11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi, I have read through Etienne guide and it was very helpful. I wanted to get your advice for my daughter who is 11, she studies in Crowborough and her Kent test scores was the following;
106 English
118 Reasoning
124 Maths.

So unfortunately she missed out by 1 mark in English, I have two extenuating circumstances, which I would like to mention firstly my daughters mother was on dialysis for 1 year prior to the test and she also had to be a carer when I was away at work, her mother also had a kidney transplant exactly 3 weeks prior to the examination, which was very difficult for her to see her mother in pain and finally she had a tooth extraction 1 day prior to the examination, which led her to be in a lot of pain on the day of exam and was on pain killers, I have managed to gather Academic evidence, together with medical evidence, the main issue I have is that the Headteacher is against Grammar schools and after speaking to him he won't give any letter.
My daughter has always been age related expectation, but over the last 10 months she is pushing for greater depth.

How important will it be for my daughter to have this letter from the headteacher?
Should I mention that English is her additional language?
Should I mention to the panel, that the headteacher is against a grammar school system and hasn't given any child a letter of support?

I look forward to your reply.

daddydc wrote:I have two extenuating circumstances, which I would like to mention firstly my daughters mother was on dialysis for 1 year prior to the test and she also had to be a carer when I was away at work,

Although I think the panel need to know that she has been a carer, I'm not sure the "1 year prior to the test" will help the case. It was an ongoing problem, more likely to affect school work (rather than her English test result) and seems to contradict "over the last 10 months she is pushing for greater depth". If her work had been improving rapidly in Y6 (since recovery from the transplant), it would have made more sense - from the perspective of an appeal panel!

her mother also had a kidney transplant exactly 3 weeks prior to the examination, which was very difficult for her to see her mother in pain

This is probably your strongest extenuating circumstance as it was something significant in the lead up to the 11+. I would suggest focusing on this, and provide evidence of the date of the transplant.

and finally she had a tooth extraction 1 day prior to the examination, which led her to be in a lot of pain on the day of exam and was on pain killers,

Was she in pain only during the English part of the test?
Wasn't there an instruction that parents must not allow their child to sit the test if not in a fit state?
https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appea ... cation#b31" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Or is it that the pain killers weren't as effective as you expected?

How important will it be for my daughter to have this letter from the headteacher?

It does make things more difficult, although the panel will usually have come across this sort of situation before, and may be sympathetic.
However, they do still need sufficient academic evidence. You have probably seen our advice here:
https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appea ... cation#b20" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Should I mention that English is her additional language?

Yes, but the panel are likely to try and establish where she comes on a scale that ranges from "arrived in the UK just a year or two ago" to "born and educated in the UK, and speaks to siblings in English".

Should I mention to the panel, that the headteacher is against a grammar school system and hasn't given any child a letter of support?

Yes.

Hope this helps.