ALTY GIRLS ADMISSION APPEAL

[haledad]

My daughter took the exam for 11 plus admission for Alty girls but did not qualify by 12 marks. She is a bright kid and expecting good support from Headteacher. Is it worth appealing? Any experience ? What are the grounds for succesful appeal? Result was out last week and also some confusion about appeal. The letter sya to wait till national allocation in march to appeal , but the website say it should be in 4 weks after announcement. Any help welcome.




Thanks

[TraffordMum]

Welcome to the forum.

I think the website is not as clear as it could be, but what it means is that if you were applying for a place in the current Y7-11 then you would have 4 weeks to appeal after receiving letter refusing place. In relation to a place in next year's Year 7 though, which is what applies to you, then it is correct that you will have to wait until after National Allocations' Day in March before you can appeal.

In order to appeal you would need to put AGGS down on your CAF even though your daughter hasn't passed the exam. If AGGS is your first choice then put it first even though you won't get a place there due to non-qualification. In March you will be allotted another school lower down on your CAF, which you should accept. At the same time you will receive information as to how to appeal for AGGS.

If you go to the Appeals Section on this forum you will see an excellent set of Q&A prepared by our resident appeals' experts, which will give you lots of information about the process and will enable you to start thinking about the evidence you will need to mount an appeal.

Please be aware that, as well as dealing with academic evidence and any mitigating circumstances as to why your daughter didn't pass, you will also be facing the hurdle of oversubscription ie no places available at the school, since all places will have been allotted on Allocations' Day. In order for an appeal to succeed you will have to get over the academic hurdle AND prove that admitting your daughter would not prejudice the other pupils because of excessive numbers.

I think it's fair to warn you that AGGS doesn't admit many girls on appeal. This will be only the second year that appeals are done post allocations in March. (In prior years appeals were done in prior to March so, if successful, a girl passing on appeal was in exactly the same position as a girl with an original pass come allocations). The 2010 appeals were carried out really late in the summer term (I'm thinking late June and maybe even into July), after induction days for other local schools.

It's a tricky one, I think. On the one hand, if you feel this is a real miscarriage of injustice then go for it. If you aren't sure and you have a good fallback, then it might be better to go with that, just to avoid all the uncertainty.

Good luck!

[haledad]

Thanks for taking time to post this lengthy and informative reply. The fact that the appeal is heard only after the allocation does make it really difficult for a school which is always oversubscribed.

Does the fact that many seats are going to pupils outside the catchment area and we live in the area makes any difference?

[overanxious]

Hi - sorry to hear about your daughter's unexpected result.

Sorry also to be a bit negative, but I have to say that I don't think that there are many girls out of catchment - certainly not this year as the there are only 6 classes in year 7. We are in south manchester, 6 miles away, in catchment and my daughter only got in after the first round of acceptances. Her and a girl from Heaton Mersey (still in catchment) seem to be the girls living furthest away in her class.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[TraffordMum]

Overanxious, I suspect from Hale Dad's name and question that he's actually about as close to the school as possible, in Hale.

Hale Dad - I am no expert in appeals but I think the situation is that the places at AGGS will be allocated on 1st March (or whatever the relevant date is). Appeals won't be heard until June/July, by which time I would expect all 174 places to have been filled from first offers and then a second round of offers once the inevitable number who go to Withington/MHS decline their places.

At that point all appeals will be held and notification of the results won't take place until all appeals have been heard. If the school accepts it can take, let's say, 6 extra girls on appeal, then the 6 most deserving cases will get the places, notwithstanding where they live. Those 6 will get a yes. The remaining x will get a no or a yes, we accept you should have passed but no, we have no place for you - would you like to go on the waiting list? For this latter category distance would then come into play because with an academic pass and an address in Hale you would leapfrog up to the top or near top of the waiting list which I believe the school now maintains to the end of Term 1 in Year 7, so that if anyone drops out at the last minute, you would be in with a chance.

[haledad]

Yes, I am realistic about the prospectus of my girl getting to the school. We live very close to the school and her brother attends AGSB and we have taken as the natural progression and why the shock!

Does anyone know how often places come vacant in year 8 and the level of competition?

[overanxious]

[quote="TraffordMum"]Overanxious, I suspect from Hale Dad's name and question that he's actually about as close to the school as possible, in Hale.

Gah that didn't register! Just ignore me!

[TraffordMum]

Places do become available as there are job moves that mean families relocate from the area. I believe there are a couple of spaces in Y8 now, for example. I suspect timing plays a large part in reallocation of these places. If a girl comes along and passes the Y7-11 entrance exam (NVR, Maths, English and a MFL) then if a place is available I presume she would get it. If there is no place available then you would be back to appealing against oversubscription again (ie the prejudice to the school of admitting one more pupil).

[TraffordMum]

Overanxious, I suspect from Hale Dad's name and question that he's actually about as close to the school as possible, in Hale.

Gah that didn't register! Just ignore me!

I think we are all so used to the questions on here relating to how far away people live from the schools and how that affects their chances of getting in that it is a novelty to have someone within touching distance ask something!

[Dougal]

Whether to appeal is always a difficult question. If you have good academic evidence and you feel that the grammar school is the right place for your dd then it is worth a shot as you have nothing to lose. Did your dd take the Sale exam as well?
It might be worth posting a question on the appeals section as the advice on there is always really good.