Please clarify my 11+ confusion

[rainbowpeppa]

Hi everyone,
I moved to UK 2 years back and now my DD is studying in year3.
I dont know much about the 11+ process and google is my only friend to talk about the doubts I am having.

But still I am confused. Please guys I really need your help.
Tell me the 11+ process like
when the child should sit for 11+?
Where should I go and register for 11+ exams?
Which form need to fill?
I live in london and I will be moving to kent(because I have some preference of grammar school) after year6.

But will they reject my admission because of my current location.
Will they agree if I promise that I will be moving to Kent?

PLEASE ADVICE

[hermanmunster]

Hi everyone,
I moved to UK 2 years back and now my DD is studying in year3.
I dont know much about the 11+ process and google is my only friend to talk about the doubts I am having.

But still I am confused. Please guys I really need your help.
Tell me the 11+ process like
when the child should sit for 11+? the children sit the 11 plus exam in the Autumn term of year 6
Where should I go and register for 11+ exams? depends on the school - some require individual registration during the summer before they take the test
Which form need to fill? depends on the school - check the website of any you are interested in - you will also need to complete a CAF and this is sent to the LEA in the area where you live (regardless of the schools you are applying to )
I live in london and I will be moving to kent(because I have some preference of grammar school) after year6. much better to move before year 6 if that is what you want but make sure you have looked at the non grammar schools in the area in case you child does not get into a grammar school

But will they reject my admission because of my current location. some schools allocate those who pass by distance and so yes if your address at a specific date in the year of applying is too far away then you won't get a place - all depends on the school - which are you interested in?
Will they agree if I promise that I will be moving to Kent? no, sorry they won't - there are hordes of people who would like to move after they are guaranteed a place but it doesn't work like that

PLEASE ADVICE

Welcome to the forum - I have added a few notes, please ask further questions if you have them

[scary mum]

I will move your post to Kent.

[ToadMum]

If you go to the Kent County Council website, there is a whole section on the 'Kent Test' and also links to documents detailing the admissions requirements for all the secondary schools in the county (some of them, including some of the grammar schools, are run by the local authority, others set their own admission policy - but whichever, just like when you applied for primary schools for your DC, you apply for them all through the same Common Application Form). Bear in mind, though, that admissions policies are not set in stone; your DC will be starting secondary school in 2025 and the relevant rules for admission to each school for that intake will be determined at the end of February 2024.

[rainbowpeppa]

Thanks everyone.
But how should I handle this. My kid is in London and if I move to Kent in year 5 , then it's difficult to travel to London everyday.
If I didn't move to Kent in year 5 then she'll not get grammar school because of distance.

We ve to move to Kent as We cannot afford house in London
What should I do?

[scary mum]

How will you travel to London in later years? You really have no choice if you want your daughter to go to school in Kent.

[hermanmunster]

Thanks everyone.
But how should I handle this. My kid is in London and if I move to Kent in year 5 , then it's difficult to travel to London everyday.
If I didn't move to Kent in year 5 then she'll not get grammar school because of distance.

We ve to move to Kent as We cannot afford house in London
What should I do?

you either move to Kent and travel back to work or you stay in London and send your daughter to school there - it can be difficult for families and sometimes there have to be compromises, on the whole it is better for adults to to travel than expect the children to travel

[ToadMum]

If you can't contemplate commuting back into London for work yourself, maybe look for a new job in Kent, if you are sure - having researched secondary schools there and decided on an area that you want to live in - that this is where you want your DC to go to school?

Or do you just want 'a grammar school, any grammar school', because 'grammar school is best' and if you have moved, you have to accept that if your DC doesn't pass the Kent Test, they will only have the option of a local high school ('all ability' school, but without most of the top ability DC, unlike a true comprehensive school in an area with no grammar schools)?

I'm sorry if that sounds a little harsh, but it isn't unreasonable that - even though the Admissions Code allows anyone, anywhere, to apply for any school - Kent organises its education system principally for the benefit of the population in its own localities.

[rainbowpeppa]

Traveling back to London is not at all a problem for me is for my kid.
From all your valuable comments, my plan Right now is I'll ask my partner to rent a house in Kent in the end of year 5 (the reason I chose Kent is we are going to buy a house in future) and I'm going to be in London with my kid till year 6. My DD will write the exams in Kent and will be with me in London.
Basically I'm gonna give rent for 2 houses.

Will that work?
I'm sorry if that sound stupid, I dunno much about uk system.

[hermanmunster]

Traveling back to London is not at all a problem for me is for my kid.
From all your valuable comments, my plan Right now is I'll ask my partner to rent a house in Kent in the end of year 5 (the reason I chose Kent is we are going to buy a house in future) and I'm going to be in London with my kid till year 6. My DD will write the exams in Kent and will be with me in London.
Basically I'm gonna give rent for 2 houses.

Will that work?
I'm sorry if that sound stupid, I dunno much about uk system.

No it won't work.

Why? because the key thing is the address of the child and you are saying that the child will be in London with you.

From the KCC website:

Evidence of ownership or rental agreement will be required,
plus proof of the child’s permanent residency at the
property concerned. KCC and the school which offers your
child a place reserves the right to check information given
on the application form. If any information given on the
form is found to be incorrect, or if you fail to notify us of
important changes in the information, the offer of a school
place can be withdrawn.

There are many people who try renting a "second address" in the area and get caught out - school allocation teams have been known to visit at 0700 on a school day to see if the child / family is there (no they will be at the other house) - they also look at children at very distant schools (eg London).

the only answer is to move the whole family, new schools, sever links to London etc - but be sure that is what you really want to do .