Oversubscription Appeal: Acedmic Evidence from Tutor

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Littlefish
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2016 1:59 am

Oversubscription Appeal: Acedmic Evidence from Tutor

Post by Littlefish »

Hello, can you advise please on whether academic evidence from a tutor is worth submitting?

Our daughter passed the 11+ (CSSE - Essex) and got a score that would normally have got an out of catchment place in her first preference school. The school allocates out of catchment places according to ranked score in the 11+ until all places are filled. This year she seems to be quite a way off the cut-off and a long way down the waiting list - we are desperate for her to go to her first preference school for many reasons.

There was quite a difference between her individual scores: 44/60 on English and 24/60 on maths (she said she had lost focus by the time of the second paper). We are lodging an oversubscription appeal on the grounds that extenuating circumstances prevented her from working to her full potential - severe circumstances at the time of the exam but also over the course of a number of years before that (I will send a seperate note to the appeal box with additional confidential information).

We have had a letter of support from the school, which they indicated they would be very happy to do, but it is very weak. Some slightly above average scores and not much by way of enthusiastic and positive comments. It is helpful in that it indicates that there was a drop in Year 5 and the start of Year 6, which is our main agument.

I'd like to ask whether it would help the case to submit further academic evidence from a tutor? I have read around this on the fourum and know that generally mentioning tutors does not help - our daughter had only 4 sessions over the summer as a refresher, so was not heavily tutored. She was tested at the start and at the end, and her scores (particularly in maths) went up significantly - we think this supports our argument that she has not been working to her full potential, and when challenged she responds quickly.

Can you advise on whether the evidence from the tutor would help the case, or is it that any reference to our daughter being tutored would simply be taken negatively?
Also, as she did pass the 11+ does the academic case sill matter as much? I think it does as the argument seems to be that were it not for extenuating circumstances she would have scored more highly and been further up the allocation list..
Thank you very much.
Sally-Anne
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Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: Oversubscription Appeal: Acedmic Evidence from Tutor

Post by Sally-Anne »

I'm afraid a letter from a tutor won't help your case at all.

In terms of the extenuating circumstances, I suggest that play it extremely low key. You have evidence from the external source of your daughter's anxiety, and also comments from the school about dips in her performance. I would refer to them as briefly as you possibly can, and without dwelling on years of background. Too many reasons soon begin to sound like excuses. The panel is looking for specific reasons why she did not perform as expected on the day of the test.

Then focus on your academic case - that does still matter because, although she qualified, it wasn't by a sufficient margin. It looks as if the maths was the real problem on the day, so try to concentrate on demonstrating her ability in that area particularly.
Littlefish
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2016 1:59 am

Re: Oversubscription Appeal: Acedmic Evidence from Tutor

Post by Littlefish »

Thank you Sally-Anne, that is very helpful. Can I ask a few more questions?

1. With this type of oversubscription appeal (where places are allocated purely on ranked score in the 11+) is there still merit in arguing why this school is preferred rather than any other? Or is it pretty much just down to the academic evidence now, to put the case that DD would reasonably have been expected to get a higher score?

2. If the former, does it carry any weight that the 2nd preference school DD was offered a place at is logistically very difficult to get to compared to the first preference? It feels like they'll just argue that we chose to put her 2nd preference school down knowing where it was and how difficult it was to get there, which is of course true - for the reasons given we didn't put local schools high up on our preferences.

3. Re the maths, is there any way to find out how the raw scores compare to 'average ability' or correlate to SATS? I know there is not a direct correlation, but I am trying to get an idea of how close the score she got was to actual expectations based on her school performance.

Thank you again - any thoughts very very welcome.
ToadMum
Posts: 11947
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:41 pm
Location: Essex

Re: Oversubscription Appeal: Acedmic Evidence from Tutor

Post by ToadMum »

The individual schools will know the CSSE test score of each child they admitted, and their KS2 SATs scores (or not, in the case of those who were at indies and didn't do them), but they would hardly try to collect information on pupils who possibly didn't even apply to them, I wouldn't think. I suppose it's just about possible that the CSSE requests SATs scores for those who sit the test - you could try asking them?
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hermanmunster
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Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: Oversubscription Appeal: Acedmic Evidence from Tutor

Post by hermanmunster »

Littlefish wrote:
2. If the former, does it carry any weight that the 2nd preference school DD was offered a place at is logistically very difficult to get to compared to the first preference? It feels like they'll just argue that we chose to put her 2nd preference school down knowing where it was and how difficult it was to get there, which is of course true - for the reasons given we didn't put local schools high up on our preferences.

.

Hi Littlefish - I really wouldn;t mention the allocated school, you are now appealing FOR a place at the 1st choice school, not AGAINST the allocated school. They probably will assume that you were happy to put it on the CAF in second place and hence were aware of the logistics.
Littlefish
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2016 1:59 am

Re: Oversubscription Appeal: Acedmic Evidence from Tutor

Post by Littlefish »

Thank you ToadMum - I like that idea! I'll ask the school if there is any data available from last year. Oddly the lower her score is in relation to others then probably the better, since there would be a more significant difference between what she actually got and what an 'average' or 'above average' pupil might have been expected to get....

Hi Hermanmunster - thank you for your comment, you're right. Yes, we will try to stay focused on the positive.. It seems so hard not to get caught up in tangents about how bad alternatives are. I am struggling to get our head around why the 1st choice school is uniquely right for us though - it is an outstanding school, so I imagine pretty much everyone would be able to argue that it excels in whatever their own DC strengths and intersts are!
Ann221a
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 1:04 pm

Re: Oversubscription Appeal: Acedmic Evidence from Tutor

Post by Ann221a »

Hi

I am not sure which Essex school you are appealing for but I went through an appeal 2 years ago with my DS. He had passed the 11+ but as an out of catchment child did not score high enough to get an automatic place. At the appeal, the first thing they said was that his ability was not in doubt as he had passed the 11+! Basically what they wanted to know was why the school should go over PAN (to the detriment of the other children) to offer him a place. Very difficult to answer outside of he is academic, he needs to be challenged etc. The results of the appeal were that he was suitable for grammar school but we did not have a good enough reason why he needed to go there. So I would really just say think about why your child needs to attend the school. The fact that DS had passed the 11+, there were documented extenuating circumstances that explained a lower mark in one paper, and Head Teacher recommendations and excellent SATs were not enough. Not trying to put you off but I wish I had been warned about how important it was to justify the school going over PAN to offer your child a place so do give that as much importance as the academic evidence, if not more.
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