Hi all

I've spoken about this on another thread but seeing as today is offer's day I wanted to get some advice on what to do now

Younger brother (FSM/PP) scored below the qualifying score. He got 190, the threshold was 205.

Mum was adamant that we put two of the KEVI grammars as #1 and #2 (I told her not to) because she wanted to appeal. I know it is highly unlikely to work but she is insistent.

We feel there are some circumstances that might go in our favour: already having two siblings at the school so we know that the school is good/supportive, being a single parent so transport will be an issue/stressful since she has another child at primary, the school being walking distance. His class teacher says he's bright but I have no idea if that's a general comment or if she means he's in the top 5% or something; if the latter then that may help?

I know this will likely not be successful but like I said, she really wants to give it a go.

Meanwhile we have received an offer for a local comprehensive school, and we've applied to a new free school that is opening.

1) How do I go about this appeal? The letter says that "Appeals for places at the KEVI grammar schools should be made to ... [address]". Is there a form? Anything online? I've tried looking but there doesn't seem to be anything.

2) When do we phone about waiting lists? On the 22nd March?

3) I would like to wait for the free school to respond with the offer or not. Then decide whether we refuse the comprehensive and accept them or vice versa. This needs to be done by the 15th, correct?

Thank you!

Actually, never mind, my mum was confused between an appeal and waiting list. She just wants him to be on a waiting list with the hope that eventually he'll get in

Hi.

I’m sorry that I don’t know anything about the appeals process but with a score of 190 he is 15 marks below the qualifying score so I would think that an appeal is highly unlikely to be successful.

I’ve just seen your 2nd message- I don’t think he’ll be on the waiting list if he hasn’t qualified?

One thing that your mum must do is to accept the school place that has been offered. If it is turned down your brother may end up without a school and risks going to the nearest one with spaces which may be miles away!

I’m sure your mum will be disappointed but I hope she is managing to hide this from your brother. He needs to get excited about whatever school he is going to and not to feel like it’s 2nd best/ he’s in anyway failed.

I’m sure it will all work out in the end,

Nella

You're very right. At the moment we have two offers- one comprehensive and one free school- and it's a matter of choosing between them two.

Honestly speaking she is being quite unrealistic. She speaks about others who got onto the waiting list and eventually managed to get a place, but their scores were not as far from the threshold as my brother's.

As for the waiting list I'm not sure. The letter says that you are automatically on the waiting list for higher preference schools (we have two KEVI schools) and from march 22nd you contact them individually. But the school also said that they do not consider people who got below 205.

Thank you for the reply!

Your mum needs to understand that there are two types of 'threshold'. One is is the lowest score to get a place on offer day. The other is the score that you need in order to qualify to apply to the school. What you've described sounds like the latter - that people scoring lower than 205 are not qualified to apply.

It's likely that some children scoring over 205 won't get an offer on offer day because their score is still too low, but they may get a place on the waiting list. That's what your mum is describing. As Nella has said, your brother won't be able to go on the waiting list for the grammar schools if he hasn't qualified for them.

VERY VERY occasionally, schools set their qualifying mark too high and will go back to people whose scores are just below the qualifying level and ask if they'd like to apply. But there will be a lot of children in the 191-204 range who would be offered places above your brother, so even in this extremely unlikely event it's still hard to see how your brother would get a place without an appeal.

If your mum does go down the appeal route, please have a look at the info on the site and focus very closely on the need to provide strong independent evidence of academic achievement and also, separately, about why the school you're appealing to is the only one that can meet your brother's needs.