11 Plus Exams Forum

Seems this is a big birth year. KLB oversubscribed which is affecting Rednock and domino effect across other schools. So people not necessarily getting school they might ordinarily been confident of getting. Some not even getting any school on their list as a result. Really feel for them.

KLB were oversubscribed last year too, which effectively excluded non-siblings from the Cam and Dursley area. Their catchment seems to have shrunk for a variety of reasons.

Have heard that all the Gloucester/ Cheltenham schools have got full allocations for this year.

My daughter didn't get any of the schools on her list. She's been very upset. We have everything crossed she gets Ribston through reconsideration, waiting list or appeal although not really got any grounds for appeal. It's very sad as she should be spending this time getting excited and she's not.

The allocation day statistics for 2019 are available on the Council website now. They are mostly pretty full or over full - even the schools with poor OFSTED ratings in Gloucester are full.

https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/medi ... y-2019.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is astounding. It really is a bumper birth year across Gloucestershire. If you take out the Forest of Dean schools it looks like there are only a handful of spare places across Gloucestershire. Good for funding but not great for choice. I can't quite work it out but it looks like a comparatively high number of people haven't got their first preferences across the county too. And whoever it was that noted that Crypt has become more popular after the first year of being co-ed is right - 3 times as many first preferences as last year.

I guess that the pressure on school places in the Cheltenham area was known but I didn't know it was so widespread elsewhere.

Not to mention the number of places that have been filled by pupils who did not put the school as any of their preferences.

I know a couple who didn’t get any of their preferences; one indicated five preferences and the other, two. Both were given places at a school nearer that they didn’t want but adding a further unrealistic preference wouldn’t have changed that in either case.

Unfortunately Gloucester doesn’t have many ‘good’ schools, by Ofsted standards at least. Barnwood has that rating, but was last inspected five years ago (before they went co-ed.) Severn Vale too but that catchment can hardy cope with the many new builds across Kingsway and Hardwicke.
Other than that there’s GA (inadequate) Beaufort (inadequate) St Peter’s (requires improvement + religious selection) Henley Bank (inadequate) and the two in Churchdown that it’s difficult to access far out of the catchment. I’m not a teacher - is this a result of the cut in funding as well as a year with a high birth rate?

Apparently this high birth rate continues until 2012. Getting a grammar place is going to be more competitive I’d have thought?

Prof Pat Pending wrote:The allocation day statistics for 2019 are available on the Council website now. They are mostly pretty full or over full - even the schools with poor OFSTED ratings in Gloucester are full.

https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/medi ... y-2019.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here's an interesting puzzle. How can Pates have had 277 preferences? I thought they only qualified the first 200 or so?

jearund wrote:

Prof Pat Pending wrote:The allocation day statistics for 2019 are available on the Council website now. They are mostly pretty full or over full - even the schools with poor OFSTED ratings in Gloucester are full.

https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/medi ... y-2019.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here's an interesting puzzle. How can Pates have had 277 preferences? I thought they only qualified the first 200 or so?

Because even if your child was ranked 1200, you can name the school on your CAF. Those whose DC didn't have a 'pass' ranking may have applied because they intended to appeal (you can only appeal if you have applied and been refused a place). Or because they didn't understand what the message re their DC's results meant. Or because they were delusional. Who knows? Every year, in every area, some people use up their entire list of preferences on oversubscribed schools their DC have close to zero chance of being allocated, because they come nowhere near the top even of the 'all other applicants' category (and then usually moan that it's someone else's fault that their precious DC has been allocated a school three buses away that no one else wanted, either ).