Appeal for AGSB
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Appeal for AGSB
Hello to everyone on the Trafford Forum.
I am new to the forum and have just lost our appeal to AGSB. I have been posting info and questions on the general Appeals forum and thought I would introduce myself.
Thankfully we do have an offer of a place at SGS but we really wanted AGSB as our elder son is there already. We lost the appeal on both qualification (only 2 marks away) and oversubscription. We are out of catchment as well. I am probably going to make a formal complaint as there were several breaches of the Appeals Code, but as school is now an Academy will have to go to them with the complaint first.
If anyone has any advice or could put me in touch with anyone who could offer assistance with my case I would be very grateful.
I am new to the forum and have just lost our appeal to AGSB. I have been posting info and questions on the general Appeals forum and thought I would introduce myself.
Thankfully we do have an offer of a place at SGS but we really wanted AGSB as our elder son is there already. We lost the appeal on both qualification (only 2 marks away) and oversubscription. We are out of catchment as well. I am probably going to make a formal complaint as there were several breaches of the Appeals Code, but as school is now an Academy will have to go to them with the complaint first.
If anyone has any advice or could put me in touch with anyone who could offer assistance with my case I would be very grateful.
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TraffordMum
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- Joined: Thu Feb 22, 2007 3:29 pm
- Location: Trafford
Re: Appeal for AGSB
Hi there. I've had a quick look at your thread on Appeals and I sympathise with your situation.
For what it's worth, Sale is an excellent school. I would have had no hesitation in sending my children there had they just missed out on AGGS.
For what it's worth, Sale is an excellent school. I would have had no hesitation in sending my children there had they just missed out on AGGS.
Re: Appeal for AGSB
Thanks for your support TraffordMum.
I know Sale is an excellent school and have every confidence in my son being happy and succesful there.
However AGSB was our first choice for many reasons and because of that I am not going to give up just yet. I'm particularly annoyed that we lost on the qualification issue. We had lots of academic evidence to demonstate ability and support from the head teacher. How compelling does the evidence have to be for a shortfall of 2 marks, especially when we also had evidence from the other entrance exams?
After this experience I have lost confidence in the whole system. Appeals should be independent and not controlled by the individual schools.
I know Sale is an excellent school and have every confidence in my son being happy and succesful there.
However AGSB was our first choice for many reasons and because of that I am not going to give up just yet. I'm particularly annoyed that we lost on the qualification issue. We had lots of academic evidence to demonstate ability and support from the head teacher. How compelling does the evidence have to be for a shortfall of 2 marks, especially when we also had evidence from the other entrance exams?
After this experience I have lost confidence in the whole system. Appeals should be independent and not controlled by the individual schools.
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TraffordMum
- Posts: 593
- Joined: Thu Feb 22, 2007 3:29 pm
- Location: Trafford
Re: Appeal for AGSB
I am intrigued by the review process, I must confess. I would love to know how many boys are admitted each year with a review mark and how that breaks down between boys in and out of catchment.
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TraffordMum
- Posts: 593
- Joined: Thu Feb 22, 2007 3:29 pm
- Location: Trafford
Re: Appeal for AGSB
If you are really interested in appeals then have a look at our appeals section, both on the forum and the main website. You'll find plenty to read there 
The OP is appealing firstly on the grounds that his son missed the qualification mark for Alty Boys by a couple of marks. This is a non-qualification appeal.
If the OP wins his appeal against non-qualification then he will also have to tackle the issue of over-subscription (an oversubscription appeal) because the school has already allotted all its places and it will argue that it has no room to admit the OP's son. The panel has to balance the arguments of the two sides.
The third situation you might come across in a school like Alty Boys, where OOC boys are selected on score, is where a boy has qualified but his score is not high enough. In that situation a parent might appeal on the grounds that the score should have been higher (like a traditional non-qual appeal).
I hope that helps!
The OP is appealing firstly on the grounds that his son missed the qualification mark for Alty Boys by a couple of marks. This is a non-qualification appeal.
If the OP wins his appeal against non-qualification then he will also have to tackle the issue of over-subscription (an oversubscription appeal) because the school has already allotted all its places and it will argue that it has no room to admit the OP's son. The panel has to balance the arguments of the two sides.
The third situation you might come across in a school like Alty Boys, where OOC boys are selected on score, is where a boy has qualified but his score is not high enough. In that situation a parent might appeal on the grounds that the score should have been higher (like a traditional non-qual appeal).
I hope that helps!
Re: Appeal for AGSB
Hello, I would just like to say, my son sat the exam for alty boys last Sep, we are out of catchment and his score was a pass but just wasn't high enough because we are out of area, he scored passed the qualifying mark for in area its just a shame we don't live in Altrincham! We put it down to he just had a bad day! 
We put down alty as 1st choice, hoping there would be just that very slim chance and the local high school 2nd, bearing in mind that we were confident he would go to his 2nd choice. However he did not get either school, the high school was oversubscribed so we had to appeal. We did not want to appeal for alty as we thought on what grounds? We could only say how academic he is and felt this would not be a strong case. We have since found out that our appeal for the high school was successful and we are very happy and relieved all this is over.
My son is an extremely bright child, his sats results have always been well over his year group, he is currently working towards his grade 6 piano, a keen swimmer and has many friends. What I can draw from all this is that even though he will be going to the local high school, we know he will do just as well academically!
We put down alty as 1st choice, hoping there would be just that very slim chance and the local high school 2nd, bearing in mind that we were confident he would go to his 2nd choice. However he did not get either school, the high school was oversubscribed so we had to appeal. We did not want to appeal for alty as we thought on what grounds? We could only say how academic he is and felt this would not be a strong case. We have since found out that our appeal for the high school was successful and we are very happy and relieved all this is over.
My son is an extremely bright child, his sats results have always been well over his year group, he is currently working towards his grade 6 piano, a keen swimmer and has many friends. What I can draw from all this is that even though he will be going to the local high school, we know he will do just as well academically!
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TraffordMum
- Posts: 593
- Joined: Thu Feb 22, 2007 3:29 pm
- Location: Trafford
Re: Appeal for AGSB
And I think that is a very important fact to bear in mind, Yunny. Your son is obviously bright, has many talents and interests and will do well wherever he goes, especially because he has parents who are engaged in his education and have done their best to obtain the right secondary education for him.
Congratulations on winning your appeal
Congratulations on winning your appeal
Re: Appeal for AGSB
Hi Elphaba
Our son was 2 marks away from the official passmark. He just had a bad day! His other grammar school exam marks were much higher and if he had acieved those on the AGSB exam would have easily got an out of catchment place. I think the mark they went down to this year was 355.
I am angry because we were told that we did not have enough evidence to prove grammar school ability. How can passing two other grammar school exams along with strong academic evidence from primary school not be enough proof? If they had said he was grammar ability but there were other stronger cases for over subscription I would not be so frustrated.
Good luck to your son for September2011.
Our son was 2 marks away from the official passmark. He just had a bad day! His other grammar school exam marks were much higher and if he had acieved those on the AGSB exam would have easily got an out of catchment place. I think the mark they went down to this year was 355.
I am angry because we were told that we did not have enough evidence to prove grammar school ability. How can passing two other grammar school exams along with strong academic evidence from primary school not be enough proof? If they had said he was grammar ability but there were other stronger cases for over subscription I would not be so frustrated.
Good luck to your son for September2011.
