11 Plus Exams Forum

My son missed the pass mark by three marks. However his CAT results and other school work are of a high standard. Besides he is very much involved in school activities, confident, vocal and very polite according to his teachers. In light of this I intend to appeal but I am not looking forward to the stress involved. If appeal is not successful, I would consider a private school until year 8 and try the 12+.

Does SAT and CAT result take precedence over current school work presentation and writing or not?

What are the key points to be presented for this appeal. How does one judge whether evidence is too much or not enough?

Hi Eager Mum

I am sorry to hear about the near miss. The Appeal can be stressful, but with the support of everyone on this Forum you should be able to go in very well prepared and do the best job you can for your son.

Please read Etienne's Q&A on Appeals, if you haven't already done so. (Link at the top of the page.)

The panel will balance all the evidence you submit - current school work, reports, predicted SATs, CAT scores. None of them take precedence.

Some other key factors are the ranking the Head gave your son on the Order of Suitability (the Head will be able to tell you that, and the information should be sent to you by Bucks as well), the strength of the Head's support and the mark he achieved on the other paper. Was that also a near miss?

The essential question that you need to answer is why your son didn't qualify. If there were any mitigating circumstances those need to be backed up with evidence if possible.

Your letter to the panel should be one page of A4, and any evidence attached as Appendices. School reports can be taken to the Appeal hearing, although you may want to photocopy any specific highlights to attach to the Appeal form for consideration by the panel in advance if they relate to points you have made in your Appeal letter.

If your Appeal is not successful, on a score of 118 I would certainly suggest you consider the 12+ as the extra 18 months make a big difference to some children who narrowly miss the 11+. You do need to be reasonably close to a GS that is likely to have vacancies though, as places are not kept for successful 12+ candidates.

Please come back to us with more questions at any time.

Sally-Anne

Hi Sally Anne,

Do you have any idea why some authorities don't take account of SAT results? We were categorically told that our child's straight 5's at SATS made no difference as it was not an indicator of ability which we found confusing!

Hi Katie

I really can't think of any reason why they would not be taken into account. SATs are usually marked externally, and if they are good enough for the government to produce school league tables from then I would have thought they should be good enough for an Appeal panel!

Some panels might not be willing to take account of predicted SATs levels though, as they can be much more a matter of the school's judgment, rather than fact.

Over to anyone else who can suggest a valid reason ...

Best wishes
Sally-Anne

Some school over-inflate KS2 NC predictions - the panels are well aware of a schools results and whether the predictions are normally accurate.

Of course the 11+ measures something different to NC tests ....

Sally-Anne is right to draw attention to the fact that at KS2 we are talking about predictions, but the basic problem is that there is no one piece of alternative academic evidence that corresponds with the 11+.

SATs measure different qualities from the 11+, as Guest55 suggests. It could be argued that CAT scores are more useful, but even here there are differences (e.g. they are standardised nationally, carried out under less pressurised circumstances, etc.).

Ultimately, as the system stands, each IAP is entitled to determine how much weight to attach to a particular piece of evidence.

Where I think Katie's authority is wrong is that it appears to rule out SATs altogether. In my view an IAP ought to take account of all the evidence.

All the individual bits of evidence - although inconclusive on their own - may add up to a persuasive case.

Dear Sally-Anne,

I am grateful for your extensive reply. It will help immensely with the appeal.

In response to your question in the last paragragh about the his second score, unfortunately he did score 118 in the second one as well.

eager mum wrote:In response to your question in the last paragragh about the his second score, unfortunately he did score 118 in the second one as well.

Hi Eager Mum

That is not an "unfortunately", that is good news!

A panel will be far more interested in a child who has two absolutely consistent "near miss" marks than one near miss and a big miss, such as 118/112.

Having just glanced back at your original post, the key thing you must do is to provide supporting evidence of his academic ability. Stick to that, and don't get diverted into "what a nice boy he is", and don't allow other people's reports - Head, Form teacher - to do that either. I am sure that he is a great kid from all you say, but that evidence is not relevant for an Appeal!

The key question is why he didn't quite make the 121. If there are no mitigating circmstances you need to make a case on academic grounds alone.

I believe that appeal panels do understand that there are certain children for whom the 11+ test simply does not work entirely effectively. If you have no clear reasons to explain why he didn't achieve 121, then you should just say so.

What you then need to demonstrate is that he is entirely capable of achieving at a GS.

We will be happy to guide you through this process - please ask any questions you want, or PM me at any time.

To send a PM you need to register on the Forum, and if we are going to support you through this it would make our lives easier. No spam, no nasty stuff, we promise!

Sally-Anne

My daughter got x2 118 in Bucks. She was predicted to pass. She had level 3's ks1, predicted 5's ks2. All practice tests 86% or more. Going to appeal, seeing head tomorrow. She is mature and always gives her best. She is Sept born.
I would be very grateful for help on the appeal and what are her chances.
Thanks sarah

Sarah

Concentrate on the academic and the reasons why she just missed - practice scores and 'works hard' are almost irrelevant in the appeal. It's those 3 x level 3s and predicted level 5s - ask the HT what his recommendation was. Hopefully his/her 'order of suitability' will show your daughter in the middle of a batch who all qualified.