Pipsqueak Appeal

[Pipsqueak]

Thanks Etienne,

We are at a Bucks primary school. We have a 118 score. Year 5 Greater Depth in all areas and a 1:1 headteacher recommendation. Headteacher will strongly support us. I don't have specific predicted SATs scores for Year 6 apart from on course for GD. I've seen other people post evidence about reading age but that is not information our school provides. I was planning to submit perhaps Year 5 and 4 reports but I'm mindful that the panel have a limited time to review the information. Is there anything else academic that we should include?

Child is definitely overshadowed by a high performing elder sibling but I can't say if that affected results on the day. I'm not sure whether to include this as an Extenuating Circumstance because its not factual but I've been advised by others who have been through the process that we should have an extenuating circumstance. Any thoughts on that would be appreciated.

Many thanks.

[kenyancowgirl]

You could make a nod to it in that "he was expected to do really well by us and the school and it was a shock that he did not score 121. The only thing we can think is that he felt under pressure to match up to his high performing elder sibling and that this affected his performance on teh day"

[Guest55]

What progress data do you have? KS1 levels, Y3 and Y4 assessments.

How well did the other 1:1s do?

[Etienne]

I agree with kenyancowgirl, and would suggest: "He was expected to do really well by us and the school and it was a shock that he did not score 121. He felt under pressure to match up to his high performing elder sibling and we think this affected his performance on the day".
Just two short sentences.

It's unlikely to carry much weight unless confirmed by the school, but with 118 it might possibly be sufficient.

The review guidelines do state: “the SRP will normally expect there to be strong evidence of both high academic ability and exceptional reasons for underperformance in the tests” [my bold print] - but we occasionally get reports on here of cases succeeding without any extenuating circumstances (usually close to 121).


Apart from this, the only thing that matters is the academic evidence.
Looking at what was sent to the Appeals Box - sport, scouts, role model are all completely irrelevant.
Have you read the Q&As? For example:
https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appea ... aneous#e32" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Pipsqueak]

Thanks Etienne and Kenyancowgirl, I appreciate the feedback. This is quite a daunting process.

Guest 55, child has always been working greater depth at current levels and old levels. I have no insight into headteacher ratings for other children.

We are waiting for HT's assessment, will stick to academic evidence and hope for the best.

Thanks again for taking the time to provide feedback.

[WhatsOn]

I was surprised at the increase in appeals last year and just wondering if there was a reason why and if the trend is likely to increase which I guess it is.

I have two theories about this:

1. As the number of out-of-county testers continues to rise, more and more Bucks children are being pushed into the "almost qualified" category of 116 - 120. I haven't seen a breakdown of where the Review candidates hailed from in 2018, so I can't verify this theory, but the vast majority of Reviews are submitted by Bucks-resident parents.

Anecdotally, it seemed that there were a significant number of 'nearly there' scores in our area last year. Of the 8 children from DD's Y6 class who started at our local grammar in September 2018, 5 were deemed qualified via Selection Review (4 of those with scores in the 118-120 range).
My personal opinion is that the test taken in September 2017 did not discriminate enough. The highest score was in the 160s I think so there was a lot of bunching around scores. I wondered where the very high achievers were in that test.

For Selection Review, the advice you receive from the very wonderful people on here is invaluable. Read the information on this site, focus on academic evidence, and hope for strong support from HT. Our DD also had an older sibling already at grammar school and we mentioned that she was familiar with the expected standard at the school as she had seen her sibling's school work/homework and was motivated by it.

Good luck!