11 Plus Exams Forum

Have just been looking at 2008 preferences, just in case my daughter passes the 12+ in a year's time (have just lost appeal).

Does anyone know why SHF had such a high Pref 1 Pre- qualification, but such a low Pref 1 post qualification? Obviously it would be good news for my daughter if she passes the 12+ next year. BUT her first choice would be Aylesbury High. It would also be ours, as her brother is at AGS next door -particularly from a logistics point of view. We are in catchment. But would the fact that her sibling is next door help if there was ascramble for places?

I would gues that many who put Floyd first did not qualify -

We have debated pro and cons of these schools before but I don't think that the fact that a sibling is at AGS would carry much weight. Floyd will fill up some places from those not getting RLS from MK or OOC from Oxfordshire.

I suppose, in retrospect, we have 40% out of catchment at our school, so a lot of them would have put SHF as first preference as it would have meant that at least they stood more of a chance getting into a grammar, as opposed to getting into a very popular "Aylesbury High".

Now very worried if we get 12+ next year as there will be no places for my daughter.

Traditionally Floyd do have places - we'll know more in September so keep looking in.

Hi dejavu

Firstly, any preference figures you are looking at will change radically over the next few months, and almost all of them will go down rather than up, even with successful appeals.

Secondly, on the present figures we have, there are potentially 17 vacant places at AHS and 97 places at SHF. How many places does your daughter need?

Those include out of catchment applicants, as confirmed directly with Bucks by another Forum member.

AHS did have vacancies this year for 12+ applicants.

The "sibling at AGS " issue would be a very small part of a transfer appeal.

The cohort is lower than at almost any time recently, and apart from the pinch points of DCGS and Beccy High, there are generally no over-subscribed GS's in the whole of Bucks at present.

Stay calm, watch for news here on Bucks, and above all Don't Panic. (Do you remember the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?)

Best wishes
Sally-Anne

Yes, I remember. Good series and film, the Number is 42...

Thanks for the info Sally-Anne. Feeling a lot calmer now. Must re-read those books, put those Beeblebrock glasses on and stop being "Marvin the paranoid android".

Cheers

Firstly, any preference figures you are looking at will change radically over the next few months, and almost all of them will go down rather than up, even with successful appeals.

Sally-Anne,
I noted your quote with interest, which is exactly opposite to my expectation - would you mind explaining?

BTW my interest relates to son's desire to secure a place at RGS in Sep 08. We are out-of-catchment but in-county. Given the equality of places available and 1st choice qualifiers this year our expectation was that he would be eased out by successful in-catchment appeals and some 2nd prefs who didn't get their 1st choice.

Hi Old Armachian

any preference figures you are looking at will change radically over the next few months, and almost all of them will go down rather than up, even with successful appeals.

I was generally referring to dejavu's school preferences, and the caveat "almost all of them will go down rather than up" applies in your case.

The 2 pinch points in Bucks remain DCGS for boys and Beaconsfield High for girls, and schools adjacent to those with a high number of first preferences could still be tricky.

For RGS there are 182 places (ignoring the 10 boarding places) and 182 first preferences. That includes all out-of-catchment applications.

Thus, every child who put RGS first this year should get a place, at face value. However, there are three main factors that can change those figures between now and March 1st:

:: The main risk factor for you is DCGS, which is, as always, oversubscribed, although only by 16 this year. The over-subscription is always from the very southern end of Bucks - Gerrards Cross, Denham area, which is in catchment for DCGS and RGS. However, it is also in catchment for Burnham, and some people may have put that as 2nd preference because it is closer, or even have chosen CHS.

:: There are always a surprising number of children who, despite having taken the 11+ and passed, will still elect to go elsewhere, mainly to public schools or OoC state schools. That is a particularly strong factor for schools on the Berks border, where it can run to very large numbers, and to a lesser extent Herts. (It is much less of a factor on the Oxon border though.) Some of the DCGS oversubscription may disappear through that, with some boys qualifying for the nearby boys public schools - Habs and Merchant Taylors - in Herts.

:: Successful Appeals can increase the numbers. There were 330 successful appeals last year, so across the 13 Grammars that is an average of 25 per school. There is no way of telling where those appeal children will actually end up, although after 3 years on the Forum I have a hunch that they tend to be aiming for the slightly less academic schools on the whole.

So, in your situation, it will really come down to which schools the DCGS overspill cited as 2nd preference, how many successful Appeals there are for RGS first preferences and how far out of catchment you are versus everyone else.

I'm afraid it is going to be tight, and I wish you luck. Assuming that your second preference is JHG, you should have no difficulty at all gaining a place there. If you wish to give me more information about roughly where you live and your other preferences I can be of more help on that.

Sally-Anne

We successfully appealed and have RGS as first preference. (We are in catchment - hopefully reasonably sure to get a place?)