Year 8 entrance

[lucky99]

Dear all,

First of all a big thank you to the moderators and all contributors for sharing wealth of information on this forum. My regret is not finding out about this forum before September

We live in Harrow, was told by a parent from Amersham that there is a strict catchment policy in Buckinghamshire GS's and they do not take children outside county! Only found out in late September that many parents in my daughter's school put Bucks GSs on their CAF.

I rang Bucks county and was told the deadline has passed. I asked about Yr 8 transfer, she said its possible and there is a separate exam for that.

I appreciate many GSs in bucks are over subscribed, like cases in other boroughs. Since there are quite a few GSs in bucks, i am hanging on the glimpse of hope that there may be vacancies arise during the year and places are open up in Y8. Again there will be children on the wait list for these places.

Can anyone shed some light here (either through their experience, their knowledge from this forum or heard of cases in their DC's schools) about the possibility and procedures to apply for Y8 entrance?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!
Thank you.

[Sally-Anne]

Hi lucky99

We live in Harrow, was told by a parent from Amersham that there is a strict catchment policy in Buckinghamshire GS's and they do not take children outside county!

This is absolutely not true, other than for entry to Dr Challoners boys school in Year 8 and beyond.

All the information you require on 12+ entry to Year 8 is here: http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/school ... re-11-plus" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chesham Grammar School has vacancies in the current Year 7 - you could even apply for In-Year testing now, if you wish! You are entitled to do so if your child has not previously taken the Bucks test, and it would beat the 12+ rush. Information on that process is here: http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/bcc/schools/a ... sions.page" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?

CGS is very accessible from Harrow via the Met Line, and many children commute from there every day.

Sally-Anne

[lucky99]

Thank you very much for your prompt reply Sally-Ann!

I will certainly apply to enrol her for the in-year testing now if I have chance to do so, rather than wait till Y8! Do you think the Admission Team at Bucks county is willing to organise the test for late parents like us?

Have had a look at the link you sent, it says not possible to apply on line since the deadline has passed, have to contact them for the application form, will do it first thing tomorrow! My daughter has not done any test in Bucks as I was told in late September that the registration has closed and will have to wait to apply for year 8 entrance test in 2012.

Thanks again Sally-Ann for shedding some light that giving me hope!

[lucky99]

Sorry I missed the 'e' on your name

[lucky99]

Hello Sally-Anne,

I read through the various links on the BCC Admissions section, it appears to me the in-year admissions is the late transfer for people moving into Bucks or returning from overseas. I also had a look on the application form, the options on the form is either for moving into the county or for an in year transfer where the input from the current school HT is required. As for my case where my daughter is currently in year 6 and we missed the deadline (blame myself for my blind trust on the incorrect source of information) is this form still applicable to us? A bit puzzled about asking the HT input (the only option applicable to us) since she is applying for different year of transfer. Can you please help with more advice or suggestion? Many thanks in advance!

[Sally-Anne]

Ah! I assumed from the title of the thread that she was currently in Year 7. That is not the form you need.

There is some precedent for this, right here on the forum. A member called Midget Man lived in Milton Keynes (which is a separate Admission Authority to Bucks) and was also completely in the dark about the 11+ in Bucks. You can read her posts here (the search starts from her first post and you will need to work backwards) http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... &start=270" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As you will see, she did have reasons as to why she made a late application, but in the same sense, so do you - misinformation from an unreliable source. I cannot see on what grounds Bucks can actually refuse to consider your daughter as a late tester - indeed, it says on their own website:

Parents who did not apply by the deadline should ask us to send them an application form as it is no longer possible to apply online.

http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/bcc/schools/a ... ear_7.page" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?

The following statement is from the Admissions Code, which has legal force. Where the Code uses the word "must" the requirement is compulsory in law.

3.7 The following paragraphs reflect the law as it applies to in-year applications for 2010 onwards, and to all applications for admission in 2011 onwards. While it is for each local authority to decide the scheme that best suits its residents and its schools, they must ensure that they:

...

b) do not disadvantage families resident in other local authorities who apply for schools in their area (which would be contrary to the rule established by the Greenwich Judgment 51).

I would argue that, if they refuse to accept your late application, you are being disadvantaged because you do not live in Bucks.

Please note that if they do agree to test her, and she qualifies, your application for a place at a Bucks grammar school will not be considered in the main round of allocations on 1st March - of course, it wouldn't be anyway, because you won't have listed it on your CAF. Based on allocations in past years she would then be offered a place at CGS in the second round of allocations in mid-April.

[lucky99]

Hi Sally-Anne,

Thank you for your advice, greatly appreciated!

It was exactly the phrase "parents who did not apply by the deadline should ask us to send ...." that gave rise to the suggestion there is a late consideration in place.

I jumped to Y8 entrance as I thought the door to Year 7 entrance has been shut completely on dd, since I was told by BCC admission in late Sep that "nothing can be done now", and that was ways before the 31/10 deadline for CAF submission!

The mid September came to me as a real surprise and I was puzzled why the deadline for BCC was earlier than other boroughs. Unless I 'stalk' the BCC admission webpage, I was clueless about the different cut off date!

[Sally-Anne]

The mid September came to me as a real surprise and I was puzzled why the deadline for BCC was earlier than other boroughs. Unless I 'stalk' the BCC admission webpage, I was clueless about the different cut off date!

The deadline to apply for testing is at the start of September, but the deadline for the school application form is the same as in other boroughs - 31st October.

[lucky99]

My reference of earlier deadline was comparing the testing enrolment date that closed in September (16/9 if I remember correctly from the phone call to BCC) to SIF cut off date of 21/10 in other boroughs.

For the benefit of other new parents for future entrants, probably BCC could flash out the testing registration closing date 1x th September 2012 [/color][/b] when clicked on the Admission tab of the web page

[Sally-Anne]

My reference of earlier deadline was comparing the testing enrolment date that closed in September (16/9 if I remember correctly from the phone call to BCC) to SIF cut off date of 21/10 in other boroughs.

It was actually 2nd September, before the start of term.

For the benefit of other new parents for future entrants, probably BCC could flash out the testing registration closing date 1x th September 2012 [/color][/b] when clicked on the Admission tab of the web page

I agree that a little more obvious publicity would not go amiss!