Proposed changes to Admissions/Appeals Procedures

Eleven Plus (11+) in Kent

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c'est la vie
Posts: 77
Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2008 10:28 am

No right of appeal against 11+ assessment outcome

Post by c'est la vie »

In the proposed Scheme to co-ordinate Secondary admissions in Kent 2009/10, the Secretary of State has clarified that the 'head teacher assessment' comes within the definition of a non-statutory 'local review' and has reiterated that there will be no right of appeal against the outcome of a child's assessment, but parents may make an admission appeal if their child is refused admission to any school. This is in line with the law contained within the Appeals Code which came into place from 1st March this year.

"head teacher assessment" - a stage in the assessment process in which a child's primary school may if necessary submit additional evidence and a written statement to a head teacher panel to enable a final assessment of suitability to grammar school to be made."

We now have a level playing field between appeals to selective and non-selective schools.

Appeals panels must work on the basis that it must comply with the parent's preference unless:

(a)this is not compatible with its approved admission arrangements; or

(b)this would prejudice the provision of efficient education or use of resources.

It is a two-stage process, (a)the first of which is where the panel should decide whether the school's admission arrangements have been correctly applied. In the case of a grammar school where the passing of the 11+ is a requirement for entry, the appeal would presumably now be disallowed because of non-qualification;

and

(b) requires that the panel must then satisfy itself that prejudice exists.

If the panel agrees that the admissions arrangements have been correctly applied and that there would be prejudice, it moves to the next stage - the balancing stage.

At this stage the panel must consider whether the parents' grounds for their child to be admitted outweight any prejudice to the school. In other words, the grounds must be alllowable: Non-qualification is not an allowable ground. :(
perplexed
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Location: kent

perplexed

Post by perplexed »

So have I understood this correctly:

1. If you marginally fail the Kent 11+ there will not be any point in appealing with academic evidence that your child is within the top 25% of the population

2. It is important that if your child is most likely in the top 25% of the population that the headteacher is thorough in the evidence he/she offers at the headteacher review stage

3. If you do not achieve the cut-off point for one of the "super-selectives" it is still worth having a bash at appeal based on strong academic performance?
c'est la vie
Posts: 77
Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2008 10:28 am

Re: perplexed

Post by c'est la vie »

perplexed wrote:So have I understood this correctly:

1. If you marginally fail the Kent 11+ there will not be any point in appealing with academic evidence that your child is within the top 25% of the population

2. It is important that if your child is most likely in the top 25% of the population that the headteacher is thorough in the evidence he/she offers at the headteacher review stage

3. If you do not achieve the cut-off point for one of the "super-selectives" it is still worth having a bash at appeal based on strong academic performance?
This is my interpretation of the new laws.

1. Since the assessment process includes a review of the results which can change the exam outcome there will be no appeal against the outcome because that has already been part of the assessment. If a parent could appeal against non-qualification it means that parents have two paths to appeal and this goes against equality of opportunity of access for all children.

2. Yes, it is. If there are mitigating circumstances, parents would have been expected to let the school know at the time the exam was sat, and not restrospectively if the child fails the 11+.

3. If a cut-off point is part of the oversubscription criteria at 'super-selectives' then again, the appeals panel may only consider whether the criteria has been legally applied.

If a child does not qualify for a selective school, the appeals panel only has to consider whether the assessment has been carried out in a fair and consistent manner. I would imagine that it will be difficult to prove otherwise as the LA has to ensure that due process is properly maintained.
Peter
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Joined: Fri Jan 26, 2007 8:21 pm
Location: Kent & Medway

Post by Peter »

Message removed.
c'est la vie
Posts: 77
Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2008 10:28 am

Post by c'est la vie »

Ad hominems do not facilitate productive debate.

Paragraph 13 of the Secretary of State's proposed scheme says:

"Following the marking, and the application of the Head teacher assessment stage, the LA will write to parents advising of the assessment decision. Parents will have until (proposed date) to return their completed SCAF.
There will be no right of appeal against the outcome of a child's assessment, but parents may make an admission appeal after (proposed date) to the independent appeal panel if their child is refused admission to any school."



Going back to the new Appeals Code in force from 1st March this year paragraph 3.37 states:

"Where a local review process has been followed (the Head teacher assessment is a review, according to the DCSF) the panel must not make its own assessment of the child's ability, but must consider whether each child's review was carried out in a fair, consistent and objective way e.g. whether the same type of evidence was used in all cases."

Only in those cases where a local review/Head teacher assessment has not been applied "the panel should consider any factors which parents contend may have affected their child's performance, whether the family made the admission authority aware of these before they sat the test; and whether it offered alternative testing arrangements or made reasonable adjustments (e.g. in the case of children with disabilities.)"

The relevant paragraph 3.36 above goes to to state that "The panel may then need to consider any clear evidence presented by the parents to support their claim that the child is of the required academic standard e.g. school reports giving Year 5/Year 6 SAT results or a letter of support from their current or previoiusl school clearly indicating why the child is considered to be of grammar school ability. The panel must not use its own methods to assess suitability for a grammar school place unrelated to the evidence provided for the hearing."

Regarding reports, SAT's results etc. these will have already been given by schools on their form PESE 4 - so cannot be admissable since they have already being taken into consideration.

Since it seems that some people may be using sophistry to try to avoid the intentions of the new Appeals Code, clarification will be sought from the DCSF.

Parents need to be absolutely sure that Kent is an anomaly in comparison to Medway - and the proposed 'imposed' admissions scheme casts grave doubts on whether the DCSF see it that way - before they employ independent advisors, since they may be wasting their money.
Peter
Posts: 246
Joined: Fri Jan 26, 2007 8:21 pm
Location: Kent & Medway

Post by Peter »

Message removed.
c'est la vie
Posts: 77
Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2008 10:28 am

Post by c'est la vie »

Whilst parents can appeal for a place at a grammar school, there is no appeal against non-qualification with the new code. Therefore appeals panels may not consider any evidence the parents or their representatives wish to present as corroboration that their child is suitable for an academically selective school once they have been assessed as not suitable.

The point is that the scheme proposed for 2009 has aspects that are contained within the current Appeals code that cannot be divorced from this year's appeals.

That is the point I want to get across to parents before they part with any monies that will not aid them in any way, and hence the only 'axe to grind' that I have.

Once the clarification has been received from the DCSF, parents can either proceed with employing independent advisors, or save their hard earned money.
Peter
Posts: 246
Joined: Fri Jan 26, 2007 8:21 pm
Location: Kent & Medway

Post by Peter »

Message removed.
c'est la vie
Posts: 77
Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2008 10:28 am

Post by c'est la vie »

I don't think that a thread informing parents of the likely consequences of the new Appeals Code should be deleted, simply because it calls into question the insistence of someone with a pecuniary interest to downplay it.

I look forward to any parent who wants more information on the current state of play to receive that information.
perplexed
Posts: 490
Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2008 1:18 pm
Location: kent

Post by perplexed »

You refer above to Peter trying to demean your OP. I looked it up in Wikipedia as I was not sure what the initials stood for. I am sorry to hear that you suffer from this (osteitis pubis). Why would Peter try to demean this on a forum about the 11+ in Kent, and why would Peter know that you suffered from this on an anonymous forum?

I am a little surprised to hear that it is not possible in Kent this year to appeal against non-qualification. You refer to "clarification from the DCSF". Are you seeking such clarification? Have you got an answer yet?

People seem to be appealing on the basis of non-qualification all over the country. Have they all got it wrong? Why would one be able to appeal everywhere else and not in Kent?
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