11+ appeal
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11+ appeal
Hi have thought very hard about this as our son was predicted from his teachers to pass having always been in top sets right from begining of his first school and they have said he will reach level 5 a for sats but having had quite rough few months with his grandfather passing away at end of august he only got 107 which was a real shock but worse was still to come , after seeing his head who has always said what a high acheiver he is is saying he wont back us not giving us good enough reason and aso in bucks on heads letter they do 2 scores 1 for ability and hard working which he gave 2 ( 1- 4 ) high to low and same for suitability for grammer and not sure why gave 4 not suitable , weve asked on few occasions why with no straight answer even all his other scores including one they do after 11+ was 126 , got lots of support from doctor etc as he was on antibiotics for tonslitus at time , sure spelt it wrong sorry , if anyone has advice please contact , kind regards nicolaj
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Sally-Anne
- Posts: 9235
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
- Location: Buckinghamshire
Hi Nicolaj
I am sorry to hear about all that.
Firstly, the deadline for submitting a Bucks appeal has now passed, so unless you have submitted the application form, I am afraid that you will face an almighty struggle to get an Appeal hearing now.
On a score of 107 (and perhaps a lower "other" score) and without the support of the Head you would, I am afraid, have very little chance of success - less than 10%. You would need absolutely sparkling school reports to get through without his support, and very significant mitigating circumstances.
The mitigating circumstances are mixed - the loss of his grandfather might have explained the shortfall in marks - say 117/118, but you would really need independent evidence from the school or a doctor of the effect it had on him.
The anti-biotics for tonsilitis would not make a good point, because Bucks give the advice that you should not send a sick child in to school to take the test. Even if he was recovered from the actual illness, you would still find it difficult to convince a panel on this point.
It is particularly frustrating that your son appears to have taken the "equating test" and passed with a score of 126. (The equating test is the first paper from last year, and is only done by a handful of schools in Bucks. The purpose of it is to evaluate the relative difficulty of this year's papers vs. last year's. A complex business!)
I am not sure from your post whether the Head's recommendation was a 2:2 or a 2:4. If it was the latter I suggest that you write to the Head in January, stating that you will not be appealing, but asking him to clarify why his recommendation was so low. With predicted 3 x 5a SATs it does seem pretty extraordinary.
I suspect however that the Head is not willing to support your appeal simply because the score is such a long way from the pass mark. The cynic in me also wonders if this is a Prep School with a Year 7 intake?
I am sorry that I can't offer you better news. I suggest that you take a look at my Sticky on Bucks about the 12+/13+.
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... php?t=8123
Sally-Anne
I am sorry to hear about all that.
Firstly, the deadline for submitting a Bucks appeal has now passed, so unless you have submitted the application form, I am afraid that you will face an almighty struggle to get an Appeal hearing now.
On a score of 107 (and perhaps a lower "other" score) and without the support of the Head you would, I am afraid, have very little chance of success - less than 10%. You would need absolutely sparkling school reports to get through without his support, and very significant mitigating circumstances.
The mitigating circumstances are mixed - the loss of his grandfather might have explained the shortfall in marks - say 117/118, but you would really need independent evidence from the school or a doctor of the effect it had on him.
The anti-biotics for tonsilitis would not make a good point, because Bucks give the advice that you should not send a sick child in to school to take the test. Even if he was recovered from the actual illness, you would still find it difficult to convince a panel on this point.
It is particularly frustrating that your son appears to have taken the "equating test" and passed with a score of 126. (The equating test is the first paper from last year, and is only done by a handful of schools in Bucks. The purpose of it is to evaluate the relative difficulty of this year's papers vs. last year's. A complex business!)
I am not sure from your post whether the Head's recommendation was a 2:2 or a 2:4. If it was the latter I suggest that you write to the Head in January, stating that you will not be appealing, but asking him to clarify why his recommendation was so low. With predicted 3 x 5a SATs it does seem pretty extraordinary.
I suspect however that the Head is not willing to support your appeal simply because the score is such a long way from the pass mark. The cynic in me also wonders if this is a Prep School with a Year 7 intake?
I am sorry that I can't offer you better news. I suggest that you take a look at my Sticky on Bucks about the 12+/13+.
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... php?t=8123
Sally-Anne
