11 Plus Exams Forum

I have perhaps naively, just discovered the process for applications and am devastated to have missed the deadline to register. This exam is something my child has actively wanted to take for some time and I assumed I would be informed of the process when the time approached by the school in some way? Again...perhaps I am naive?
Why is this process so secretive? I honestly knew nothing about it until other parents began to talk about the forthcoming open days at the schools. By then, it was too late!

Can anyone advise me of how to successfully appeal a late registration to sit the exam in September? Any examples of successful appeals perhaps?
I understand it is a difficult process but I am willing to try anything. I feel I have really let my child down

Assuming you're at a Bucks primary school you don't have to do anything - children are automatically entered.

No, sadly I am in beds....on the border of beds/bucks

Tobythedog wrote:No, sadly I am in beds....on the border of beds/bucks

Have you contacted Bucks CC?

http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/education/sch ... sfer-test/

If you can't get into the sittings for this year, remember the Bucks schools have a 12+ option, ie sit the exam NEXT year for entry in year 8. There isn't a guarantee of a place, but if you can't get the regular route it may be worth a try? Registration is on the bucks website and confirmation by email. The only downside of that is that it will mean your child starting y7 in a new secondary that may feel like a "holding" place until
They get the 12+ for grammar. Alternatively, If private is an option you could fund one or two years in a prep school with a view to 12+, but it's
A bit of a punt and will be a huge contrast if they don't pass and then transfer back tona state upper school.

I wouldn’t recommend the 12+ unless you live near to a school which historically has vacancies in year 8, or you live very close and could argue a very good case for prejudice.

I am sure you could 'appeal to test' and would stand a good chance of winning. Lots of children move into Bucks after the official test date and sit the exam later in the academic year. I doubt you would be able to sit the test in September, but they may let you take the test at a later date. You could still put the grammar school as your first choice on your CAF form and then potentially if your child qualified before the first / second round of allocations, you could be lucky? I guess you could potentially appeal for a place without having sat the test at all??

Have a look at this page - http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/education/sch ... l/appeals/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; it states:

You can request an appeal if your child has: been refused grammar school testing (only if the school requires academic criteria for testing)

Good Luck!

That refusal process refers to the 12+ really - Bucks is opt out so everyone in a Bucks primary sits the Transfer Test unless they write to the Head.

The guidance booklet makes no reference to either the 11+ or 12+, it just states that you have a right to a ‘statutory appeal against the refusal of the Admission Authority to test your child’s suitability for grammar school’. By not accepting a late application, are they not refusing to test a childs suitability?

Essentially you would need to formally apply for testing and then lodge an appeal within 20 working days of receiving notification that your application was unsuccessful. Or lodge an appeal now, on the basis that they will not allow you to apply for testing. It may be a long shot, but no more so than the 12+. I am sure the BCC appeals team could advise.

The process for registering has been online for ages ... the process is clear and the OP has failed to follow it. An appeal is unlikely to be appropriate here.

On the subject of expectation of notification in someway, it may be relevant to highlight that some LAs (including my own) do not send individual notification about secondary school transfer (let alone grammar registration), they rely on posters and parents being on the ball.