Impact of catchment changes

[toolate]

Ok...just to pass the time (which is going so slowly)...can anyone please pass on their received wisdom/schoolyard gossip etc. as to the impact of boundary changes on Colchester schools...

My DS is only one from his school doing 11+, so I don't have any circle of friends to discuss this with - so please can you share what you think. I appreciate we don't really know until the time comes.

I guess it would be particularly interesting to hear from anyone who was ruled out of the school they would have chosen by catchment changes, and what choices they are now making....

I know that there is nothing we can do to speed the time up, or change what is already written, but this forum is so widely read, there must be a good diversity of families who have been directly impacted (positively or negatively) by the changes.

Thank you for any thoughts you can share

[moved]

The obvious one would be fewer travelling to Chelmsford.

DC have friends whose siblings are out of catchment, but on an easier travelling route to Chelmsford. Talking to their parents many have said that although Chelmsford would be their first choice they are concerned about their children's chances of entry. If their results are suitable they will take a chance and use up a place for Chelmsford, although they expect to be allocated Colchester.

[toolate]

Thanks moved...

So Colchester will get tougher as it will mop up most of out-of-catchment for those who would normally apply for Chelmsford.

But what about those who would have come from the London side of Essex, who are now ruled out of Chelmsford? Presumably they won't go as far as Colchester? Or will they?

[SEP18]

I think Colchester will see more children travelling from London. Quite a few already do!

[moved]

The advantage/disadvantage of the Colchester schools is that on top of the train there is a bus ride. This makes the journey much longer than that to Chelmsford.

[purplegirl]

I think the catchment changes at KEGS and CCHS may disrupt the usual intake to Colchester. I work with several people with DC who have sat the exam this year but they live in Ilford/Romford areas ie outside catchment. Some are seriously considering Colchester. I think this may push the pass mark up for Colchester this year. Have the Colchester schools ever considered introducing a catchment?

[toolate]

Oh

There was me hoping that because KEGS might be a little easier to get into this year, there would be a few more CRGS spots freed up by those boys who had the luxury of choice.....

It seems the opposite is true.

[RGA]

I have also been wondering about this. We are not in any catchment area, and would not be applying to any of schools except that we wish to move out to Colchester (my daughter also sat the Philip Morant exam) (n.b. we had already made this decision to move long before the catchment area changes). I have been assuming that the catchment changes would make Colchester more difficult, although it's possible that now Chelmsford will mop up up some of the people that Colchester would have taken in previous years. (I'm assuming there wouldn't be much overlap between Colchester and Southend, what do others think?)

I know of a fair number of people who are applying for Chelmsford hoping to get one of the 10 places for out of catchment students. None of them are even considering Colchester at this point. However, I can imagine that when they are applying, the temptation to add Colchester to their form will overcome them, even if they have no real intention of going there – just hoping for the prestige of getting in, now that they are unlikely to be able to get this from Chelmsford. I believe that this has even sometimes happened previous years, people putting all the grammar schools down because it's easy to do and they can at least say they got into one even if it is not practical for them to take it up. But I think it would be more likely to happen this year.

If this happens, I'm guessing there may be more movement than usual on the waiting list in the first few weeks after allocations (unless people start to feel overly optimistic about the possibility of commuting to Colchester).

This is all just conjecture, as mentioned above I don't know anyone else who at this point is even considering Colchester.

In response to the person who assumed that people from West Essex would rule out Chelmsford, I would say I have seen no sign of this, in fact I've been surprised at how little regard is being paid to the catchment limitation, or alternatively how much optimism there is about the chances of getting one of those 10 places!

[RGA]

Following my previous post, I should perhaps add that where I live we get six choices on our school application form. I believe most places get less, is this true? So it's very easy for people to put four or five grammar schools as well as their local catchment school, and tempting to do so once they have gone to the trouble of taking the test. We are applying to state schools in a couple of different towns as well as one or maybe two grammar schools, and will still probably have one or two blanks that we feel obliged to fill in. For people not moving, they may have only a couple of local schools to put down, and may well feel that they ought to use up all their choices. I'm sure this must contribute to the tendency to put down several or all of the grammar schools.

[toolate]

Thanks RGA - thats really interesting.

6 is alot of choices - I think there are 3-4 on mine. Do people not fear that they will miss out on the local catchment school they actually want/expect if they are not going to put it near the top.

If your prediction is right, then I just wish CSSE couple complete the whole process alot earlier. Frankly once the exams are marked and the CAF1 deadline has passed, then I can't see why the initial allocation process can't be completed in a matter of weeks. Then the whole thing would be done and dusted by the end of the year and we could move onto the waiting list game all the sooner.