Is year 8 entry possible?

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paula555
Posts: 25
Joined: Wed May 10, 2017 1:48 pm

Is year 8 entry possible?

Post by paula555 »

Hi Everyone

Just a quick question if anyone can help.....

My son passed the grammar test and is due to start y7 in September 2018. My husband is now going to have to work overseas for a while and we're going to go with him and homeschool. We will likely return in summer 2019 and I'm just wondering if we've given up a grammar place for y7 would there be any possibility at all of getting a place for y8 start? I just wondered if anyone knows of anyone ever starting in y8 by going on the waiting list during y7, or is it a case of once you've given up a y7 entry place then you can only apply to comps at y8. That will be fine if that's the way it is, but thought I'd ask in case anyone has heard of it being possible....

Thanks!
doodles
Posts: 8300
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:19 pm

Re: Is year 8 entry possible?

Post by doodles »

I would speak to KCC admissions they are very helpful.

For what it's worth DS had a boy join his GS in year 9 - he came back home having been abroad for several years - but there was a space in the year group.
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad !
ToadMum
Posts: 11947
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:41 pm
Location: Essex

Re: Is year 8 entry possible?

Post by ToadMum »

paula555 wrote:Hi Everyone

Just a quick question if anyone can help.....

My son passed the grammar test and is due to start y7 in September 2018. My husband is now going to have to work overseas for a while and we're going to go with him and homeschool. We will likely return in summer 2019 and I'm just wondering if we've given up a grammar place for y7 would there be any possibility at all of getting a place for y8 start? I just wondered if anyone knows of anyone ever starting in y8 by going on the waiting list during y7, or is it a case of once you've given up a y7 entry place then you can only apply to comps at y8. That will be fine if that's the way it is, but thought I'd ask in case anyone has heard of it being possible....

Thanks!
Without delving into the Kent CC website specifics, I can help with generalities. Firstly, you can apply for any school, anywhere, at any time - but whether you are successful will depend on the admissions criteria. Assuming that your DC has a right to be educated at public expense, so to speak, a non-selective school which has a place available at the time of application is obliged to admit your DC. If the school doesn't have a place, it must treat the application according to its published in-year admissions policy. At this point, this can vary quite a lot between schools (some maintain a waiting list which is reranked every time a new applicant joins it, some maintain a continuing interest list and only rank once a place actually becomes available. A third way I have come across is to do neither, just allocate (or not) on the day of enquiry, depending on whether there is a place in the relevant year group. That particular school - not in Kent :D - complains that it spends a lot of time in appeals, can't see why :roll: )

For a selective school, once you have taken your DC off-roll, whether or not a new application would just put him back onto a waiting list according to his previous score / your location (or however the oversubscription criteria are set) would be a matter of timing - waiting list definitely until the end of the autumn term, as that's the law. But what the process is for dealing with applications part this point is down to the admissions authority for the school. Of course, whether a place actually becomes available, is another matter.

So reallyi, this is something you have to discuss with Kent CC and / or with the school itself.

Cross posted with doodles whilst cooking lunch :lol:
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CharlotteColeman
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 11:21 am
Location: Sevenoaks

Re: Is year 8 entry possible?

Post by CharlotteColeman »

As ToadMum said, application for entry to any school is possible, but getting accepted is a different matter.

With my son, he entered Judd in Year 9 after we moved from Surrey to Kent (there are also a number of other students that have entered later). He had to take the CAT test and was then offered a place. I also know that Weald of Kent have taken new students in Year 8 after they have moved from a different school in the Kent area.

That said, I tutored one student that wanted to move from a comprehensive to a grammar. She passed the 11+ but did not pass the admission exam set by the school in Year 8 - her score wasn't high enough. In other words, you can move, but your child will still need to achieve a good score on the CAT or entrance tests.
salsa
Posts: 2686
Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:59 am

Re: Is year 8 entry possible?

Post by salsa »

My son, at Dartford Grammar, had a fellow pupil who left to live abroad for one year. When he returned, he had to take some tests and although he passed them, the school was above PAN due to appeals, which meant that he could not gain a place again.

Salsa
rhiane
Posts: 457
Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2014 2:03 pm

Re: Is year 8 entry possible?

Post by rhiane »

Hi,

Sorry I don't know about Kent, DD passed her 11+ (Berkshire) but we decided to go independent instead, after a year she really didn't settle and it was a struggle financially so we contacted a Berks Grammar and luckily they had a place available in Year 8. Her 11+ pass still counted so thankfully she didn't have to take the school's in-year exam. (The school told us roughly 25% pass)
I know in Bucks, if you qualify and don't take a grammar place your qualification lapses and you have to take an entrance exam, which I believe varies between the schools
salsa
Posts: 2686
Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:59 am

Re: Is year 8 entry possible?

Post by salsa »

Yes, it's best to contact the LA or school in question. I know that my sons' school is normally above PAN so that it would be unlikely for there being any vacancies in later years.

Salsa
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