Hi I've been watching this forum for sometime now and found all the info very supportive and helpful.

Due to missing the closing date of the application process for Sale & Stretford Grammar by a few hours (my fault), our son had to sit the late entrance exam in March. Very thankfully he passed with Marks of 340 for Sale & 343 for Stretford, however due to sitting the exam late all places have been allocated and we are now going to have to appeal entrance to both schools on the grounds of over-subscription which is very daunting.

We live outside the catchment area and I'm unsure if we would be successful on appeal and I'm even less sure on how best to structure the appeal or what to put into the appeal application form.

Does anyone have any advice or experience with OOC appeals? Any help would be greatly appreciated, our son is very academically capable and would thrive in both these schools. We did not get offered a place at any of our preferred schools and the place he has been offered in CHS South, he doesn't know anybody that is going there and it scores really low on the league tables.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you for taking the time to read

I'm confused where is CHSSouth, and did you not put your catchment school down? If you couldn't be offered the grammars due to oversubscription then did you not get an offer of your local school?

Re oversubscription , you'd need a very strong case as to why your son would benefit from being at that school ( interest in one of their specialisms etc) . To be honest you might not have been allocated even if he had sat the original exam, so don't beat yourself up about that. theres lots of information on here about structuring an appeal case and the appeals thread is also very helpful.

Also check whether any non qualification appeals in area would push you down the list, I assume they would. Good luck.

CHS South (Chorlton High School South) is a new school, opening in September. It's affiliated to Chorlton High but is a separate school. Not sure about league tables as it hasn't opened yet! Whereabouts are you OP?

We did also apply to a catchment area school as a back up for the grammars, the catchment area school is the one where all his class friends are going to so we are also now appealing that school as well.

Having spoke with the grammar school today the admissions officer told me I have no grounds for appeal on oversubscription as I submitted the application late and our child sat the exam late, is this correct?

Our primary school is supporting the application and the head teacher is drafting a letter for our appeal.

If the above is correct re over subscription what other criteria should we appeal on?

League tables were based on Chorlton high school performance as essentially it is the same school, and from what I'm told most of the classes will initially be held in prefab buildings which isn't going to be the best learning environment and we wouldn't want to take the chance of the unknown performance of a new school with our child.

I'm not sure I really understand - the school cannot argue that your DS is not qualified for consideration for a place, if there is a pass mark and he did better than this. So the school's argument is that when your application was considered, they were already full with those who applied and were qualified on time. In other words, oversubscription? What you need to demonstrate to the IAP that your DS's need for a place at the school outweighs the prejudice to the school of having to admit an extra pupil into year 7, over PAN, i.e. the number of pupils for whom resources have been planned and put put into place (etc). Unfortunately, with this being a main round appeal, even if (in balancing the school's case and your DS's, individually) the panel agrees that your DS has a good case, quite a few other people may also be appealing, whose DC may also, individually, have a very good case and then the panel would have to make a decision as to whose needs were greatest.

If you have applied for a place at a school and been turned down, you have the right of appeal. It's up to you what reasons you put forward as to why your DS should have a place.

Unfortunately, not knowing anyone else going to the allocated school is not a reason for your DS needing a place at the grammar school - lots of new entrants at any grammar school will be the only one from their primary school, for a start. And the allocated school has a poor Ofsted? 'Good' or even 'Outstanding' doesn't necessarily mean that a school is the best fit for a given pupil, nor that a 'poor Ofsted'school may not be a good one for reasons unrelated to the Ofsted rating. Apart from that, you are appealing for a place at the grammar, not against the allocation of the place you have currently.

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Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx

Just in case you were not aware Knutsford Academy take children from the Chorlton/Stretford area and Trafford in general if you are not happy with the local school offered. They have school buses that run in these areas if you cannot access knutsford via the train route.

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Thank you for taking the time to reply your comments are very much appreciated, yes the admissions officer basically told me as we sat a late exam we can not appeal on the grounds of over subscription, I don't know how factual this information is? We will look to appeal on the grounds of over subscription and academic ability. I'm not sure if my missing the deadline for the school entrance exam would constitute extenuating circumstances and I'm obviously filled with regret for the oversight as my DS would more than likely been offered a place if he has sat the exam in September. We are out of the catchment area however only 15 minutes commute within 2 miles as the crow flies.

Is my oversight worth mentioning at the appeal hearing as my DS is going to potentially lose out on a place because of my late application.

Thanks as we are out of catchment area for the Trafford schools because we live in Manchester, the knutsford school would be too far to commute and we have already selected our preferred schools on the CAF form.

Our best option is to try to lodge the best appeal for the schools and hope it is upheld

Welcome to the forum!


I suggest you read the Appeal Q&As. For example:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... -school#c2

If you still have questions, it would be best to start a thread in the Appeals section:
viewforum.php?f=35

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Etienne