11 Plus Exams Forum

All, I would really appreciate some advice on this one. My son scored 355 (great score and incredibly proud of him) however his first choice is KEGs and we are out of catchment. Our second choice would be westcliff. Both are great schools but the journey is much better from Romford for KEGs. My question is do we reasonably stand a chance? We come in the amber zone but in practice what does that mean?

Also I have been adviced that I should put westcliff as first choice otherwise I risk not getting either. I know the schools don't see the preferences but would it be possible that a lower scoring child gets a westcliff place as they put it as first and hence I don't get either?

Please help if you can!

newatthis wrote:All, I would really appreciate some advice on this one. My son scored 355 (great score and incredibly proud of him) however his first choice is KEGs and we are out of catchment. Our second choice would be westcliff. Both are great schools but the journey is much better from Romford for KEGs. My question is do we reasonably stand a chance? We come in the amber zone but in practice what does that mean?

Also I have been adviced that I should put westcliff as first choice otherwise I risk not getting either. I know the schools don't see the preferences but would it be possible that a lower scoring child gets a westcliff place as they put it as first and hence I don't get either?

Please help if you can!

If you want Kegs then put it down first, if you're not offered Kegs then they will look at your second choice of WHSB to see if you qualify....you won't be penalised for putting Westcliff 2nd...i.e a child with a lower score will not gain a place before your DS regardless of where they put WHSB on their CAF.

It is frightening and sad that misinformation like this is still about.

Well done to your son newatthis.

To emphasis pinkrabbit's comments, just in case anyone still has any doubts:

Always put the schools in the order you really want them.

Placing a school as second choice ( or 4th) doesn't reduce your chances of being offered a place there - except that once you have been offered a place at a school you listed above it you won't be on the waiting list. So if you put Westcliff first and get a place you won't still have an opportunity with KEGS.

Put KEGS first. If your son's score doesnt secure him an offer then he will be offered his second choice of Westcliff and be put on the KEGS waiting list. ( In theory, if he didn't get offered his 2nd choice then admissions would look at his ranking for admission to his 3rd choice etc). It is NOT the case that the Westcliff places would all be allocated to those putting it as first choice before offering to those who put it second.


Is it possible for a mod to do a sticky or something in case others come to the forum having been similarly misinformed? It seems to happen every year.

There is already a sticky. http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... 15&t=28495" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

this is also good http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... 30&t=28833" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Maybe it needs a different title so as to stand out for those new to the forum and searching for help on 'what order do I put my school choices'?

Think I'm just frustrated that children who have done well in the test can still miss out due to lack of information or understanding of the system.

Not specifically referring to post by newatthis - it just raised the general point again.

Thanks all for replying and clarifying! I'll go with my preferences.