11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi everyone, I am new to the forum but have been anxiously reading through all the threads on appeals so thanks in advance for all the info. My son sat the 11+ for grammar school in September last year but unfortunately missed about by around 27 points. I know this is a fair few but as he was getting anywhere between 80-95% on every practice tests I can only assume it was a nerves. As such I have decided to appeal. i was just wondering if anyone would be kind enough to help me with my case? Here's what I have put so far.

-Mitigating circumstances- on the exam invitation letter, it stipulated that the exam was going to be two 45 minute tests including maths, VR and Non-VR questions but when he actually sat it, it consisted of approx 10 quick fire test including a comprehension. I have asked school for evidence of this but they have said it is confidential.

-Academic evidence
He is expected to achieve high level 5s and also will be sitting the level 6 SAT for maths.

Letters of support from class teacher and headteacher

- Over subscription

The school offered is 3.1 miles from our house and the Grammar is 2.9 miles away according to Google maps.

Educational reasons:

He wants to be an architect and is particularly talented at maths. The grammar specialises in maths, visual art and science which are essential skills for anyone who wants to pursue a career in architecture.

I have evidence to back up all these points and will also be including some copies of his best work. Is this okay? Is there anything else I need to include? I have no idea what I am doing and am quite worried so forgive me if any of this is unclear or incorrect.

Thanks

Hi Determinedmum and welcome to the forum

Have you read the FAQ on appeals ? http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeals" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

First you are going to have to look at the non qualification appeal, the most crucial thing here is evidence of academic ability. Extenuating circumstances can play a small amount in the appeal but academic ability is much more important.

Remember when considering the mitigating / extenuating circumstances that you mention, everyone else will have been in the same position - unless you were specifically given different advice - suspect would be difficult to prove.

Looking at the Sale Grammar entrance exam info, it actually says that 'the skills to be tested will be Verbal, Non-Verbal and Mathematics', rather than 'VR' / 'NVR'. 'Verbal' meaning anything relating to words, I would personally be careful about claiming that the content was substantially other than advertised, so to speak. The familiarisation booklet currently on the school's website is a standard CEM one (they don't give away much) which does include an example of a comprehension question.

Good luck, anyway

hermanmunster wrote:Hi Determinedmum and welcome to the forum

Have you read the FAQ on appeals ? http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeals" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

First you are going to have to look at the non qualification appeal, the most crucial thing here is evidence of academic ability. Extenuating circumstances can play a small amount in the appeal but academic ability is much more important.

Remember when considering the mitigating / extenuating circumstances that you mention, everyone else will have been in the same position - unless you were specifically given different advice - suspect would be difficult to prove.

Hi hermanmunster, thanks for responding. I have read more or less every thread on that link which relates to my son's situation. I was just checking if a letter from the head and his teacher to support his case,, level 5/6 predicted SATS and everything I else I have included is enough. I have mentioned the exam as extenuating because he seemed a bit alarmed by the format when I collected him. Is there anything else I can do to prove his academic ability? Thanks

ToadMum wrote:Looking at the Sale Grammar entrance exam info, it actually says that 'the skills to be tested will be Verbal, Non-Verbal and Mathematics', rather than 'VR' / 'NVR'. 'Verbal' meaning anything relating to words, I would personally be careful about claiming that the content was substantially other than advertised, so to speak. The familiarisation booklet currently on the school's website is a standard CEM one (they don't give away much) which does include an example of a comprehension question.

Good luck, anyway

Hi Toadmum, yes I have used the proper reference rather than shorthand abbreviations in the actual appeal letter sorry for any confusion there. It is more the quick fire style of the tests that concern me than the actual comprehension but I see your point about the comprehension it could get messy so might leave that out. Thanks for the feedback

We had a successful appeal for Sale a few years ago with no mitigating circumstances beyond nerves, although the system was different then as they held separate non-qualification appeals in November/December so we didn't have to consider oversubscription. My child missed out by 5 marks and had good academic evidence and strong support from primary school - I can send you more information by PM if you want..

emsy wrote:We had a successful appeal for Sale a few years ago with no mitigating circumstances beyond nerves, although the system was different then as they held separate non-qualification appeals in November/December so we didn't have to consider oversubscription. My child missed out by 5 marks and had good academic evidence and strong support from primary school - I can send you more information by PM if you want..

That it so good to read. It would be really helpful if you could send me that please emsy. Thanks

I was just checking if a letter from the head and his teacher to support his case,, level 5/6 predicted SATS and everything I else I have included is enough.

I doubt whether anyone can tell you what is enough. It will depend on your particular panel.

It also depends on the quality of the evidence, e.g. how the letters of support are worded:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... cation#b48" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... cation#b41" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Q&As provide a checklist of all the possible academic evidence, and make the point "the more, the better"!
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... cation#b11" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks for that Etienne. The headteacher and class teacher are currently working on them now. Is it necessary for me to include his score with the appeal or shall I just focus on building strong academic evidence?