Low score but enough evidence to warrant selection review

Consult our experts on 11 Plus appeals or any other type of school appeal

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

11 Plus Platform - Online Practice Makes Perfect - Try Now
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: Low score but enough evidence to warrant selection revie

Post by Etienne »

I agree.

My impression is that review panels focus a lot on the progress chart in section 3.
Jane26451 wrote:Unfortunately my DC's english SATs have been graded exceeds rather than greater depth
I'm afraid EXS means "expected level", not "exceeds".

On the plus side, there are the consistently high CAT scores.

The comments in section 6 are very nice, but they've been copied from the Y6 report, and stray into areas such as character, relationships, responsibilities. The only issue for the panel is academic ability/potential, and ideally that is where the focus should have been.
The issue is not whether a child will thrive in Y6, but whether he would thrive in the academic environment of a grammar school.

The head - like many heads, it seems! - is reluctant to go into details about how accurate the school's '2' recommendations have been. The panel will have this information, which could tip the balance one way rather than the other.

Looking at the draft letter:
• change "exceeds" to "EXS".
• add the year (2017) where you mention the CAT score of 128.

Extenuating circumstances:
• I suggest replacing the first paragraph with:
X was expected to qualify, and we believe that the CAT scores, which have been consistently high at around the 97th/98th percentile, lend weight to the argument that on this occasion the result of the test was a complete 'blip'.

• Go straight on to the next paragraph, but change the heading from "Disruption during the test" to "Disruption during the test which affected X more than anyone else".
• Change "X has said that he ....." to "X spent the break ...."

• Last paragraph: change the last sentence to "As the headteacher has pointed out, this could have had an impact on his performance."

Hope this helps.
Etienne
Jane26451
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Oct 27, 2018 6:47 pm

Re: Low score but enough evidence to warrant selection revie

Post by Jane26451 »

Thank you Etienne and Guest55 - I am really grateful for your time and assistance.

Thanks for pointing out my misunderstanding on the meaning of EXS - perhaps wishful thinking on my part there. Frustrating but heyho. I will make the suggested changes and keep my fingers crossed but my expectations low.

I will let you know how we get on.

Good luck to everyone else who is having to go through selection review/appeals.

Jane26451
Post Reply