Cheating parents send older siblings to take 11+

[anotherdad]

I think this is heartbreaking. I can't imagine what it must be like for a child who's sent to a grammar school despite not being suited to it and having to spend years feeling academically adrift from the rest of the class.

What must it do to the child knowing that your parents thought sending you to the school was so important that they would commit fraud to send you there? And then when you arrive and struggle the pressure you must feel to try and keep up anyway, because you know how important your parents think it is?

And how awful that the parents would prefer to send a child to a GS they're manifestly unsuited to rather than considering what is actually in the best interests of their child. Just horrible.

They walk among us.

[scary mum]

The vast majority of people have a phone on which they can take photos & upload them. They could be sent to the primary school for confirmation at the same time.

[Guest55]

I've had to deal with parents of such children and it is horrible.

In one typical case, the child was unhappy and struggled in every lesson and it was so obvious they were years behind their peers. A change of school was suggested and the child wanted that but the parents would not agree. When it came to GCSEs the parents wanted fewer options and this child ended up with 5 grades Cs a a few lower grades. I'm convinced he would have been happier elsewhere and achieved more ....

[anotherdad]

I know someone who has been teaching in the same grammar school for many years. She is sure that in each year seven intake, there is a class-worth of students who would be better-placed in an upper or comprehensive school.

[thickasabrick]

Pinch of salt for me, please.

Do the finished test papers get sent to the school you eventually attend (in this case Wilmington)?

From the written answers apparently the head teacher could see it was a different handwriting - all answers are multiple choice - you put a line in a box!

Anyway, this could only work if you are the only one attending from your school. All candidates from the same school are sent to the same test centre. Kids and parents queue up beforehand and queue up again afterwards for prolonged periods outside these test centres - the risk that someone from your school would identify your sibling is just too great.

The reason why some kids pass these tests without being particularly clever is that they are not tutor proof or that they are allowed the HT appeal!

This is just another piece of propaganda against OOC candidates.

[Guest55]

This is just another piece of propaganda against OOC candidates.

My examples are not OOC students ...

[thickasabrick]

My examples are not OOC students ...

The in area kids sit their tests in their primary schools so this sibling scenario can't apply to them.

[streathammum]

Pinch of salt for me, please.

Do the finished test papers get sent to the school you eventually attend (in this case Wilmington)?

From the written answers apparently the head teacher could see it was a different handwriting - all answers are multiple choice - you put a line in a box!

Anyway, this could only work if you are the only one attending from your school. All candidates from the same school are sent to the same test centre. Kids and parents queue up beforehand and queue up again afterwards for prolonged periods outside these test centres - the risk that someone from your school would identify your sibling is just too great.

The reason why some kids pass these tests without being particularly clever is that they are not tutor proof or that they are allowed the HT appeal!

This is just another piece of propaganda against OOC candidates.

Not sure what the situation was in the Kent school quoted in the article, but there are plenty of schools that run their own exams and use standard format (ie not multiple choice) for second round testing. So as long as they keep the exam papers, they would definitely be able to check handwriting at a later stage.

Can't see how this is about IC vs OOC though.

[Guest55]

My examples are not OOC students ...

The in area kids sit their tests in their primary schools so this sibling scenario can't apply to them.

I'm not talking about Kent - in Bucks we have areas that are in catchment but out of the LA.

[LocalTWmum1]

Pinch of salt for me, please.

Do the finished test papers get sent to the school you eventually attend (in this case Wilmington)?

From the written answers apparently the head teacher could see it was a different handwriting - all answers are multiple choice - you put a line in a box!

Anyway, this could only work if you are the only one attending from your school. All candidates from the same school are sent to the same test centre. Kids and parents queue up beforehand and queue up again afterwards for prolonged periods outside these test centres - the risk that someone from your school would identify your sibling is just too great.

The reason why some kids pass these tests without being particularly clever is that they are not tutor proof or that they are allowed the HT appeal!

This is just another piece of propaganda against OOC candidates.

Don't forget there IS the written English element of the test - granted, it's only used during HT/parental appeals, but it could certainly be checked against the pupil's schoolbooks if there was suspicion.

And in the case of Skinners' hosting 170 test takers from south-east London, I'd argue that there is a very high chance many of these are the only candidate from their primary school, so the scenarios described are more than feasible...