High School for Girls - 2013 year 7 entry

[supertrex]

Hi,

My friend is currently not in the country but whole family is planning to relocate to Gloucester in Jan 2013. Understand the common entrance exam will be held in Oct 2012 but she's unlikely to return that time.

If the whole family is back in January 2013, which subjects her daughter will be tested for entrance to year 7?? My friend has written an email to the school but haven't got replied, and she's rather anxious to know the answer.

Does anyone can help here? Thanks

[suzanne]

She might be able to sit the test abroad - you could check that with the school.

[Amber]

I am not sure she can sit the test from abroad - you would need to ask the school.
The 11+ is just Verbal Reasoning - 2 papers. I don't think there are any arrangements for late sitting of the test - again, best to ask the school about it.

If she wanted to sit for later entry to the school, so-called 'in year' entry for years other than Year 7, the school sets its own tests - in Maths, English and Science, by arrangement with them.

[capers123]

I'm sure it can be taken overseas. I've heard tales of children in the USA taking it in the school office...

'Swat up on UK English usage' is my biggest hint!

[supertrex]

Thanks for all for the reply. My friend got an reply from the school that her daughter will need to sit a test in March. If she passes the test but no place is available, the parents need to submit the issue to the appeal panel.

Query: what the appeal panel will do after that? Help to find a grammar school in nearby county or what?

[capers123]

Thanks for all for the reply. My friend got an reply from the school that her daughter will need to sit a test in March. If she passes the test but no place is available, the parents need to submit the issue to the appeal panel.

I would suggest contacting another school - maybe Stroud High - and asking the same question. It doesn't matter which school is administering the exam - just make sure the boxes are ticked to share the results with the other schools. As I said, I know that children have taken the Gloucestershire 11+ overseas at the same time as their cohort in the UK.

Query: what the appeal panel will do after that? Help to find a grammar school in nearby county or what?

If taking the exam out of turn (ie, March) the child will not be considered with the main cohort, so is unlikely to get a place if they pass unless the school is undersubscribed.

On going to appeal, if their score is high enough that they would have been given a place had the exam been taken in October, then they would in all likelyhood win the appeal. Unless there happened to be quite a few children in the same situation with higher scores...

Appeals panels have to follow the appeals code. The new appeals code puts a lot of emphasis on academic ability and says very little about mitigating circumstances. Therefore a child with a high score and great academic evidence is more likely to win an appeal than a child with a lower score, reasonable academic circumstances but good mitigating circumstances.

3.13 An appeal panel may be asked to consider an appeal where the appellant believes that the child did not perform at their best on the day of the entrance test. In such cases:
a) where a local review process has not been applied, the panel must only uphold the appeal if it is satisfied:
i) that there is evidence to demonstrate that the child is of the required academic standards, for example, school reports giving Year 5/Year 6 SAT results or a letter of support from their current or previous school clearly indicating why the child is considered to be of grammar school ability; and
ii) where applicable, that the appellant’s arguments outweigh the admission authority’s case that admission of additional children would cause prejudice.

Therefore it would be far better to take the test in October rather than March - getting in without an appeal is the better option by far!

[DC17C]

Hi I've just noticed this in the Pate's admissions criteria for 2013

"Tests at other venues
• Outside the UK: for families living abroad it may be possible to arrange for
the Test to be taken at the child’s current school. Parents should apply in
the normal way (ie registering at Pate’s and applying to the LA) and contact
the Pate’s Admissions Officer to discuss their particular circumstances."

Since it is the same test for all schools - you need to make sure the results are shared with any schools you are interested in.

[Lily21]

Although each year the cohort will be slightly differnet, what level of academic ability is required to show that your dd is the same level as the peer group at HSFG? Does anyone have any guidance on SAT's/CAT's/working at/predicted levels that have been successful in an appeal (appreciating that there is more to an appeal than these figures)?