Over subscription appeal

[Woundupmother]

I found the following paragraph in the appeals information and wondered if anyone could tell me whether this still stands with the current admission code?

Ranking can be used in combination with other criteria such as living in the catchment area, distance from the school, etc. However, if ranking is used, the Admissions Code specifically forbids giving priority to siblings of current or former pupils.

[Sally-Anne]

Yes, it is still in the 2014 Code:

1.9 It is for admission authorities to formulate their admission arrangements, but they must not:

j) in designated grammar schools that rank all children according to a pre-determined pass mark and then allocate places to those who score highest, give priority to siblings of current or former pupils;

[NancyB]

Yes, it is still in the 2014 Code:

1.9 It is for admission authorities to formulate their admission arrangements, but they must not:

j) in designated grammar schools that rank all children according to a pre-determined pass mark and then allocate places to those who score highest, give priority to siblings of current or former pupils;

I suspect that that paragraph is to stop the schools firstly offering places to those with siblings, irrespective of how high a score they passed with, then 'filling up' with those brighter children who happen not to have siblings in the school. Grammars are, after all, for the brightest children, not those who have a brighter sibling!

It could be argued (although I don't know of schools that so do) that schools might use siblings as a tie break amongst those of equal weighted points, along with distance from the school. It would of course only affect one or two children per year at the very bottom of the cut-off. Schools probably don't use it as j) appears to prohibit it - a side-effect of the much reduced admissions code a few years ago.

[Woundupmother]

My daughter has just missed out on a place at a school which does accept siblings over rank. Is the 2014 code the current code then?

This particular school has a catchment area where a pass only is needed. Anyone with a sibling needs a pass only and then all other places are given on rank. Does this sound as if it is allowed?

[Bigbirdcw]

I think that I can guess the school (in Yorkshire?)

However I think that as there is not a "pre-determined pass mark" ie they do not state that everyone who scores above x will be classed as passed, that they will not fall under this rule.

[Woundupmother]

No - not Yorkshire. Interesting that it's very similar to another's though!

[PurpleDuck]

Sorry to hear your DD has missed out on a place. The arrangement you describe sounds a bit strange, our local grammar states clearly in their admissions documents that they do not have a siblings policy (i.e. cannot treat siblings any differently from everyone else), because it is not allowed by the Admissions Code.

If my son has a brother in the school already, does that give him an advantage? No. This is in fact a matter of some regret for us: however the statutory School Admissions Code prohibits grammar schools from applying over-subscription criteria that take note of whether or not candidates have siblings in the school.

I wonder whether you could find more information in the Appeals section of the forum, somebody is bound to have been in a similar situation in the past.

[mitasol]

GS are permitted to give priority to siblings provided they are not allocating places in rank order of score. I don't think using score in a tie break would count as allocating places in rank order.

The LA will usually describe how places have been allocated ie.
X places offered by the LA were offered under the sibling criterion and X places offered by the LA were offered under the distance criterion.

You can refer admissions policies that you think don't comply with the code to the school adjudicator but I think this could be a distraction from preparing an appeal.

You should have a look through http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... 35&t=35032" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... bed-school" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Woundupmother]

There's quite a lot of advice on here in the situation where children have fallen a few marks short of the pass mark and there's lots of talk of providing evidence that the 11+ didn't show full potential, SATS show child is grammar suitable etc

What happens when your child has passed the 11+ but didn't get a place due to numbers and then you find that the cut off was a few marks more than what your child achieved. Would you/should you still go down the route of showing that the mark was not representative and they were expected to do better (better than cut off) or would this still be purely an over subscription appeal?

There's also lots of talk of a headteacher letter. Can a teacher refuse this? Many kids at our primary go to grammar but it is not talked about and almost discouraged!

Hope this makes sense. Had really hoped I wouldn't be in this position today.

[mitasol]

It really helps if you can stick to one thread for everything to do with your own case.

What happens when your child has passed the 11+ but didn't get a place due to numbers and then you find that the cut off was a few marks more than what your child achieved. Would you/should you still go down the route of showing that the mark was not representative and they were expected to do better (better than cut off) or would this still be purely an over subscription appeal?

It makes perfect sense to argue "If you're qualified, you're qualified!"

However, if places are allocated according to score, it also seems to make good sense to try and argue (if appropriate) that your child was expected to score even more highly than he/she did. You would probably need a letter from the current headteacher confirming this, and any other supporting academic evidence.

At an appeal you're entitled (with the possible exception of where a review has already taken place) to put forward any case you wish.

If in doubt, I would suggest putting forward academic arguments as well as reasons for this particular school. It's then up to the appeal panel to decide what to give weight to.

There's also lots of talk of a headteacher letter. Can a teacher refuse this?

They are not obliged to provide a letter http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... cation#b20" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;