on board your comments about writing to governors but at present there's always that uneasy feeling about 'rocking the boat'. It's a very frustrating time as I feel life has been put on hold until I get my children settled in secondary schools - my youngest will be sitting his 11 plus next year - so it doesn't go away!
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Louise
