Appealing for 6th form

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Tolstoy
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Appealing for 6th form

Post by Tolstoy »

Does anyone have experience of this?
Etienne
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Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: Appealing for 6th form

Post by Etienne »

Appealing for 6th form:
Does anyone have experience of this?
Few people do!

There aren't many appeals at the 6th form stage - not least because some schools are failing in their duty to notify unsuccessful applicants of their right to appeal.

This is what the Code says:
Appeals for admission to sixth forms

3.16 Where applicants have been refused admission to a particular school because there
are more eligible children than places available and oversubscription criteria have been
applied, appeal panels must follow the two stage process at paragraphs 3.2 to 3.9 above.

[For the two-stage process, see our Q&As, http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... d-school#C" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; )

3.17 In the case of an appeal where the child did not reach the specified entry
requirements, the panel must not make its own assessment of a child’s ability, but must
decide whether the admission authority’s decision that the child was not of the required
standard was reasonable in light of the information available to it. In doing so, it must
consider whether any process in place to consider such cases (for example, where a pupil
had not been studying in England and therefore did not have GCSEs) was carried out in a
consistent and objective way.
Etienne
Tolstoy
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Re: Appealing for 6th form

Post by Tolstoy »

Thank you Etienne.

From information I have received there seems to be double standards going on at schools in the way internal and external candidates are treated for 6th form. This makes it very unfair for DC who are forced to move into an area due to DPs' circumstances.
Tolstoy
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Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Re: Appealing for 6th form

Post by Tolstoy »

https://democracy.buckscc.gov.uk/mgConv ... x?ID=16187" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I am struggling to find information on 6th form admission criteria , fair access , all that. This above link is excellent for my case but out of date. Does anyone know where I can find an update on thsi?
scary mum
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Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:45 pm

Re: Appealing for 6th form

Post by scary mum »

Tolstoy, are you talking about a pupil not getting in because of results, or because the sixth form is full? I know several of the GSs in Bucks always have places available in the 6th form, but of course, it depends where you are based. Some have stricter criteria than others as well - this probably means they get better results, but in my opinion it doesn't mean the others are inferior as they may be achieving more with lower GCSE results.
scary mum
Tolstoy
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Re: Appealing for 6th form

Post by Tolstoy »

Scary mum we are trying to get a place at the local 6th form, it isn't a Grammar. They are refusing him on the grounds that he doesn't have maths GCSE but they have allowed internal pupils into their 6th form without it and are giving them the opportunity to resit. They also didn't tell me that I had a right to appeal when they refused to give him a place. I have no idea if it is full and at the moment I am struggling to find any information on their site about what their 6th form admissions criteria is :roll:
Warks mum
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Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 11:30 am
Location: Warwickshire

Re: Appealing for 6th form

Post by Warks mum »

My understanding is that schools are allowed to apply different criteria to internal and external candidates. The qualification levels are often set fairly low, allowing the vast majority of internal candidates to qualify. However, for popular schools (DD's grammar had 450 external applications for just over 100 places last year) they are able to put in place over subscription criteria to reduce the number of offers.

At DD's school they are holding tests for external applicants this year as they didn't feel it was fair to make offers on predicted GCSE grades since schools' predictions proved so variable.

Sorry this probably doesn't help with your situation, but it does suggest 'fairness' doesn't necessarily come into play when comparing internal and external candidate.
Sally-Anne
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Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: Appealing for 6th form

Post by Sally-Anne »

Tolstoy wrote:I am struggling to find any information on their site about what their 6th form admissions criteria is :roll:
I am assuming it is the Upper School that we have discussed before?

If so, despite a lengthy trawl through the website, they do not appear to have a published Sixth Form Admissions Policy, and they are seriously breaching the Admissions Code.

Indeed, the only link for any form of Admissions Policy for the entire school takes you to an outdated page (2010) on the BCC website. That is also a breach of the Admissions Code, because it requires all schools to publish their Policy on their website (if they have one).

Have you spoken to the Head directly?
kenyancowgirl
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Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 8:59 pm

Re: Appealing for 6th form

Post by kenyancowgirl »

Warks mum wrote:My understanding is that schools are allowed to apply different criteria to internal and external candidates.

I thought it was completely the opposite....! My understanding was that if the school allows external applicants to enter in the 6th Form, the entry qualifications/criteria have to be the same. The schools are, however, allowed to give preference to existing students who meet these criteria and any other offers may be done on additional subscription criteria such as distance etc.
Sally-Anne
Posts: 9235
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: Appealing for 6th form

Post by Sally-Anne »

kenyancowgirl wrote:I thought it was completely the opposite....! My understanding was that if the school allows external applicants to enter in the 6th Form, the entry qualifications/criteria have to be the same.
Correct - from the Admissions Code:
2.6 Applying for places at Sixth Form - Children and their parents applying for sixth form places may use the CAF, although if they are already on the roll they are not required to do so in order to transfer into year 12. Admission authorities can, however, set academic entry criteria for their sixth forms, which must be the same for both external and internal places.
The schools are, however, allowed to give preference to existing students who meet these criteria and any other offers may be done on additional subscription criteria such as distance etc.
This isn't specified in the Admissions Code, so it is down to the school's published Admissions Policy (non-existent in this case). However, natural justice says that current pupils would have priority over new pupils, provided they meet the specified threshold for admission.
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