too late for appeal

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strawberry
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri May 15, 2009 8:03 pm
Location: devon

too late for appeal

Post by strawberry »

my son qualified for colyton and is in border zone on waiting list near the top.
I spoke to the head in march who was confident of my son getting a place as every other year all border zones gained places so I did not appeal. I have just learned that there have been 4 independent appeals for children who did not qualify and all have been successful. These 4 have places and are not on waiting list so my sons been pushed back on the waiting list as the school now have 4 too many this seems so unfair am I too late to appeal please advise
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

There is no statutory time limit for appealing, but the school's case will probably be stronger if they are now 4 above PAN, so it might be more difficult to win an appeal.
Etienne
strawberry
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri May 15, 2009 8:03 pm
Location: devon

Post by strawberry »

Dear Etienne, Thanks for your reply. Any advice on appealing? I have seen lots of adverts for help with school appeals. What evidence would I need as the school have already sent report as he is border zone. He sat a mensa test ages ago and got an iq score of 136
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

Dear Strawberry

Have a look at the Q&As:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/11plus ... nswers.php

Section B might apply if score was part of the oversubscription criteria, and you want to try and argue that your son was expected to score even more highly than he did.

Section C is all about appealing for a place at an oversubscribed school.

Don't pay for help with an appeal. It's not necessary.

The Q&As will tell you what you need to know (and more!). If anything isn't clear, you're welcome to come back here and ask.
Etienne
strawberry
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri May 15, 2009 8:03 pm
Location: devon

Post by strawberry »

Dear Etienne

Thank you for your reply. Will I need to prove extenuating circumstances as my son qualified he passed 2 out of 3 papers he got a lower score in the english paper which was the last paper after a 50 min maths and 50 min VN.
The school put him in the border zone after requesting samples of work from his primary where he is g & t in english, art and science. My son was not coached for the tests as I thought if he needed coaching to get in he may struggle once there.The school tell parents not to coach as it can have a negative effect. I now regret this. My son is predicted 3 5s at sats and I feel the grammar would be the best school for him. I have an older daughter at the school my son has been offered she is a hard working student is g&t and gained all As at gcse she is now taking A levels. She is not the norm at her school. she has won silly awards for goody goody and been teased for going to the library so often she cant remember an english lesson that was not disrupted by a group of boys. At the grammar school which takes the top 25% she would have been with other able students this is what I want for my son. Please help
Kit
Posts: 132
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2007 11:58 am

Post by Kit »

Sorry to hear of your situation, and I'm afraid I don't know about appealing, but I think that you should view 4 successful appeals as a good sign when considering whether to appeal. I believe this is unprecedented and on average 0 appeals have succeeded in recent years (from the Devon stats page). Maybe the new head has changed the system?

As far as whether your son would struggle, when I tried to find out my child's score (to assess the chances for my next one) the school would not give this out but said that nearly all of the children starting in September achieve 3 level 5A's. This is a pretty high standard, but with an IQ of 136 I'm sure your son would really thrive there.

Best of luck, there is still time for the list to move and appeal as well.
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

Dear Strawberry

The important section in the Q&As for you is Section C, and this is what you should focus on.

However, in the event of oversubscription the school does rank qualified applicants according to score, so you could (if you wish) also try and argue that your son was expected to score even more highly than he did. You would probably need a letter from the current headteacher confirming this, and supporting academic evidence such as the G&T in English. As for extenuating circumstances, it depends how far away from the last successful qualifying score your son was. If he was very close, then I would suggest there's no need for any extenuating circumstances - but that's just my view.

Hope this helps.
Etienne
strawberry
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri May 15, 2009 8:03 pm
Location: devon

Post by strawberry »

Thanks for your help.

I shall speak to the head on Monday
happymum
Posts: 92
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:02 pm

Post by happymum »

I don't know if this is any help but my son's friend appealed and had to wait until the results of his year 6 SAT's results as evidence - he only found out he had a place at Colyton a month or so before they started.
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

An appeal panel can't - shouldn't - delay appeals.

There is now a stricter timetable for setting the date of an appeal:
Secondary admissions round – appeals for on-time applications (i.e. those relating to decisions sent on national offer day) must be heard by 6 July or the next working day, if 6 July falls on a weekend.

Moreover, decisions must be communicated as soon as possible:
ideally within five working days
[of the last appeal]
Etienne
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