passed 11+ but no place at Kings, Grantham
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passed 11+ but no place at Kings, Grantham
Heard from a mother at local school that her son who passed 11+ by just a couple of marks has not been offered a place at Kings School, Grantham, despite putting it as 1st choice. Has not been given 2nd or 3rd choice either as both schools also over subscribed...
Her son lives minutes from Kings but is now looking at places at other grammars in Lincs... Carrs - Sleaford and possibly Bourne. I am very confussed. Our own son is taking 11+ in Sept' 08 - How can a school not accept local kids who have passed 11+, whilst still accepting boys from Radcliffe-on-Trent/Newark (Notts) with higher passes? (and is this really happening ?!)
Her son lives minutes from Kings but is now looking at places at other grammars in Lincs... Carrs - Sleaford and possibly Bourne. I am very confussed. Our own son is taking 11+ in Sept' 08 - How can a school not accept local kids who have passed 11+, whilst still accepting boys from Radcliffe-on-Trent/Newark (Notts) with higher passes? (and is this really happening ?!)
Hi Libs
I understand Kings no longer has a "catchment" area so distance to the school is less relevant than in the past. It is also a Foundation school which offers places on rank order so offers go to the boys with the highest scores first. There is always the possibility that some boys do not take up their places thereby freeing up spaces as the acceptance process rolls on.
I would guess all the other local grammars are also oversubscribed. We missed out on Bourne due to oversubscription (the school allocates on distance from the school (after passing the 11+) and we are much, much closer to it than Grantham!
Suggest you look at the booklet "Going to School in Lincolnshire! from Lincs CC - it set out all the admission criteria for each school. Unfortunately, i think not all children that pass the 11+ get s grammar school place!
Hope this helps
Adraini
I understand Kings no longer has a "catchment" area so distance to the school is less relevant than in the past. It is also a Foundation school which offers places on rank order so offers go to the boys with the highest scores first. There is always the possibility that some boys do not take up their places thereby freeing up spaces as the acceptance process rolls on.
I would guess all the other local grammars are also oversubscribed. We missed out on Bourne due to oversubscription (the school allocates on distance from the school (after passing the 11+) and we are much, much closer to it than Grantham!
Suggest you look at the booklet "Going to School in Lincolnshire! from Lincs CC - it set out all the admission criteria for each school. Unfortunately, i think not all children that pass the 11+ get s grammar school place!
Hope this helps
Adraini
Hello libs,
Kings has obviously had a good many more applicants this year than last when it did not fill all its places. The mum could try ringing Kings to see how far down the list her son is from getting a place. There is often a bit of "shakedown" in the next few weeks - not everybody accepts the offered places so some may be freed up. She can also go to appeal for a place. Last year Carres did not fill all its places. You have to make a new application - the admissions department will advise of the date it is possible to do this and will also advise people of what places are left where - this is to give a chance for the allocated places to be accepted or declined so that everybody knows more or less where they stand on numbers. Bourne has been heavily oversubscribed in recent years and I suspect that it will be this year as well (but check with admissions) which means slim chances of getting in there. If the mum wants further advice or to talk over her options she could ring the admissions department or the choice advisers.
Kings used to allocate places on score order within an inner area first and then in an outer area stretching 25 miles but they changed this to simple score order. This may have been to do with the fact that the Council scrapped using DTAs (Designated Transport Areas) as an oversubscription criterion in its own schools as it was felt that this might contravene the "Greenwich Ruling" a legal judgement which declares it unlawful to have criteria that discriminate against cross county border applicants. Community and controlled Grammars in Lincolnshire allocate on siblings and distance criteria with no regard to score once the 220 has been reached but the foundation schools mostly use score order, some with priority given to applicants in inner or traditional feeder areas and others like Kings using score alone.
Hope this helps explain things even though I realise it does not make the situation any happier.
Kings has obviously had a good many more applicants this year than last when it did not fill all its places. The mum could try ringing Kings to see how far down the list her son is from getting a place. There is often a bit of "shakedown" in the next few weeks - not everybody accepts the offered places so some may be freed up. She can also go to appeal for a place. Last year Carres did not fill all its places. You have to make a new application - the admissions department will advise of the date it is possible to do this and will also advise people of what places are left where - this is to give a chance for the allocated places to be accepted or declined so that everybody knows more or less where they stand on numbers. Bourne has been heavily oversubscribed in recent years and I suspect that it will be this year as well (but check with admissions) which means slim chances of getting in there. If the mum wants further advice or to talk over her options she could ring the admissions department or the choice advisers.
Kings used to allocate places on score order within an inner area first and then in an outer area stretching 25 miles but they changed this to simple score order. This may have been to do with the fact that the Council scrapped using DTAs (Designated Transport Areas) as an oversubscription criterion in its own schools as it was felt that this might contravene the "Greenwich Ruling" a legal judgement which declares it unlawful to have criteria that discriminate against cross county border applicants. Community and controlled Grammars in Lincolnshire allocate on siblings and distance criteria with no regard to score once the 220 has been reached but the foundation schools mostly use score order, some with priority given to applicants in inner or traditional feeder areas and others like Kings using score alone.
Hope this helps explain things even though I realise it does not make the situation any happier.
Alex
Yes we're sitting tight and hoping! I'm not sure how far out the offers have gone this year. Everyone I know that has an offer lives in Bourne, apart from a few like us who probably wouldn't expect to get in at the first round.
Someone told me that the appeals last year reached as far as Market Deeping, so hoping we may just get in!
Adraini
Yes we're sitting tight and hoping! I'm not sure how far out the offers have gone this year. Everyone I know that has an offer lives in Bourne, apart from a few like us who probably wouldn't expect to get in at the first round.
Someone told me that the appeals last year reached as far as Market Deeping, so hoping we may just get in!
Adraini
The first allocations for Bourne Grammar last year went out to over 9 kilometres (think it was 9.5Km but would have to check to be sure). Don't know how far it has gone this year. At appeal the distance is not such an important factor as any reasons for needing the place can be considered by the panel and may be much more compelling than simply living closer than the other appellants. I believe there were people from in or near Stamford who got a place at appeal.
