I am a little bit cross

[orlando]

I realise that in the big scheme of things this is not important but it has made me cross. We live in Cheltenham and therefore put down Pates as our preferred test centre for the test in September. We have been given Ribston with a stern note that you can't change the test centre and that is that. There are 2,500 children sitting the test this year - how many of those live in Cheltenham I wonder? It is an added stress we just don't need - I don't know Ribston at all, whereas we are very familiar with Pates (her sister sat the test there), plus it is probably where most of my daughter's friends will be sitting it. Anyway I realise there isn't anything we can do beyond hoping some of her friends will be there too and visiting before the test day etc. But I do wonder how many of the 2,500 children even live in the region? Rant over!

[DC17C]

Given how many kids do travel from Cheltenham to all the Gloucester Grammars and to Stroud as well...I’d say a fair proportion will have registered from a Cheltenham address...
...Many people do register to share with more than one school to maximise the chance of getting a place somewhere and many will have Pate’s as their first choice.
My dd did the test at Ribston some time ago and had a fantastic 5 years there. It is generally pretty organised on the test day and there is more space for dropping off and parking there than Denmark Rd.

[RedVelvet]

It may actually be better not to be at the same place as her friends (and their parents).

[DC17C]

I also suspect many who live close to any of these schools feel somewhat territorial about them and get irritated at the thought of exam tourism and out of county entrants..not much we can do about it though

[RayRay]

My daughter sat the test last year. We had a different school as our preferred test centre and were also moved to Ribston. It worked out great actually, there is plenty of parking for you to park while you take your daughter in and get registered, and a one way system for getting out so no delays. My daughter wasn't with any of her classmates who were all in another test centre. She was very relaxed when she came out, and said the girls had all chatted and joked in the breaks, and it was extremely well run. I understand it’s a bit of a bother to travel that bit further, but if I had another daughter I would put Ribston as first choice for test centre. It has no bearing on the school they end up at, there really is nothing you can do about it, it seems very random who they move and who they don't. My daughters friend picked the same original test centre as us so the girls would be together, - they got to keep the original choice even though they literally live opposite Ribston, we are much further away and got moved to it.