DS left out of Second Round Allocations
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DS left out of Second Round Allocations
Dear All,
We moved from North Yorkshire to Bucks in December due to job reasons and my DS had passed the Transfer test. We were informed at the outset that since we moved in December his application would be considered based on his previous address for the 1st round but that following the provision of all evidence that we had indeed settled in Bucks he would be considered for the 2nd round allocations.
Hence on March 1st when we did not hear anything from the team, we assumed that he had been entered into round 2 based on the last email in Jan which said " Thank you for providing the requested address evidence for *** application.
I can now confirm that we have accepted your address for the second round of allocations on 29th April 2016.
As I have previously advised, as you moved after the deadline of 1st October (for Grammar schools) and 31st October (for Upper schools) your Scarborough address will be used for the first round of allocations on 1st March 2016 ".
When we failed to hear anything after March 1st we rang their number and spoke with them and were assured that his application was in line to being considered for Round 2 on April 29th. In fact following a 2nd call I was informed that a letter will be posted which we could expect to receive on April 30th or the next working day.
However having received nothing from them we contacted them 2 days ago only to be told that since we hadn't specifically asked for him to go on a waiting list by March 18th his application was not considered on April 29th.
I struggle to understand 2 things :
1) We were repeatedly told that since he wasn't in the 1st allocation he would be considered in the 2nd allocation and yet he was left out of it.
2) If he was not offered any school place in the first instance and we had not declined anything how would we be expected to request that he be placed on a waiting list ?
I have raised these points with them an await their reply.
We live just 2 miles from both AGS (1st choice) and SHFGS (2nd choice). Should we just accept the situation and request that he be considered for the 3rd round (May 10th) and if so what are his chances in the 3rd round ? Thanks.
We moved from North Yorkshire to Bucks in December due to job reasons and my DS had passed the Transfer test. We were informed at the outset that since we moved in December his application would be considered based on his previous address for the 1st round but that following the provision of all evidence that we had indeed settled in Bucks he would be considered for the 2nd round allocations.
Hence on March 1st when we did not hear anything from the team, we assumed that he had been entered into round 2 based on the last email in Jan which said " Thank you for providing the requested address evidence for *** application.
I can now confirm that we have accepted your address for the second round of allocations on 29th April 2016.
As I have previously advised, as you moved after the deadline of 1st October (for Grammar schools) and 31st October (for Upper schools) your Scarborough address will be used for the first round of allocations on 1st March 2016 ".
When we failed to hear anything after March 1st we rang their number and spoke with them and were assured that his application was in line to being considered for Round 2 on April 29th. In fact following a 2nd call I was informed that a letter will be posted which we could expect to receive on April 30th or the next working day.
However having received nothing from them we contacted them 2 days ago only to be told that since we hadn't specifically asked for him to go on a waiting list by March 18th his application was not considered on April 29th.
I struggle to understand 2 things :
1) We were repeatedly told that since he wasn't in the 1st allocation he would be considered in the 2nd allocation and yet he was left out of it.
2) If he was not offered any school place in the first instance and we had not declined anything how would we be expected to request that he be placed on a waiting list ?
I have raised these points with them an await their reply.
We live just 2 miles from both AGS (1st choice) and SHFGS (2nd choice). Should we just accept the situation and request that he be considered for the 3rd round (May 10th) and if so what are his chances in the 3rd round ? Thanks.
Re: DS left out of Second Round Allocations
So have you been offered anything at all?
I'd suggest submitting an appeal as a back-up - go for AGS and SHFGS [in my opinion, as a parent of an ex-student, the better of the schools these days].
It sounds like there has been an error - have you got a paper trail for all of this? If so then Bucks CC should be asked to sort it out - you should be near the top of any waiting list.
Looking at the 2nd round data:
AGS would not have yielded a place "Offers made under rule 7 (catchment) to a distance of 0.957 miles"
SHFGS shoud have yielded a place "Offers made under rule 3 (siblings) and some allocated under rule 5 (catchment) to a distance of 6.375 miles."
In the past I know errors have been corrected.
I'd suggest submitting an appeal as a back-up - go for AGS and SHFGS [in my opinion, as a parent of an ex-student, the better of the schools these days].
It sounds like there has been an error - have you got a paper trail for all of this? If so then Bucks CC should be asked to sort it out - you should be near the top of any waiting list.
