Will this year be the hardest to get in?

Eleven Plus (11+) in Birmingham, Walsall, Wolverhampton and Wrekin

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gideon
Posts: 154
Joined: Wed Feb 12, 2014 2:54 pm

Will this year be the hardest to get in?

Post by gideon »

No, I haven't, but I know from the Adjudicator's Office all King Edward Schools have had objections as has RHS and LSS. Also many failed to publish their proposed admissions code on their website, which is a breach of the regulations.

Edited by moderator, as this thread risks going off topic despite attempts to return to the original question.
succeed wrote: Returning to the original question, ..........
rabbie burns wrote:To go back to the original question .........

HappyRobot
Posts: 227
Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2012 12:02 am

Re: Will this year be the hardest to get in?

Post by HappyRobot »

Thanks Rabbie,

Will be very interested to see what changes more demand, more pressure to tutor and the new FSM initiative bring.
mike1880
Posts: 2563
Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 10:51 pm

Re: Will this year be the hardest to get in?

Post by mike1880 »

My experience going back a good few years (our eldest is taking GCSEs this year) was that everyone whose child was likely to get a place was already tutoring back then. And it's certainly true that going through the process once makes you much more aware of what everyone else is doing.

So that means that if - and it's a big "if" in my view - there is more tutoring it's children who are NOT likely to get a place who are being tutored now. Scaremongering by the big tuition companies (and by some of the more neurotic parents on forums like this) is probably responsible for many, many families spending significant amounts of money on tuition that has no prospect of producing the result they want.

Mind you, after 5 years of GS I am thoroughly convinced that from an education point of view moving to Solihull is an infinitely better solution than selective education. (If that means taking up a life of crime to finance the move I can introduce you to some neighbours who can help get a foot on the ladder.) I wouldn't have believed I'd be saying this, but I think both Mrs 1880 and I would not be overwhelmingly disappointed if Master 1880 is "released into the wild" after his GCSE results and compelled to move to 6th form college.

Mike
Peridot
Posts: 2195
Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 5:02 pm

Re: Will this year be the hardest to get in?

Post by Peridot »

Here I am straying into the Midlands again... I agree that once you are aware of the GS system through one or more of your children taking part in the exam you definitely become more attuned to hearing who is or isn't having tutoring, so it's hard to know if numbers are larger.

I also think that there is a generally increased awareness about the eleven plus, generated predominantly by media coverage over the last few years but also of course by this excellent forum! Certainly in my area (Surrey) the numbers of children taking the tests have steadily increased year on year since 2010 when my son applied. The effect of this is a very small increase in the cut-off score for each school or consortium of schools.

HappyRobot as others have said I wouldn't worry too much about it from your child's point of view; there is nothing different you can do apart from preparing them for the exam as parents have done for years, whether that is via a tutor or DIY. Just make sure you know what style of exam you are preparing them for. There are only so many children in the country who will in the end be of the required standard to pass, whatever the content of the exam and however many apply. As mike1880 says, (well, I'm paraphrasing!) there will be many who are nowhere near.

Good luck, Peridot.
um
Posts: 2378
Joined: Sat May 30, 2009 1:06 pm
Location: Birmingham

Re: Will this year be the hardest to get in?

Post by um »

I may be wrong but I do feel that, year-on-year, the standard required is getting more difficult.
I don't mean the 'last score in' mark (which obviously dropped for this cohort).

This may be due to a number of factors; an increased middle-class population (which will increase further as data shows us that the baby boom from 2006-2009 was mainly driven by older, middle-class mothers), increasing tuition from an earlier age, and some tutors and parents becoming more aware of the requirements of the examination rather than sitting for a year going through Bond VR.

Regarding free school meals; around a third of pupils in Birmingham are eligible for free school meals but in some schools this is 70%+.
HappyRobot
Posts: 227
Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2012 12:02 am

Re: Will this year be the hardest to get in?

Post by HappyRobot »

Lol mike1880...what do your neighbours do? I'm sure we could all do with a little more money. Lots of children bus into Solihull sixth form college and does tudor grange have a catchment for sixth form?

Um and Peridot, thanks for your comments.

I wish we could take UKIPs only decent policy and open grammars in every town, then this mad scramble would surely subside.
mike1880
Posts: 2563
Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 10:51 pm

Re: Will this year be the hardest to get in?

Post by mike1880 »

We have two neighbours at Her Majesty's pleasure at the moment (that I know of), both for over-enthusiastically embracing liberal economic principles but at very different ends of the "career ladder" (quite why the one at the top of the heap chose to live in our neighbourhood I have no idea).

I'd have to disagree on the idea of a GS in every town, I've pretty much lost my enthusiasm for selective education. I would dearly love to see good comps instead. I've come to empathise with the suggestion that state schools in general, and Birmingham comps in particular, would not be allowed to be as poor as they are if EVERYone had to send their children to one rather than being able to send their children to one or other flavour of KE. Obviously, no one wants to their children to be used as a social experiment (and nor should they), but perhaps the current policy of allowing good schools to expand will eventually achieve the desired result. (This might well be the only thing Gove will ever do that I agree with. I don't know how it's doing as an ARK academy but in former days it cost the tax/ratepayer as much to provide a child at Kings Norton High with possibly the worst education in Birmingham as it would have cost to send them to KES/KEHS. I think the word is "Kafkaesque".)
kenyancowgirl
Posts: 6738
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 8:59 pm

Re: Will this year be the hardest to get in?

Post by kenyancowgirl »

mike1880 wrote:I'd have to disagree on the idea of a GS in every town, I've pretty much lost my enthusiasm for selective education. I would dearly love to see good comps instead.
Quite apart from the fact that your posts have made me laugh with your descriptions of your neighbours - h*ll, even I want to move to your neighbourhood to meet you - welcome to the club of a good education for all!!
rabbie burns
Posts: 251
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2014 12:48 pm

Re: Will this year be the hardest to get in?

Post by rabbie burns »

I am in your club too. Brought up where there have not been a grammer school since way back in the mists of time I still cannot believe my ds is going to the KE grammer school this year. Need to review how this actually happened!!
um
Posts: 2378
Joined: Sat May 30, 2009 1:06 pm
Location: Birmingham

Re: Will this year be the hardest to get in?

Post by um »

I know parents in Solihull who, for various reasons, would rather their child attend a grammar in Birmingham than their local (albeit good) comprehensive.

I do respect that decision and agree with them. I don't live in Solihull nor are we close enough to have gained entry into one of their good comprehensives, but my older children all attended primary school there.
I feel that my boys have been far happier and better catered for - for many reasons - at KECH than they would have been at a Solihull comp.
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