Appeals on Medical Grounds

Consult our experts on 11 Plus appeals or any other type of school appeal

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Rob Clark
Posts: 1298
Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2008 1:59 pm

Appeals on Medical Grounds

Post by Rob Clark »

There seem to have been one or two threads recently from people who have been appealing on the basis of medical extenuating circumstances, so I was wondering whether these ever succeed and if so, in what circumstances?

Could I ask Capers and others who have experience of sitting on appeal panels whether they have ever accepted a child’s medical condition as the primary reason for allowing an appeal?

If so, what swung the argument? Was it the evidence that was provided (and by whom, HT, medical personnel, someone else…)?

If not, was it because panels find it difficult to quantify the impact a medical condition has? Or because it’s hard to compare different medical conditions?

Not trying to put anyone on the spot here, but genuinely interested as it seems to be a difficult case to make. Thanks.
panicattack!
Posts: 194
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2009 11:30 pm

Re: Appeals on Medical Grounds

Post by panicattack! »

I have a friend who last year won two appeals on medical grounds. I know she doesn't use the forum much now but pm me if you want.
Morning Glory
Posts: 310
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2009 8:46 pm
Location: Bucks

Re: Appeals on Medical Grounds

Post by Morning Glory »

Rob

I'm sure when we had our appeal back in January you were around so will probably remember some of our case. Basically though our DS got very low 11+ scores and had a diagnosis of Aspergers. On it's own a diagnosis of Aspergers is not enough evidence, as a lot of children with AS do pass. I could have pointed out all the difficulties that children with AS can have but still I don't feel this would have been enough they needed to know what specific effect it has on our DS and how and why this affect his 11+ result.

We knew that the way he had to answer the questions in the 11+ was an issue and luckily we had evidence to prove that. At school in Year 5 they had adjusted the way he had to answer the questions in his CATs and his percentile scores went from 50th percentile to 95th percentile. We also had his Year 6 CATs which were consistent and again up in the 90th percentiles. All his medical reports say that he is an anxious child but we just had that piece of extra evidence that put no doubt of the extent of his anxieties. We had an invigilators report written after the first 11+ exam, saying how his behaviour on the day was out of sorts, that he had got extremely stressed during the exam and at one point got really upset and shouted out (luckily he was tested seperately so didn't disrupt anyone else). We didn't know about this invigilators report until the LA papers arrived a week before our appeal but it put no doubt that his anxieties were way above what you would expect from a normal child. I believe we had strong evidence to prove that we had thoroughly investigated all our school options (we had gone to open evenings but we had also had meetings with each school to establish what support they were able to give our son) and that although we knew he would find some aspects of GS difficult, that it was the best option for our son. We did also have strong CONSISTENT academic evidence - which is always useful.

I personally believe that appeal panels must hear my child under preformed because of X, Y or Z so many times that if you do have that extra bit of evidence to support your claim that their performance was affected because of X, it does give you a stronger case.

Have been to DS's new school this morning to speak to SENCO. Everyone had advised me that this was the best school possible for my son and that their support for boys with AS is second to none. I have no doubt that this school is the right place for DS. The SENCO was amazing and the strategies and support they have in place is more than I could ever have imagined possible. We know he will have problems settling in but am sure that the school will make this process as easy for him as possible.

MG
Fluffy66
Posts: 147
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2009 7:18 pm
Location: NW Kent

Re: Appeals on Medical Grounds

Post by Fluffy66 »

Hi Rob

We have 2 appeals on-going based (sort of) on medical grounds. I say sort of because Aspergers (AS) is not really a medical, more a life-long condition. I would say that although the evidence at our appeals are equally based on both the academic and "need" the panel in the first appeal concentrated almost entirely on his AS. They positively dismissed our academic evidence very early on to concentrate on the this side of things.

We did have an EP report which back up various situations that have an effect on my DS. Also an OT report and info from the SENCO.

We ensured the panel were aware of how much time and effort we had put into investigating the school and how well it would suit my DS on-going needs.

We won't know the outcome of this appeal until mid next week and the second appeal isn't till the following week so i can't tell you yet how successful or not our evidence may be :) However the Deputy HT of the school walked out with us and said we had a very strong case........but time will tell, i'm trying to blank it out right now :?

Fluffy
capers123
Posts: 1865
Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 9:03 pm
Location: Gloucestershire

Re: Appeals on Medical Grounds

Post by capers123 »

Rob Clark wrote:There seem to have been one or two threads recently from people who have been appealing on the basis of medical extenuating circumstances, so I was wondering whether these ever succeed and if so, in what circumstances?

Could I ask Capers and others who have experience of sitting on appeal panels whether they have ever accepted a child’s medical condition as the primary reason for allowing an appeal?

If so, what swung the argument? Was it the evidence that was provided (and by whom, HT, medical personnel, someone else…)?

If not, was it because panels find it difficult to quantify the impact a medical condition has? Or because it’s hard to compare different medical conditions?.
Sorry - been away for the weekend!

Yep, medical evidence has swung appeals - both ways!

It could be genuine illness on the day of the exam - for instance sickening for plague that only became apparent in the evening after the exam, and accompanied by a letter from the hospital giving full details. Sickening for a cold, accompanied by a hand written sick note would not swing it.

OR long term medical problem that genuinely affected the outcome of the exam - where the child would have been capable of passing, but the medical problem prevented them from doing so. Now there needs to be proof that the child IS bright enough to be at a grammar school. Saying that they're Autistic would not do, but Aspergers end of Autistic might be enough (if the panel felt the child would be best suited to a grammar ed). Looking back on my own schooling, there were several, if not more, people in my year who probably had aspergers. I sometimes wonder about myself!
Capers
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