11 Plus Exams Forum

I have one devastated twin. Both girls passed the 11+ for the only grammar school near us but in next education authority so out of catchment.
Criteria for entry is catchment first. There were 16 places left offered in rank order of score. Twin 1 came in this bracket with a higher score. Twin 2 outside the PAN of 180.

The Admissions authority have a multiple birth policy. It says if a school is oversubrcribed and can only take one twin/triplet the other should be admitted even if it exceeds the PAN. The actual school policy says if a multiple spans the threshold of admission they should be admitted if they meet the standard. I am confused about this. If my daughter was 181 they would take her? If she is 182 or above they won't? You either feel it is fundamentally detrimental to split twins or you don't surely?

All I know at this moment my girls are really struggling to cope with the reality of the situation that I knew could happen but hoped would not. I have to go to appeal for her.

Sorry to hear of your situation. You might want to take a look at this http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... 35&t=35032" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
which is a good starting point. There have been twin based appeals in the past and if you search you may be able to find them.

It might help if you indicated which school/area you are in.

The school is in the authority of Poole, called Parkstone Grammar school and we are an out of catchment family.
Twin 1 scored 333 and Twin 2 scored 307. Required standard was 294. I called today. Twin 2 is 18th on the waiting list on 1/3/16.
The school does have a multiple birth policy worded slightly differently from the Poole Authority one.

If applications from children of a multiple birth span the threshold for the published admission number, this will be treated as an exceptional reason for increasing the Planned Admission Number and they will be admitted.

It is a shame that they don't have a more generous policy for multiple births but they are entitled to use their own criteria. Moving forward you need to consider your appeal options.

In addition to the link provided by mad have a look at the following links for appealing with twins and oversubscribed schools.
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... cation#b24" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... bed-school" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't really have anything constructive to add, only that as a parent of twins (and a twin!) I can't imagine how tough this is for you. My interpretation however is that Twin 2 "met the standard" if the standard is the qualifying score. Surely its worth an appeal? Good luck!

Sorry to hear that you find yourself in this situation and can imagine how distressing it is for your family. You should definitely appeal for your daughter and of course remain on the waiting list. You don't say what school your daughter has been allocated - presumably not another grammar school?

Within your grounds for appeal, apart from citing the obvious reasons for wanting the twins to attend the same school, you should try to submit evidence as to what that specific (grammar) school is able to offer your daughter individually. I have been privy to many appeal cases over the years and seen first hand evidence of appeals for twins that have been unsuccessful as the parent was unable to differentiate between the needs of each child and just generally made a case for wanting 'both twins to attend the same school'. I am sure the panel will understand that this will be your main reason for appealing but do also try to include evidence as to how that school will suit her curriculum needs (for example) and/or her subject strengths. In other words, make your case for both twins to attend the same school but equally also make the case for her individual needs.

Whilst many panels may be sympathetic when one twin has been allocated and one not, even though she is qualified for the school, you will still have to prove that the prejudice to your daughter outweighs that to the school. Good luck for the appeal.

Thank you for the advice so far. I guess what I don't understand is why does Poole local authority have the following on their website:

Children of multiple births
"All admission authorities in Poole except for Magna Academy Poole and Ocean Academy Poole have adopted the following policy concerning the admission of children of multiple births:

If there are insufficicent places to accommodate all the children of a multiple birth in any year group and one child can be admitted, the other siblings of the multiple birth will be admitted over the schools PAN."

Am i being stupid in thinking that this is not what the Grammar school are actually doing? They haven't admitted our second twin and they word their multiple birth policy differently to this. I dont understand why.

We had a very positive experience with the appeal setup in Poole, our first appeal was managed by Wiltshire and due to a very complex situation, the second appeal was conducted by Poole . The appeal clerk was a lawyer, and the process was fair and thorough.

I would certainly use the information that you have provided to show that in Poole it is the policy that schools can go over PAN were a second twin was not awarded a place, but otherwise met the entry criteria. I think that this may hold some weight with the appeal panel. I would also contact the admissions office at the school to ask whether the school conforms to the education authority multiple birth policy

I have been told the following by the admissions at the school:-

"Thank you for your enquiry which has been passed to me to clarify. Our Admissions Policy concerning multiple births states that if applications from children of a multiple birth span the threshold for the published admission number, this will be treated as an exceptional reason for increasing the Planned Admission Number (180 for September 2016) and they will be admitted. To clarify this means that the girls would have to be placed at position number 180 and 181 to be admitted."

Statistically, what are the chances of them being 180 and 181? This is never going to happen. I got a letter today stating that there are 29 girls on the waiting list and she is number 18. She is not going to get a place from the waiting list so an appeal is our only hope. We won't have an appeal heard until June 14th which feels like a long time of uncertainty.

I think that it is all down to interpretation of Poole's admission policy, you need to argue to the panel that the way the school have interpreted the policy is nonsensical. It is irrelevant whether a child is number 181 or 191 so long as they meet other admission criteria - how can the school argue that a twin at 181 on the list does not prejudice the school if it goes over PAN, while a child at 191 or 205 etc does prejudice the school.

Reading between the lines, what I suspect has happened is that the school was unaware or forgot about Poole's policy for multiple births and has tried to rationalise an explanation. Unfortunately, your only recourse is to appeal.