out of catchment qualified but oversubscribed orange10

[orange10]

Hello, my son passed in his 11+ in Lincolnshire with a great score but as he is out of catchment he has just missed out on a place. He has set his heart on the school after we had a tour around it late last year and is devastated. He had no tutition and little coaching from us (the content was too difficult for us to understand ) for 11+ and worked on practice papers, he did all of this within 6 months of the exams.

He is at greater depth in all subjects at his current school. I am wondering if I have a basis for an appeal as the school admiisions policy states the following, plus I heard lots of parents stating they had tutors for their children when I was waiting for him after the two exams.

"The school recommends that parents and primary schools should not coach children for these tests. Coaching may distort results and can lead to children being inappropriately placed. Practice for tests is provided for all candidates, as explained below, to provide consistency"

Im sure his current school headteacher would provide support to the appeal. The only available school open to him in our area has much lower overall results and he doesnt want to go to this school, I feel my son would thrive at the school in question.

[hermanmunster]

Is this KES Grantham?

I am sorry to hear has not got a place, one thing to immediately do would be to make sure he is on the waiting list and read up on our appeals FAQ https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeals" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[orange10]

Hello, its Gainsborough, he is on the waiting list and only missed out by 2 marks! The problem is this year has the lowest number of out of catchment ever, due to siblings and in catchment pupils scoring higher than 80% pass rate. My son scored 90%, its really disapointing. The past two years scores are so high compared to previous years, i think they should look at the pass score!!

[hermanmunster]

Unfortunately for your son they have very clear admission policy ( no good arguing with it) and it is a shame that it has not worked out for you this year, waiting list and appeal is the best route

[orange10]

ok, so do you think its worth an appeal?

[Etienne]

Welcome to the forum!

I am wondering if I have a basis for an appeal as the school admiisions policy states the following, plus I heard lots of parents stating they had tutors for their children when I was waiting for him after the two exams.
"The school recommends that parents and primary schools should not coach children for these tests. Coaching may distort results and can lead to children being inappropriately placed. Practice for tests is provided for all candidates, as explained below, to provide consistency"

I'm afraid this will get you nowhere!

The only basis for an appeal would be reasons for wanting or needing a place that are sufficient to outweigh the prejudice to the school.
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... -school#c2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[orange10]

Etienne, during my appeal on Tuesday I found it strange that the admissions lady told the panel my sons score then proceeded to tell me that they let a child in last week who scored 1 more than him. Is this correct as afterwards I thought this could potentially influence the panels thoughts on their decision which they dismissed my sons case.

[Etienne]

Etienne, during my appeal on Tuesday I found it strange that the admissions lady told the panel my sons score then proceeded to tell me that they let a child in last week who scored 1 more than him. Is this correct as afterwards I thought this could potentially influence the panels thoughts on their decision which they dismissed my sons case.

It sounds as if the admissions lady was trying to show that the admission arrangements had been correctly applied. It's quite usual to explain why the last child admitted had a higher claim to a place than the appellant (a higher mark, or closer distance to the school, or whatever the admission rule was).
If so, nothing to worry about.