Hi everyone. I am new on here and also first time doing 11 plus with DD. This is a fantastic forum with great advice and support. I wonder if anyone can help me. I am from Birmingham but would like to apply to SGGS as DD will be travelling by public transport and the train is a direct train there very near to our house. The other birmingham schools are quite complicated to get to using public transport and require multiple bus and train changes. However I cant work my head around the admissions criteria for SGGS. What does priority one mean or catchment south, east or both? I am within the 16 mile circle radius so does that count me as a priority 1??


Also I'm confused on the way the places are actually allocated. looking at previous threads the lowest score on waiting list last year to be offered a place was 212 but then scores of 220 and more were rejected? I hope these questions make sense and some one can shed more light. Thank you.

Hi

I’m not an expert, but will have a go and I’m sure others will add if I’ve missed anything. There are two priority circles, East and South. If you live within either one of those then you will be offered a place within the first round of offers on 1 March for the relevant schools. So for South, AGS, SGGS or KES. Subject to qualifying score. It maybe that you have a high score but live outside of priority or are classed as late, therefore won’t be offered a place on 1 March, but may get one after from the waiting list. Did your DD complete the exam in Birmingham and ask for the result to be shared with Warwickshire? Good luck x

If you are applying to SGGS then ignore everything to do with the eastern prioty circle and priority 1 / 2 which only applies to the eastern circle.

I think you have implied that you are within the southern priority circle and have taken the WCC test, so that is a pre-requisite for getting an offer on March 1st should you apply to SGGS.

Other things you need to be wary of is applying on time, putting SGGS first on your CAF and sending WCC proof of address prior to their deadline. (This latter requirement is relatively new and caught a few people out last year).

As long as you meet these requirements, and you score is sufficiently high, you should get an offer on March 1st. But read WCC's guidance just to ensure you have fulfilled every criteria.

I cannot say why scores of 212 were accepted but scores of 220 were rejected without seeing the detail, but I dare say it was either due to not fulfilling one of the above criteria, or there was an error in the allocation process (which does happen on a regular basis).

Many thanks for the quick response. Yes she did the test in birmingham and i asked for it to be shared. Do I contact warwickshire council to see whether I'm in the priority south? Also i was not aware of the need to contact WCC about proof of address. Have I missed the deadline?

The priority circle maps are on Warwickshire County Council website. The deadline for proof of address is end of December, can’t remember exactly without checking. They’ve not asked for it to be sent yet so you are fine.

Just looked out of curiosity and it is in the Admissions Policy on the school website:

2.2.2.Priority Circle: the priority circle for Stratford Girls’ Grammar School and King Edward VI
School is based on a circle with a radius of 16.885 miles drawn from the Fountain in
Rother Street, Stratford-upon-Avon (half-way between the two schools) to the County
boundary south of Long Compton. In drawing a priority circle in this manner, the schools
are able to comply with their duty following the Greenwich Judgement (1989). Evidence
will be required to prove that the child is resident within the priority circle by the deadline
of Monday 31st December 2018. Warwickshire Admissions will require, on behalf of the
School, evidence of the applicant’s home address[b]. Parents/carers will be notified each
time this is required. The Admissions Service may also carry out a home visit to the
family to further verify an applicant’s address. The School reserves the right to withdraw
the offer of a place if it is satisfied that the offer has been made on the basis of an
incorrect, fraudulent or misleading application.

https://www.sggs.org.uk/attachments/download.asp?file=2633&type=pdf

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Does anyone know what the lowest score last year that was offered whether in first allocations or off waiting list in the priority south for SGGS?

My DS sat the test last year and according to the information letter that was the sent out, the AQS for SGGS was 221 but then changed to 222. 212 refers to the minimum score required to be placed on the waiting list. So essentially you had to score 222 to get an offer in the first round. After that I’m not sure what happened but I don’t think the waiting list offered to scores much lower than maybe 221, so basically children out of the area but with higher scores would then have been offered places and I think some people posted that those who had offered withdrawn at 221 later got those offers back? Hope that makes sense!

there were problems last year - can't remember what the actual issue was but we had several people on allocation day who had scores well in the range to get a place who hadn't been allocated one - I think that is why the AQS had to go up and some places were withdrawn (18 I think) . Hopefully they get it right next year

PS if anyone is feeling brave the thread about it all is here viewtopic.php?f=37&t=53673

In 2016, my DD received above the AQS and was not allocated a place at SGGS on the allocations letter. Turned out there was an admin error and they had not tagged the address proof as "received". All sorted out in the end. ( a sleepless 4 days though ). This illustrates one reason out of many that above AQS can be scored, but no place offered.
Cheers