11 Plus Exams Forum

Does anyone have any experience of an appeal for a looked after child. I was considering Kings School in Grantham, where my son missed out by a few marks on his VR, and one mark on his NVR. I could appeal on academic evidence but was also wondering of any experience anyone had for looked after children either in Lincolnshire or other counties.

I have read the admissions criteria and it mentions looked after children in oversubscription criteria

Thanks

George01 wrote:Does anyone have any experience of an appeal for a looked after child. I was considering Kings School in Grantham, where my son missed out by a few marks on his VR, and one mark on his NVR. I could appeal on academic evidence but was also wondering of any experience anyone had for looked after children either in Lincolnshire or other counties.

I have read the admissions criteria and it mentions looked after children in oversubscription criteria

Thanks

I think you will find that that means that where there are more children qualified for a place than there are places available, then looked after children will be near or at the top of the list for being offered a place.

I would surmise that you would still have to prove academic ability as an overriding factor in the 'non-qualification' element your appeal, but that if you were successful in this, your child would probably be given some kind of priority in terms of the 'oversubscription' element, if this applies, by virtue of their status.

I don't think we have ever had a case on the forum involving a currently looked-after child, so it's a matter of extrapolating our standard advice to fit the case.

As you have discovered, there is absolute priority for admission for looked-after children, and that is enshrined in law in the School Admissions Code 2014:

1.7 All schools must have oversubscription criteria for each ‘relevant age group’ and the highest priority must be given, unless otherwise provided in this Code, to looked after children and all previously looked after children.

So far so good, but your first hurdle is non-qualification, and as Toad Mum rightly says, you need to prove academic suitability for a grammar school. You can read all about that in the Appeals Q&As, Section B: http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... lification" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Whether the child's status as a looked-after child comes into play at the appeal depends on the circumstances.

For example, if the child was taken into care 1-2 years ago, having had a traumatised family life with irregular school attendance, but has made significant progress since and is clearly on an upward trajectory (and that is confirmed by the current school), that could help your case.

On the other hand, if the child has been in care with the same family and has had a stable environment for several years, the fact of being looked-after ceases to have great relevance.

Obviously this is general advice, and you will not want to (and nor would I advise you to) post any further identifying information on the public forum. If you would like to send any more information to us privately, you can use the AppealsBox facility, described here: http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... 35&t=35032" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; We will then reply to you on here without disclosing any identifiable details.

Thank you both, I have posted some back ground information in the appeals box as requested

Thank you for sending the additional background.

As you quite rightly deduce, the sibling issue is not going to be relevant to your appeal, as trying as it must be at times.

Since your original post I have consulted a number of people and none of them has ever heard of an appeal for a looked-after or previously looked-after child for a grammar school (or, at least, where that status was relevant and aired in the appeal case).

I think it is highly unlikely that substantive data will exist anywhere in the country regarding the educational attainment of such children by school type, as it does for Pupil Premium children.

I suspect the only available data would be for children who remain in public care throughout much of their childhood, and who are well-known to under-perform educationally.

My advice is to leave the looked-after element of your case well alone and focus entirely on the academic evidence, as for a standard NQ appeal. At the hearing, if the panel should ask about your school choices, you could then mention very briefly the priority your child will receive because they were previously looked-after.

The extra-curricular activity you mention is not relevant at a non-qualification appeal, but could come into play in the very unlikely event that you have to go on to face an oversubscription appeal. I say "very unlikely" because, in the event that your preferred school was oversubscribed, I suspect there would be sufficient movement in the continuing interest lists over time for your child to gain admission from "pole position".

So, the Appeals Q&A, Section B, is your friend for the foreseeable future: http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... lification" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

many thanks for your advice it is really helpful

Sally-Anne, Etienne and others,

I need some advice on Appeal rights for a previously looked after child - so just bringing this up to the top. Not found anything but this thread relating to a children in care / previously in care.

Can I pm details of my query and post the general question here?

Yes - but please keep to your own thread on Appeals.

(You haven't got round to reading the posting guidelines, have you? )

Etienne wrote:Yes - but please keep to your own thread on Appeals.

(You haven't got round to reading the posting guidelines, have you? )

will do. thank you.

It may be worth your while contacting the Virtual School for Looked After Children to see if they can help:

https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/parents ... al-school/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;