How Many Children take the 11+ each year?
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Single s ex education, as Guest55 points out, is an obvious difference - but it may not be easy to come up with convincing reasons why this would suit your son.
I do think Latin is worth a mention. I believe AGS is now a languages college in addition to its other specialisms, so you might have an educational argument if your son wishes to specialise in languages.
Hardly any appeals are likely to be won on the basis of extra-curricular activities, but it would be worth checking to see if AGS offer any that are not available elsewhere.
Sally-Anne is right about the success rate in the last year or two for GS transfer appeals. In my day I think it was higher. There's an element of luck in such appeals - how strong a case the school puts forward, and how strong a case the other appellants have.
If it comes to an appeal, do let us know on the Appeals forum if we can be of any help.
I do think Latin is worth a mention. I believe AGS is now a languages college in addition to its other specialisms, so you might have an educational argument if your son wishes to specialise in languages.
Hardly any appeals are likely to be won on the basis of extra-curricular activities, but it would be worth checking to see if AGS offer any that are not available elsewhere.
Sally-Anne is right about the success rate in the last year or two for GS transfer appeals. In my day I think it was higher. There's an element of luck in such appeals - how strong a case the school puts forward, and how strong a case the other appellants have.
If it comes to an appeal, do let us know on the Appeals forum if we can be of any help.
Etienne
With apologies to the OP for hijack, but I've been wondering...given that a high VRT score might carry a small amount of weight, would an acceptable response to this question at a transfer appeal be "because it's the only one within reasonable daily travelling distance"? Or, in these circumstances, would it be better to focus on the school's specialisms?Etienne wrote:You would then have to explain to the appeal panel "Why this particular grammar school?".
Marylou
Thanks for prompt reply G55 - yes, I know we have other, stronger, arguments, but I'm always on the lookout for anything else that might back up the case! 
Transport to an alternative grammar would indeed be impossible, unfortunately - which is why we didn't put any other OOC grammars on our CAF. The second choice is the local comp which seems to be on the way up and DD might do well there, but we can't be certain of that. On the other hand, the benefit of direct experience of her sister's grammar school gives us confidence that DD will be really stretched there. Something else we could use, possibly?
Transport to an alternative grammar would indeed be impossible, unfortunately - which is why we didn't put any other OOC grammars on our CAF. The second choice is the local comp which seems to be on the way up and DD might do well there, but we can't be certain of that. On the other hand, the benefit of direct experience of her sister's grammar school gives us confidence that DD will be really stretched there. Something else we could use, possibly?Marylou
It's usually best to have more than one argument!
(Local IAPs give a mark out of 5 for transfers. Not necessarily one mark per point. An individual point might be worth half a mark or nothing. Or, if really compelling, it might be worth 3 or 4 marks.)
To quote examples given in the Appeal Q&As:
* It’s the catchment school.
* Although not in catchment you live very close to the school.
* Getting to any suitable alternative school would be logistically difficult (you would have to prove this, and I think the degree of inconvenience would have to be very considerable indeed).
* There is a sibling already there.
* Other family members are attending or have attended the school (perhaps not a strong point but worth a mention).
* There are strong educational reasons (I don’t mean a preference for a type of school such as a grammar school – I mean something specific on offer at this particular school which is not available at any suitable alternative. You would need to prove why this is so crucial).
* There are strong medical or social reasons why your child needs to attend this particular school. These are often the most compelling reasons, but you will need proof, and you will need to demonstrate convincingly why only this school is the solution.
(Local IAPs give a mark out of 5 for transfers. Not necessarily one mark per point. An individual point might be worth half a mark or nothing. Or, if really compelling, it might be worth 3 or 4 marks.)
To quote examples given in the Appeal Q&As:
* It’s the catchment school.
* Although not in catchment you live very close to the school.
* Getting to any suitable alternative school would be logistically difficult (you would have to prove this, and I think the degree of inconvenience would have to be very considerable indeed).
* There is a sibling already there.
* Other family members are attending or have attended the school (perhaps not a strong point but worth a mention).
* There are strong educational reasons (I don’t mean a preference for a type of school such as a grammar school – I mean something specific on offer at this particular school which is not available at any suitable alternative. You would need to prove why this is so crucial).
* There are strong medical or social reasons why your child needs to attend this particular school. These are often the most compelling reasons, but you will need proof, and you will need to demonstrate convincingly why only this school is the solution.
Etienne
pass rate
Hi Sally Anne,Sally-Anne wrote:Hi MK Mum
Good advice from Jazz there - the pass mark is definitely not relevant in school allocations, and makes no difference at a Transfer Appeal in Bucks.
The primary factors in allocating places are catchment, siblings and then distance from school gates. All the information you need about the school allocation distances is here, including a link to calculate your distance from the school gates.
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/11-plu ... rofile.php
The pass rate this year was 31%, which is fractionally higher than in previous years. Around 70 additional children will have qualified as a result, but there is no way of knowing where they live, so we cannot predict how they may affect allocations. However, that is really not a huge additional number, and given that the total number who took the test was only 0.2% higher, I don't think that we can conclude that private school children were a significant factor in the higher pass rate.
You will probably find the answer to any questions you have about a Transfer Appeal in Etienne's excellent "Appeals Q&A on this link - Section C deals with Transfer Appeals.
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/11plus ... nswers.php
Sally-Anne
how do you know what the pass rate is for 2008?
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Sally-Anne
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