Birmingham are keeping the original test date of 12th September but Warwickshire are delaying.

This is ludicrous.

Some kids will be sitting under Bham and sharing with Warks. What happens if Brum exam goes ahead and Warks doesn't. Will this mean Bham kids will get Warks places as warks kids won't have sat!

How can it be safe for Bham to sit the exam but not Warks, it makes no sense.

This is a disaster waiting to happen.

I've emailed Warks 11+ and have emailed the Tory councillor responsible for this decision.

You would think with the Tories current record on education, they would not wish to be heading for another fiasco!

cllr.hayfield@warwickshire,gov.uk

Email has been forwarded to

Ianbudd@warwickshire.co.uk

I am extremely concerned that Warwickshire are delaying the exam. When Birmingham, with a larger consort, are continuing with the original date.

Ian Budd has advised there are strict measures in place to avoid cheating, but this is nonsense, they can not possibly police this.

Plus the Covid cases are starting to rise again, Birmingham are being very sensible allowing the exam to go ahead as planned. If the cases keep rising, there is every chance Warwickshire will have to delay the exam again.

What happens if it can't be sat at all, how will the places be allocated, will Birmingham children get our school places?

At the time of year Warwickshire are now proposing, there is a very high chance that kids could be poorly with a cold and other seasonal illnesses which may hamper their concentration and thus not doing their exam to the best of their ability. What if they turn kids away who appear ill, will, they be abke to resit it?

Personally I think the exam needs to be sat as soon as possible, preferably before half term.

My son is desperate to get this out of the way. These poor kids are only 10 (some will now be 11) and its such a lot for them to contend with.

If like me, you have concerns about this, please email

ianbudd@warwickshire.gov.uk

Hi all

I am a chair of governors in Warwick and sit on the WCC education committee so have raised this with Ian and Colin as share the same concerns for our daughter. I will let you know their response and whether it gets raised at the forum. I think letting your local councillor know also would be helpful.
Agree that the earlier it is rescheduled the better....

Hi, its good to hear others have the same concerns. I did email Colin and he sent my email to Ian.

I have emailed Ian again and I'm still awaiting his reply.

Its good to know someone in your position is pushing this.

Delaying is ridiculous.

I look forward to hearing their responses.

Equally there are those sitting the Birmingham exam not happy that Warwickshire kids get weeks more preparation and time in school. Proves you can't please everyone. Ludicrous being a shared test, I agree

We are sitting in Warwickshire and I would rather my DS was taking exam on 12th.

He nas been working hard towards this and we thought the end was in sight.

Its going to be a real struggle to keep him motivated.

Yes us too - my ds was very disappointed when I told him about the change of dates. We have kept up with the work throughout lockdown and he was ready and raring do get it done and out of the way so that he can go on and enjoy his last year at primary. I know it’s only 6 weeks but mentally that’s a massive hurdle. The only upside was that we have not long got back from 10 days holiday, and it meant that he could completely switch off and not do anything 11+ oriented..without me having to worry about the effects of “shutting down” for a lengthy period so close to the exam.

Not sure if everyone has realised the full implications.
In previous years the exam was marked as one common cohort, but they won't be able to do this this year as the Birmingham results will be published before Warks children take the exam so that B/Ham parents know the results before they complete their CAF.

Even though the paper is the same they will have to mark as 2 separate cohorts

This makes the exam results subject to inconsistency as children of parents living in say Solihull (and in the southern priority circle) will still be able to to take the B/ham exam in Sept and share their results with Warks; but you really shouldn't try to compare results of 2 separate cohort standardisation - statistically (and mathematically ) this is very poor practice.

Found this on Warwickshire 11+ site, minutes from a meeting back in Jan

Introductions:
The LO thanked everyone for attending and details of the main testing dates were given,
including the number of candidates sitting the test so far this year, which was approximately
2500 children who sat the test with Warwickshire, and an additional 1100 children who sat
the test with Birmingham but whose results have been shared between both authorities.

So potentially 1100 children who could be passing information. Girl in my sons class at school is sitting in Birmingham!