Some experiences from 2014 - Bucks

Consult our experts on 11 Plus appeals or any other type of school appeal

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

BlueBerry22
Posts: 184
Joined: Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:16 pm

Some experiences from 2014 - Bucks

Post by BlueBerry22 »

Congratulations to those of you whose children received 121+ on Friday – huge commiserations and big hugs to those of you whose envelop contained scores <121.

Having been through the entire process last year I have been asked by a number of friends with children in Y6 to post something of my knowledge/experience.

I would like to state that this is the journey of myself and a number of acquaintances from different schools in Bucks. It is in no way meant to replace the excellent advice given by Sally Anne and Etienne.

Case A.
Score 120.
Mitigating Circumstances – Multi- Lingual
I believe child would have been predicted mid to high L5’s
Review = successful

CaseB
Score 117
Siblings already thriving at GS
Child young in school year.
Strong NFER scores in Y5
Review = successful

Case C
Score 118
Strong Maths – aiming to sit L6 paper
Strong NFER scores in Y5
Review = successful

Case D
Score 115
Young in school Year
Reading Age 2 years greater than actual age
Predicted 3*L5

Review – rejected – panel stated they didn’t believe child would achieve 3 * L5.

Appeal – Didn’t go to appeal

End of Y6 – child achieved a full set of L5’s – teacher assessed at 5A/5B for key subjects.


Case E
Score 117
Predicted 3*L5
Review – rejected – panel stated they didn’t believe child would achieve 3 * L5.

Appeal – succeeded at FCO based on fact child was already clearly achieving L5 in classroom however appeal rejected. The GS in question successfully defended its PAN.

End of Y6 – child achieved a full set of L5’s - – teacher assessed at 5A/5B for key subjects.


Case F
Score 110
Predicted 3*L5/L6
Reading Age 2.5 years > than actual.

Review – rejected – no reason given. Panel agreed child would achieve 3 * L5’s but ticked box “no evidence will thrive in GS”

Appeal – succeeded at FCO based on fact that Review Panel didn’t explain why they turned down the Review. However Appeal rejected – for many reasons – some of the key points were that the actual maths score achieved was 7% below average, working at L6 for Maths did not mean that you were suitable for GS. Dyslexia deemed not to be important in poor maths score. Poor HT recommendation of 2:2 (HT had recommended too many children in this bucket that didn’t get thru)

End of Y6 – child achieved a full set of L5’s - – teacher assessed at 5A/5B for key subjects.

This is my case and can be followed in my Appeal thread.

Perhaps other people who took part in this process last year can add their experiences.
buzzybee
Posts: 163
Joined: Sat Dec 01, 2012 9:29 am

Re: Some experiences from 2014 - BUCKS

Post by buzzybee »

Thanks Blueberry22.

I don't know if my case is of any use really as dd took the 11plus (old style test) 2 years ago but might make interesting reading.

11 plus score 119
Headteacher recommendation 1:1
Working at L5 in all areas Year 6
Previous CAT scores all over 121
Reading age was dd's actual age

Review unsuccessful

Appeal - FCO successful Panel deemed that the review was not fair but was not recommended for Grammar school despite the Chairman's notes saying that there was evidence of Grammar school material! I think it was the reading age that wasn't particularly outstanding that may have affected the final decision?

12 plus CEM new style test - dd took it in January this year and passed (no prep done whatsoever)

Started Year 8 at local Grammar school Sept 14.

I hope my experience is of some help to others, it's been a long journey for us but dd is now thriving at Grammar school.....don't give up!
BlueBerry22
Posts: 184
Joined: Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:16 pm

Re: Some experiences from 2014 - BUCKS

Post by BlueBerry22 »

Just realised I didn’t post the controversial bit – thoughts on what makes a successful case at review in my opinion
• As close to 121 as possible
• Predicted L5’s that cannot be questioned
• High Nationally standardised Y5 tests
• Strong HT recommendation – 2.2 or above

Review or Appeal ?
• Last year at Appeal you had to win the FCO argument (if you had had an unsuccessful review), then the academic argument and then overcome the prejudice to the school of admitting another child as most were full after R1 allocations. I believe many schools successfully defended their PAN & very few children were admitted to schools that were full – however I don’t think there are any stats available so it makes it hard for parents to make a decision.


I hope this gives food for thought – of course what was successful one year may not be the next.

Furthermore the appeals system last year was different from the previous year – it may well be different again.

Good Luck to everyone on their journey where-ever it leads
BB22
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: Some experiences from 2014 - BUCKS

Post by Etienne »

Last year at Appeal you had to win the FCO argument (if you had had an unsuccessful review) .......
According to a parent at one of the group hearings, it was said that around 75% of FCO cases were found not to have been 'fair, consistent & objective' the previous year.

