11 Plus Exams Forum

OK, the situation is this - I need to choose between Herschel and Burnham to put as my first choice on the Slough CAF.

We live just outside the BGS catchment area in Cippenham Slough, but we are more confident of our son getting the pass mark for the Bucks test (he is better at VR than NVR), as opposed to the Slough Consortium tests. He also goes to a Bucks "Partner" primary school in Cippenham and will sit the Bucks test at his primary school.

But we live closer to Herschel (within the distance cutoff criteria applied to the 50 they choose within catchment).

Therefore, can I ask, if I put Herschel as no. 1 on the Slough CAF and BGS as no. 2, would this place us at a disadvantage if my son fails the Slough test, but gets the pass mark for the the Bucks test? i.e. would BGS not consider us as we have placed them as no. 2?

Or, if I put BGS as no. 1 and Herschel as no. 2, and my son passed both tests, would we still be at a disadvantage as we live outside the BGS catchment area and Herschel would be less likely to consider us as we put them as no. 2?

I have heard that, if I put a non-Slough consortium school (BGS) as no. 1, this does not affect the chances of getting an offer from a Slough consortium school like Herschel, as they are only concerned about being no. 1 within the Slough consortium. Is this true?

Thanks for any help and advice.

Your son will gethe highest ranked school for which he qualifies. So, in the scenario you describe, having not qualified for Herschel because of a lower score, he would get BGS (assuming he had scored sufficinetly highly and met the distance creteria). No school will know where you placed them on the list and your local admissions people will just keep going down the list until they find a school for which he has qualified.

Hi BSG

Mad is absolutely right.

Burnham will not know where they were placed on your list. Your son will be offered a place at the first choice school where he qualifies.

We're in a similar situation with my daughter, with Burnham as her second choice and Herschel her third choice. Becky High is her first.

Thanks Mad and SingleDad.

On that basis, I shall put Herschel first, BGS second and cross my fingers!