It's not just down to the documents you send
Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 11:53 am
This morning yet another pile of paperwork for appeals dropped through my letterbox.
One appeal stood out. I thought "You're appealing for a place at a grammar, you only scored x (very, very low), and your mitigating circumstances are what? Don't waste my time!"
"How unsympathetic", you may well think. "How can Capers prejudge an appeal like that"?
Well, that's my feeling from glancing through the paperwork over breakfast. However, I know that my initial feelings about an appeal case are often totally reversed once I've heard the parents give their evidence on the day of the appeal. People often forget to put down useful things - with this one I know that there's a line of questioning that I'll be following to pull out more information that may well reinforce the parents case.
To sum up, try & get your paperwork as full & complete as possible, but don't worry if you forget something - you can always add it on the day of the appeal verbally!
One appeal stood out. I thought "You're appealing for a place at a grammar, you only scored x (very, very low), and your mitigating circumstances are what? Don't waste my time!"
"How unsympathetic", you may well think. "How can Capers prejudge an appeal like that"?
Well, that's my feeling from glancing through the paperwork over breakfast. However, I know that my initial feelings about an appeal case are often totally reversed once I've heard the parents give their evidence on the day of the appeal. People often forget to put down useful things - with this one I know that there's a line of questioning that I'll be following to pull out more information that may well reinforce the parents case.
To sum up, try & get your paperwork as full & complete as possible, but don't worry if you forget something - you can always add it on the day of the appeal verbally!
So it's good to hear that appeal panels don't make a judgment before hearing everything that is said.