New crypt admission criteria

[jearund]

I've just emailed the school to ask if the distance criteria is just going to be used for the 150th student if more than one has the same standardised score, or if in fact all candidates who gain a qualifying score are going to be ranked in order of distance from the school. I feel this is unlikely but given that the school wants to get more local children, it's possible.

[MedievalBabe]

I suspect they are after more local pupils and less OCC?

What I would be more concerned about as a parent is the extra pressure of the school's own administered test as most parents want to try for all of the GSs and at least at the moment there is only 1 test and so only 1 day of pressure for the children. For those who want to try for Crypt will have to take 2 tests on 2 different days which means more pressure on those children. Also does that mean in the future all of the GSs will go to their own administered exams...

[Watermelon8]

I suspect they are after more local pupils and less OCC?

What I would be more concerned about as a parent is the extra pressure of the school's own administered test as most parents want to try for all of the GSs and at least at the moment there is only 1 test and so only 1 day of pressure for the children. For those who want to try for Crypt will have to take 2 tests on 2 different days which means more pressure on those children. Also does that mean in the future all of the GSs will go to their own administered exams...

I wondered the same MedievalBabe when I read about it. I suppose if 1 changes then it makes sense for all like they do in other counties but who knows??

[jearund]

I suspect they are after more local pupils and less OCC?

What I would be more concerned about as a parent is the extra pressure of the school's own administered test as most parents want to try for all of the GSs and at least at the moment there is only 1 test and so only 1 day of pressure for the children. For those who want to try for Crypt will have to take 2 tests on 2 different days which means more pressure on those children. Also does that mean in the future all of the GSs will go to their own administered exams...

I saw this too but I think it may be a red herring as the Admission Policy for 2019 (below) says the same thing. I think it just means that they hold the grammar school test at the Crypt - not that it's a separate test.

The Crypt School is an Academy and the Governing Body is the admissions authority. As such the School
is responsible for determining its admissions arrangements, and will be administering its own admission
test (“Entrance Test”) for entry in September 2019. Those wishing to register for the Entrance Test should
complete the Grammar Test Online Application Form by the date listed. Registration Forms for our test
are available from the School Website or School Office. Under the DFE School Admissions Code, parents
apply to the Local Authority in which they live for places at their preferred schools. All preferences are
collated and parents then receive an offer from the Local Authority at the highest preference school at
which a place is available.

[jearund]

I've just emailed the school to ask if the distance criteria is just going to be used for the 150th student if more than one has the same standardised score, or if in fact all candidates who gain a qualifying score are going to be ranked in order of distance from the school. I feel this is unlikely but given that the school wants to get more local children, it's possible.

I've had a response from Sue Wales:

Further to your email below – you are correct in your assumption, distance will only come into play at the 150 places – all places are in rank order, after PP students.

So we don't need to worry - it is still based on standardised test scores.