Bucks "Order of Suitability"

Consult our experts on 11 Plus appeals or any other type of school appeal

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Bucks "Order of Suitability"

Post by Etienne »

Headteachers cannot alter their original order of suitability - their rankings are published by BCC as an appendix in the appeal papers.

What they might be able to do is indicate that things have changed. For example, they could write a comment "There has been a marked improvement in Mary's work recently and we would now rank her as 5th rather than 10th".

Similarly, although the original recommendation remains on the record, they could revise it (e.g. from a "2" to a "1"). In fact, I seem to recall there used to be a space on the headteacher's statement where they could indicate any change.

The longer the gap between the original recommendation and any update, the better!
If headteachers submitted their recommendations on 17th November (the deadline), then I doubt whether they would be in a position to change anything on 1st December!

If parents think their child is on an upward curve, then rather than pressurising headteachers now, I would suggest just before the appeal checking with the head whether he/she could confirm any change and would write a last-minute letter to the appeal panel with an update.

Spare a thought for headteachers (well, just a little one :) ) who will be under a lot of pressure from anxious parents at the moment.
Etienne
Guest

Post by Guest »

Hi Etienne,
On my sons form the Head has filled in she has given him 3's for both, due to his work being so changeable due to our circumstances at home. However,on the position of suitability box, she has left it blank and written N/A in the position space. Do they not have to have a position?
Also in June my son got a VR score of 127, what is the percentile rank for this score. I diidnt even know hed got this score, the last one I knew about was 121 which is 92percentile.
Thanks too for your PM I think its great, I have responded back to your box, and I promise not to bug you anymore!!
Dissapointed mum
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

Dear DM

It sounds as if your son was "not recommended" originally, in which case he would not have been ranked.

I'm not sure I can answer your percentile question without knowing exactly what VR test was being used. Are we talking about CATs?

Best wishes
Etienne
dissapointed mum
Posts: 116
Joined: Fri Nov 24, 2006 2:05 pm

Post by dissapointed mum »

Hi again Etienne,
I thought that every child that was sitting the test was ranked. There was only 16 children who sat the test at our school. 10 passed 6 didnt.
The score of 127 comes from a NFER VR 10/11 test, what ever that means! :?
Thanks
DM
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

Hi, DM

No, there is a scale of 1-5 for the recommendation, and usually only children with 1-3 are included on the O. of S. The only possible interpretation, as far as I can see, is that the head has already changed her mind.

I reckon that the score of 127 = the 97+ percentile!
Etienne
njg

Post by njg »

Our school do order of sutability according to the familiarisation scores.
Unfortunately for us this was when our daughter was in hospital - she then did them in the week after her operation - not ideal. Also having a new head with no 11+ experience hasn't helped.
I think the best thing is to get as much support from teachers who know the child and the situation. At the appeal itself you can explain why the order of suitability doesn't reflect the status now and how circumstances may have changed.
I went through appeal last year and although scary they were very nice and really listened to everything we had to say. If you feel that everything you need to say can't be put down on a piece of A4 make some notes and talk about it on the day.
patricia
Posts: 2803
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2006 5:07 pm

Post by patricia »

Dear Njg

Bucks cc make it quite clear that schools should be wary of using the familiarisation scores to rank the children.

See section B, point 13, part 6

http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/schools/docum" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... 1_plus.pdf

Appeal panels will be aware of these instructions. If your school has ordered using these scores then you could argue that the order is not a true reflection, for the reasons given in the above document.

Patricia
Narnia

Order of Suitability

Post by Narnia »

I am also worried about how headteachers arrive at the ranking order. My daughter has received a 2 (ability) and 1 (attitude), yet been ranked 20 -out of about 60. Relating this to the BCC recommendation for ranking means this doesn't quite stack for me!! Should I speak to the headteacher and ask for further clarification? :shock: :?
Sally-Anne
Posts: 9235
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Post by Sally-Anne »

Hi narnia

Yes, I would definitely see the Head about that. It seems probable that the Head put 1:1 first (obviously), then 1:2, then 2:1 and then ranked the children within the 2:1 group, resulting in your daughter being that low.

However, it could just as easily be that within each sub-Group the Head put the children in alphabetical order, or drew the names out of a hat! It is extremely difficult for Heads to rank the majority of children in the first place, let alone within those sub-Groups.

As an indication, my son was a 2:2 last year, and he was 23rd out of 40 on the list at his school.

How many of the 19 children above your daughter passed? One approach at appeal is to point out the flaws in the head's rankings, although you need to be careful that it doesn't rebound on your own case.

Sally-Anne
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

If there are 60 candidates in the year, one would expect around 20 to qualify in an average Bucks school.

Sally-Anne is right to ask about how many children qualified.

A ranking of 20th in an above average school would be better than a ranking of 5th in a school where hardly anyone qualifies.

An appeal panel will not look at "20th" in isolation. It will look to see how it fits with the rest of the school's results.
Etienne
Post Reply
11 Plus Mocks - Practise the real exam experience - Book Now