11 Plus Exams Forum

Looks like the recession is creating extra demand for grammar school places - in Warwickshire alone 950 competed for a place in 2007, this went up to 1,749 last year and today about 1,790 are taking the exam

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/62 ... -soar.html

it depends on the area, heer in East Kent we have lots of grammar schools, so if you pass the entrance test you will get a place

That seems rather a jump in applications in Warwickshire, does anyone know if those figures are correct?

Could it be that the 2009 and 2008 figures are for both the Eastern and Southern areas and the 2007 figures are for either one or the other.

I have found this old thread on the forum which says that 780 sat it in Eastern Warwickshire for 2008 and 739 for 2007.

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... sc&start=0

Not really suprised at this.
Last Sept when DS took the 11plus here in Lincs,the head of the school announced at the open evening that there had always been enough places for children who passed. This left a number of infuriated parents at allocation time who thought a pass equalled a definate place Over subscription hurts !
They obviously weren't listening to the conversation where he admitted he'd had a deluge of interest from families leaving private education & others moving into the county from elsewhere in the country.
Interestingly there were also a number of children taking the test for whom English was not thier first language. Lincolnshire has a high migrant population,who also only want the best for thier children. I have no idea though how they fared.
Until the day when all schools can offer all children an excellent education,there will always be a fight for those schools we perceive to offer the best within our means.

Rose Petal, you are right - the figures for Warwickshire cannot be correct. Eastern area had 739 children registered for 2008 entry (ie sitting the exam in 2007) - I suspect that their figure of 970 is only Southern area - therefore the total is more likely to be just over 1700, very little change year on year.

It is not possible to compare figures prior to the above as you had to opt out rather than in and, therefore, most children sat the test. The first year of the new system was offputting to many but I think that more people are registering their children each year as knowledge grows and children express a desire to 'have a go'. As for people flocking in from indies, I think this is a red herring. Most of the children I know who end up at indies have also sat the 11+; some 'failed' and went to indies and some 'passed' but preferred the indies...

The figures for Warwickshire (if my theory is correct): 2007 - 1719, 2008 - 1749, 2009 - 1789. Hardly a great leap, but I guess that wouldn't sell many papers...

(things may be very different in other counties though)

Thanks C67 - I didn't know that it used to be an opt out system so thats interesting to hear.