11 Plus Exams Forum

Has anyone had any transfer appeal dates for Bucks yet for entry into year 7 in Sept ? I have a date for one school I am appealing for but not the other ( we are appealing for two). Wondering why not ?

Yes, I've got a letter for BGS transfer appeals dates.

Does that mean that the school is definitely oversubscribed at this time?

Does anyone know what happens to the school's waiting list if the IAP go to Stage 2 someone's appeal isn't upheld? That decision is apparently final so what if a place later comes up at the preferred school? Am I disadvantaging myself by appealing?

Have just worked my way through Slough Consortium appeals and am still reeling from that so am a bit confused with all this new info.

abc123help! wrote:Does that mean that the school is definitely oversubscribed at this time?

No, transfer appeals will still be arranged regardless of the current position. Once the second round of Admissions takes place those who receive a place will withdraw their appeals, and that process continues until either the appeals take place or the school can admit all those on the waiting list, whichever comes first.

I have heard of quite a few occasions when parents have received calls from Admissions the day before the appeal telling them that a place has turned up. I believe that there have even been cases when parents have arrived for either the first or second stage of an appeal, only to be greeted by someone from Admissions telling them that a place has come up and their appeal will therefore be unnecessary.

Does anyone know what happens to the school's waiting list if the IAP go to Stage 2 someone's appeal isn't upheld? That decision is apparently final so what if a place later comes up at the preferred school? Am I disadvantaging myself by appealing?

You are not disadvantaging yourself by appealing. The IAP's role is to decide whether the school can admit additional pupils over the PAN of 150. Even if your case against over-subscription is not successful your child can remain on the waiting list and, if places within the PAN come up, they will be allocated to those on the waiting list.

abc123help! wrote:Yes, I've got a letter for BGS transfer appeals dates.

Does that mean that the school is definitely oversubscribed at this time?

Does anyone know what happens to the school's waiting list if the IAP go to Stage 2 someone's appeal isn't upheld? That decision is apparently final so what if a place later comes up at the preferred school? Am I disadvantaging myself by appealing?

No, because the two processes run separately. If your appeal is not upheld you can remain on the waiting list for as long as it is maintained. However, any successful appeals will take the school over its PAN and places cannot be offered to the waiting list until the number falls below PAN. This means that there are less likely to be places becoming available to the waiting list once the appeals have finished.

Thanks to you both for all the info. - before I read your posts I managed to speak with someone at County and was told that the appeals and the waiting list are separate. It doesn't say or suggest that in the green booklet, so I got into a (nother) tizz ...

joop wrote:Has anyone had any transfer appeal dates for Bucks yet for entry into year 7 in Sept ? I have a date for one school I am appealing for but not the other ( we are appealing for two). Wondering why not ?

I can't offer a definitive answer, but I'll speculate!

1. They are gradually working their way through (arranging one batch of appeals, and then moving on to the next).
2. Some appeals are much easier than others to arrange, and can be set up more quickly.
3. The usual pattern in Bucks is to have most secondary school appeals in the second half of the summer term, and most primary school appeals in the first half. However, I see that the allocation of primary school places is much later this year, so I suspect it might be necessary to bring at least some of the secondary school appeals forward, creating space for primary school appeals to be held later.

The one appeal date I have is mid May and there are around 30 appeals over several days (SWB). The other school just had 2 appeals (may have changed now as this was a couple of weeks ago).

I will just have to be patient.

joop wrote:The one appeal date I have is mid May and there are around 30 appeals over several days (SWB).

This one, I feel sure, has been brought forward from June/July, and is much earlier than usual.

The other school just had 2 appeals (may have changed now as this was a couple of weeks ago).

With just two appeals, they may be waiting to see what happens in the next round of allocations.

Yes, I have just heard from appeals. The other appeal will also be scheduled for May but will be scheduled after the second allocation round.

Looks like all grammar school appeals are early this year.