Bananas wrote:
Daughter is at Woodford. Fairly certain no one ever gets in out of catchment.
The only way would be to sit it and if she scores well move in Woodford catchment. Alternatively, Essex grammars take out of catchment I believe if you are anywhere near there.
Yes, all the Essex grammar schools do offer places to out of catchment applicants, viz
Colchester County High School for Girls: has no catchment area. And believe it or not, girls do in fact make the 90+-mile round trip every day from around Ilford etc. The school is one heck of a hike from the main railway station (and the hills in between are pretty stiff - I suspect that the car which broke down on Balkerne Hill during rush hour yesterday morning may have had a burned out clutch

), but a forum member has set up a private coach service from metropolitan Essex, I believe.
Chelmsford County High School for Girls: 80% of the places are reserved for IC, the remaining 20% are allocated on score regardless of place of residence. Easy walk from Chelmsford station. As far as I am aware, despite the dire prognostications of certain people when the catchment area was introduced (mainly parents of prospective applicants in the Redbridge area, IIRC

) that the school would go to Hades in a small wheeled object as soon as the intake consisted mainly of dim locals, this has not yet happened.
Southend High School for Girls: minimum of 45 places reserved for OOC (that is, not resident within postcodes SS0 - SS9 inc). Walking distance of Southend East station (C2C) or about a ten minute bus journey from Southend Victoria (Greater Anglia).
Westcliff High School for Girls: minimum of 46 places reserved for OOC (same rules as SHSG). 25 minute walk from Chalkwell station (C2C).
All the schools apart from Chelmsford admit via the exam set by the CSSE.