Looking at the 2nd round data:
AGS would not have yielded a place "Offers made under rule 7 (catchment) to a distance of 0.957 miles"
SHFGS shoud have yielded a place "Offers made under rule 3 (siblings) and some allocated under rule 5 (catchment) to a distance of 6.375 miles."
In the past I know errors have been corrected.
-
Sally-Anne
- Posts: 9235
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
- Location: Buckinghamshire
Re: DS left out of Second Round Allocations
Dazed Dad, I have sent you a PM (Private Message). You can retrieve it at the top LH corner of this page.
Re: DS left out of Second Round Allocations
Guest55, Thank you. Neither have we been offered anything, nor have we heard anything at all from Bucks, apart from an email on Jan 18th : “ Thank you for providing the requested address evidence for *****’s application. I can now confirm that we have accepted your address for the second round of allocations on 29th April 2016. As I have previously advised, as you moved after the deadline of 1st October (for Grammar schools) and 31st October (for Upper schools) your Scarborough address will be used for the first round of allocations on 1st March 2016. This means that your previous home LA will also write to you on 1st March 2016. Please ensure that you have informed your previous Local Authority of your new address. Buckinghamshire will take over the application for the second allocation round and this means that should you wish to change your preferences or go on any waiting lists for the second allocation round you should inform us by 18th March 2016”.
Having received nothing by post on 30th morning or 3rd as stated during 2 phone calls, i emailed them on the 3rd to receive this by email on the 4th “ As advised in my previous email Buckinghamshire took over the application for the second allocation round and this meant that should you have wished to change your preferences or go on any waiting lists for the second allocation round you should have informed us by 18th March 2016. You did not contact us regarding placing DS on any waiting lists and therefore your preferences were not considered in the second allocation round. We also checked with your previous Local Authority to make sure that you had not opted to go on the waiting list via them. Should you wish for DS to be on any grammar school waiting lists please respond to this email by 10th May at the latest for him to be considered in the third allocation round.
Intriguingly North Yorkshire sent us an email on March 4th stating that DS’s status for each of his Bucks preferences was “ Status: Waiting List” . Hence North Yorkshire says he was on waiting list for each of the Bucks schools while Bucks says we didn’t ask for him to go on the waiting list. I have retained all emails from Bucks and N.Yorks.
Having received nothing by post on 30th morning or 3rd as stated during 2 phone calls, i emailed them on the 3rd to receive this by email on the 4th “ As advised in my previous email Buckinghamshire took over the application for the second allocation round and this meant that should you have wished to change your preferences or go on any waiting lists for the second allocation round you should have informed us by 18th March 2016. You did not contact us regarding placing DS on any waiting lists and therefore your preferences were not considered in the second allocation round. We also checked with your previous Local Authority to make sure that you had not opted to go on the waiting list via them. Should you wish for DS to be on any grammar school waiting lists please respond to this email by 10th May at the latest for him to be considered in the third allocation round.
Intriguingly North Yorkshire sent us an email on March 4th stating that DS’s status for each of his Bucks preferences was “ Status: Waiting List” . Hence North Yorkshire says he was on waiting list for each of the Bucks schools while Bucks says we didn’t ask for him to go on the waiting list. I have retained all emails from Bucks and N.Yorks.
Re: DS left out of Second Round Allocations
As I said it sounds like an error - ask to speak with someone senior like Debbie Munday - hopefully Sally-Anne's PM has given you some advice too.
You should have been allocated SHFGS in the second round from the allocation profile I quoted.
You should have been allocated SHFGS in the second round from the allocation profile I quoted.
Re: DS left out of Second Round Allocations
Dazed Dad. What a nightmare. Sounds like a complete cock up which I am sure with your time lined evidence you will be able to prove but I feel for you. No expert advice to offer I am afraid but good luck. Personally I would be having complete meltdown so well done for still being able to type.
mad?
Re: DS left out of Second Round Allocations
Dear All, Our DS was today offered a place at SHF after Admissions Office acknowledged that he ought to have been considered in the second allocation round. We're obviously delighted and I wish to thank you all for your support & advice during the difficult times. Guest55, mad?, and Sally-Anne, you helped us retain our sanity during those 10 days and I'm impressed by the admissions office for the alacrity with which they remedied the situation. All's well that end's well !
Re: DS left out of Second Round Allocations
Great news - thanks for updating us 
It's a great school ...
It's a great school ...
