Thank you stroudydad and if this right I stand corrected, however I was an appeal panel member at Marling in 2015 (no longer serving) and do not remember the ranking being given to us as 344 but as we have to destroy all paperwork after appeals I cannot check!

On a separate (and serious) note have you have considered being an appeal panel member? Your knowledge and experience at 11+ would be invaluable as a panel member - I can give you names of contacts if you are interested!

I second that!

Hi There.
Actually you are not the first to mention this and I did give it some serious consideration after DS1 & DD sat theirs. It is actually something I would love to do however at the moment I wouldn't be able to dedicate the time required sadly.
I have a full time job, run a Martial Arts School teaching 4 nights per week(and training myself 2 other nights) and 4 children that lead fairly busy social lives too.

I am humbled though that you consider I would be good at it..
Many thanks.

Please shoot me down in flames if I have got this wrong (stroudydad, Amber - relying on you both to put me right if necessary) but if the headmaster of the Crypt told a parent at the Open Day on the 11th October that two thirds of the children who reached the qualifying standard for that school were boys as reported on this forum then won't there be MORE places for boys than last year? If the Crypt take 100 (and 50 girls based on the two-thirds comment) then that is 12 less than last year. Plus the 30 extra places at Tommies = 18 more places for boys than last year overall. I know this is all based on an alleged remark but hope it is of comfort to some.

Fortunately I have a daughter and live in Stroud. She got a safe ranking for SHS but failed to qualify for the Crypt which is fine because I kind of put it down for fun (yes, I definitely need to get out more).

That is one way to look at it. A more pessimistic way may be there are 200 girls qualified, but most are in the top 150... the discrepancy between Crypt and Tommies ranks would suggest there are a good few girls in the higher places. But of course all conjecture..

Oh gosh Stroudydad I hadn't thought of most of the top 150 places being girls! Just trying to work out your last comment Tommies/Crypt ranking pointing to more girls. I think we are both in similar boats with rankings so I have been reading your comments with great interest as this is all new territory to me and rather overwhelming!

Latetothegame - teaditionally boys found it easier to get into Crypt than Tommies, but this year people have had lower rankings for Crypt than Tommies, so there are really the possible reasons.
1. Lots of high ranking boys chose to share with Crypt but not Tommies (unlikely)
2. Crypt have drastically changed how they calculate ranks. (Unlikely)
3. Girls are shunting the boys down the Crypt rankings. (Possible??)

Thanks Stroudydad- I think I understand now.Do you think the Crypt would tell us how many girls are ranked in the top 150 if we asked? I really hope we both get good news in March.

It would be interesting to know.. I'm guessing they wouldn't say straight out, especially if it is a higher proportion of girls. May be worth asking though?

Ok, I have 2 DDs at SHS and no more DCs to go through the system but I'm going to throw in my two pennies worth. Perhaps a bit controversial and I may be proved wrong come March but as a mum of girls I would offer the following as a possibility:
Traditionally those parents looking at the Gloucester girls grammars will share with both HSFG & Ribston. This being the case, I would suggest that this year, MOST would have asked to share with Crypt too (why wouldn't most people with competition for spaces being so great!).
If as we think there are many girls in the top 150 ranking for Crypt, my guess is that these girls have also got qualifying scores for HSFG and Ribston and, unless there is a massive difference in capability between girls and boys at this age, then most of the girls in the top 150 for Crypt will have excellent ranks for HSFG and Ribston (and indeed Pates and SHS if shared with them too).
Now, it is my view (shoot me down in flames if you think me wrong) that many of these top ranking girls will opt for the traditional HSFG or Ribston or Pates. Some won't of course - brothers already at Crypt or a desire for co-ed if not Pates qualified.
Upshot is, in my humble opinion, come March the rank of the last girl/boy offered a place at Crypt will be way down the order.
If I'm right then this would be good for boys lower down the order who want Crypt. The only unknown is how many girls are in the mid to low rankings for Crypt and who did not get a good rank for either HSFG and Ribston will be offered and accept places at Crypt.
Right, now I'll run for cover!