Same exam date, What to do?

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noonynunu
Posts: 318
Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2013 1:31 pm

Re: Same exam date, What to do?

Post by noonynunu »

vasu wrote:We are in Ha5 postcode hence the dilemma. My son will apply for the music place too. I think I will apply for both schools, as Daogroupie suggested and hope for the best.
Vasu, is it worth asking WGBS if any non-siblings have gained a place from the HA5 post code in the last two years? There is no point in your DC studying for and sitting more exams at a time when they are already under a lot of pressure, if it is unlikely they will gain a place from them (unless they are being used as practice). I do know that the distance for inner catchment allocations has decreased quite substantially, I would image the outer catchment is the same.
WP
Posts: 1331
Joined: Thu Jan 03, 2008 9:26 am
Location: Watford, Herts

Re: Same exam date, What to do?

Post by WP »

noonynunu wrote:Vasu, is it worth asking WGBS if any non-siblings have gained a place from the HA5 post code in the last two years? There is no point in your DC studying for and sitting more exams at a time when they are already under a lot of pressure, if it is unlikely they will gain a place from them (unless they are being used as practice). I do know that the distance for inner catchment allocations has decreased quite substantially, I would image the outer catchment is the same.
Academic places (which use the inner and outer catchments) are completely different from distance places (which use only straight-line distance). Whether anyone from HA5 got a place depends on the scores obtained by the small number of applicants in that area compared with everyone else in the outer catchment. Distance is irrelevant unless scores are tied.
grtmum
Posts: 73
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2013 2:49 pm

Re: Same exam date, What to do?

Post by grtmum »

Hi Guys: WP and Mgnmum are correct in saying that. Not all Harrow postcodes fall in the catchment for Watford and Langley. As WP mentioned parts of HA3 and HA5 are in the catchment.
Mgnmum wrote:from what i can gather in order to qualify for both west Herts schools and langely you must live in a harrow postcode. You are definitely in outer catchment for WGSB, so less places available. while for Langley i get the impression it is just down to exam score and only if you tie will your distance from the school be taken into account, so a far greater number of places, similar to QE etc.
thanks Mgnmum, your information definitely helps us in choosing the right school. Thank you.

As DAO advice, apply for both and see.

Hi noonynunu, I will find out with WGBS as well.

Thanks for information\advise.
noonynunu
Posts: 318
Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2013 1:31 pm

Re: Same exam date, What to do?

Post by noonynunu »

WP wrote: Academic places (which use the inner and outer catchments) are completely different from distance places (which use only straight-line distance). Whether anyone from HA5 got a place depends on the scores obtained by the small number of applicants in that area compared with everyone else in the outer catchment. Distance is irrelevant unless scores are tied.
WP, I fully appreciate what you are saying. However, bear in mind that out of county allocations, which HA5 falls into, went from 35 in 2013 to 23 in 2014, and it is not clear how many of these were siblings/academic/music.

Just to be clear, I'm not suggesting to anyone that they should just discount the school. What I am saying is that it is worth investigating how likely it is that you will get a place before you start adding to DCs workload.
Hera
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Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 3:50 pm

Re: Same exam date, What to do?

Post by Hera »

noonynunu wrote:WP, I fully appreciate what you are saying. However, bear in mind that out of county allocations, which HA5 falls into, went from 35 in 2013 to 23 in 2014, and it is not clear how many of these were siblings/academic/music.
The admissions criteria did not change between 2013 and 2014. The same number of outer catchment kids got places under the academic and the music criteria, this did not change and these numbers are not affected by siblings or cross siblings. The only time distance would come into the mix is if 2 applicants have exactly the same score.
HenryVIII
Posts: 105
Joined: Wed Jun 22, 2011 1:08 pm

Re: Same exam date, What to do?

Post by HenryVIII »

What I think noonynunu is saying is that looking at the Herts out-turn report (which looks at secondary allocations in and out of county), this shows that the out of county allocations (which includes HA post codes as well as Bucks etc) have gone down, even though some schools have catchments (such as WGSs 'outer' area) which overlap the county borders.

I agree with the overall drift of the thread - the odds appear to be getting less as proximity to schools in the case of tied scores is becoming more important.
Hera
Posts: 856
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 3:50 pm

Re: Same exam date, What to do?

Post by Hera »

The only thing that will influence the ease of outer catchment kids getting in on the academic or music criteria are scores. Year on year siblings numbers will vary and different numbers of children from different areas will apply which will influence the out turn reports. I think a number of the comments on this thread are quite misleading and I think it is important for all parents to look at admissions criteria, email the admissions secretaries at the schools and get information direct from the horses mouth; which I am sure they will do.
noonynunu
Posts: 318
Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2013 1:31 pm

Re: Same exam date, What to do?

Post by noonynunu »

Hera wrote: email the admissions secretaries at the schools and get information direct from the horses mouth; which I am sure they will do.
I think that is exactly what I suggested, twice :-)
WP
Posts: 1331
Joined: Thu Jan 03, 2008 9:26 am
Location: Watford, Herts

Re: Same exam date, What to do?

Post by WP »

noonynunu wrote:However, bear in mind that out of county allocations, which HA5 falls into, went from 35 in 2013 to 23 in 2014, and it is not clear how many of these were siblings/academic/music.
And they were 27 the year before and 23 the year before that. The out-of-county numbers fluctuate from year to year. This gives no indication of the chances of an applicant; that depends on the score they achieve compared with all the other academic applicants from the outer catchment, in-county or not.
noonynunu
Posts: 318
Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2013 1:31 pm

Re: Same exam date, What to do?

Post by noonynunu »

WP wrote:And they were 27 the year before and 23 the year before that. The out-of-county numbers fluctuate from year to year. This gives no indication of the chances of an applicant; that depends on the score they achieve compared with all the other academic applicants from the outer catchment, in-county or not.
WP, I do agree with what you are saying. However, if I phoned the school and was told that only two people in my area had gained an academic place in the last 5 years, I would certainly take that on-board when considering the choices. Just to make it clear, I am not saying that this will be the case for the OP.
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