A week tomorrow

[BlueBerry]

So sorry that you are all having such a tough time. Once you get the results, how long do you have until you submit the application?

[tropicmama]

A couple of weeks thereabouts? I think the deadline is end of October.

[BlueBerry]

Hopefully that will give you enough time to decide on schools and school transport etc.

Am I correct in thinking that if you pass the transfer test, then you are guaranteed a place at a grammar school? So once you get the results then you can breath a huge sigh of relief?

[Guest55]

Only Bucks residents are guaranteed a GS place but it may not be at their first choice of GS.

[Aethel]

It's very cachement-dependant.

The plus side of the Buck system is that the schools don't use "ranking", if you're elegible then it comes down to living near your chosen school.

The down side is that if you don't live in certain (often expensive) geographical areas then your child is less likely to get a place purely because of your housing budget/other needs and irrespective of their intelligence/diligence.

But we all know this is an imperfect system.

We are just over the Berkshire border, so no guarantee of anything, though if DD achieves 121+, we may be close enough to BGS to get a place for her if we are lucky. The other Bucks schools are too far to be worth trying for.

[BlueBerry]

Aethal, what's wrong with the Slogh grammars or Burnham Grammsr school?

[Aethel]

Nothing at all! By BGS I meant Burnham Grammar School, not Beaconsfield! We'd be unlilely to make Beaconsfield on distance alone (plus it's a trek, whereas Burnham would be quite feasible to get to by bus or rail. )

DD has sat the Slough consortium also, but it's hard to know yet whether she will pass, as the pass is cohort dependent so not predictable.

[tropicmama]

Aethel, how was the Slough consortium test? Is it CEM, multiple choice format too and how did your DC find it in comparison to the Bucks one?

So as soon as my DS woke up this morning, he told me "exactly a week from now". I dared ask him how he is feeling and he said that he just wants the waiting over with so he knows his options. I asked him how he really found the exam (hoping that he would at least now deviate from his usual "it was ok/fine") in comparison to mocks and practice papers he did. He said the real thing was more difficult. I didn't show it, but my heart sank because on mocks and practice papers, he always just gets 62-67% which is I think just a little bit above where the usual qualifying mark is over the last few years. If I recall correctly I was told in this forum a few months back that the pass mark is around the 55-60% mark over the last couple of years. I think I've gained an inordinate amount of new grey hairs over the last few months and certainly a whole lot more over the last couple of weeks.

[BlueBerry]

What a worrying time for you all. I'm so not looking forward to this anxious waiting next year!

I was told that 60% was the pass mark.

[tropicmama]

Oh no! That's even worse....I will have to be put under sedation next week. Hahaha