There were also reports of the same parents getting a different FCO decision from different appeal panels. :roll:
- but we guessed this would happen:
    • it seems impossible that one appeal panel finds the process not FCO, and another panel thinks that it is....FOR THE SAME CHILD AND THE SAME EVIDENCE AND THE SAME PROCESS
      • Etienne wrote:Very sorry to hear some of the news coming through, especially when those of you involved did your very best, and couldn't possibly have done more.
        Unfortunately it's not exactly a straightforward process, and contradictory decisions were always a distinct possibility.
        Sally-Anne warned earlier in the thread that this could happen (and why):
        • Sally-Anne wrote:It's also worth saying that panel members are very independent-minded - so much so that different panels could come to completely different conclusions about FCO. That has happened in other areas of the country in the past.
          The wording in the Appeals Code about "fair, consistent & objective" is pretty minimal and open to interpretation by individual IAPs.
Etienne
MamaBear
Posts: 574
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 6:17 pm

Re: Some experiences from 2014 - BUCKS

Post by MamaBear »

This is really interesting and useful, thank you OP, buzzybee and etienne.
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: Some experiences from 2014 - BUCKS

Post by Etienne »

Yes, thanks to blueberry for starting it.

We'll give it more prominence by making it a sticky for the time being.
Etienne
ohdear
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2014 10:09 pm

Re: STICKY: Some experiences from 2014 - Bucks

Post by ohdear »

My successful appeal experience in Bucks last year, I hope it is a help to somebody out there. It's a very hard thing to go through and I feel for all of you who who didn't get the result you were hoping for.

104 score Yes very low...
2.1 HT recommendation
Predicted 3 Level 5's
CAT scores of 9, 8, 9
Reading age 15+
End of July birthday
Eldest child already in the GS we were appealing for.

Unsuccessful review due to bad HT advice, we were told review panel wouldn't listen to our mitigating circumstances. HT told us as far as she knew it would be purely academic ability.
Review form came back with not suitable for GS. 5's box ticked but also a tick against no mitigating circumstances.

We proved an unfair review due to head teacher advice.
We gave detailed information of academic evidence.
Argued for why school should go above PAN.

I would also like to say that this was also done without spending money anything other than photocopies :)

We won the appeal and our DC started at the GS in September. We were delighted and amazed. It can be done with a low score and reasonable mitigating circumstances.

We lurked on this site for a while and it was a great help. Thank you.
MamaBear
Posts: 574
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 6:17 pm

Re: STICKY: Some experiences from 2014 - Bucks

Post by MamaBear »

Thank you ohdear, its really lovely to hear of successful reviews. Congratulations to your dc and to you toofor all yoyr hard work and patience.

    • [Note from moderator - it was an unsuccessful review above - it was the appeal that succeeded. Great news all the same!]
ptolemy
Posts: 37
Joined: Tue Feb 11, 2014 11:48 am

Re: STICKY: Some experiences from 2014 - Bucks

Post by ptolemy »

Score 117 high scores in Maths and nonverbal, but low score in verbal component.
HT recommended 2:1
Predicted SATs: 5A reading and Maths, 5C writing
Evidence provided to show strong interest in Maths and solving puzzles (gifted and talented and participation in competitions). Accepted verbal was weak because multilingual and provided evidence of improvement: 2A in KS1 to 5C reading and 4A writing end of year 5. Further evidence from reading challenge certificate to show DC is working to improve English.
Review successful.
Good luck to everyone opting for review/appeal.
MumPea
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2014 12:08 pm

Re: STICKY: Some experiences from 2014 - Bucks

Post by MumPea »

ohdear wrote:My successful appeal experience in Bucks last year, I hope it is a help to somebody out there. It's a very hard thing to go through and I feel for all of you who who didn't get the result you were hoping for.

104 score Yes very low...
2.1 HT recommendation
Predicted 3 Level 5's
CAT scores of 9, 8, 9
Reading age 15+
End of July birthday
Eldest child already in the GS we were appealing for.

Unsuccessful review due to bad HT advice, we were told review panel wouldn't listen to our mitigating circumstances. HT told us as far as she knew it would be purely academic ability.
Review form came back with not suitable for GS. 5's box ticked but also a tick against no mitigating circumstances.

We proved an unfair review due to head teacher advice.
We gave detailed information of academic evidence.
Argued for why school should go above PAN.

I would also like to say that this was also done without spending money anything other than photocopies :)

We won the appeal and our DC started at the GS in September. We were delighted and amazed. It can be done with a low score and reasonable mitigating circumstances.

We lurked on this site for a while and it was a great help. Thank you.
ohdear , your case is almost identical to where I am with mine. Thank you for sharing and giving me hope. Would you be willing to share what your mitigating circumstances were?
Post Reply
11 Plus Mocks - Practise the real exam experience - Book Now