How are you allocated places for Halifax Schools !!!!!!

[Alisha99]

Hi Everyone !

I have a very close friend whose DS passed the 11+ exam with ranking of 261, however she chose Crossley Heath as 1st Choice for her DS and no other grammer school as second choice.

Can anyone help by telling me if her DS will get a place at CH or NHGS, so I can put her out of her misery>>> she is really worried
Appreciate any suggestions.....

[Snowdrops]

I shouldn't have thought she'd get any school she didn't put on her CAF.

She will be allocated the grammar school if her dc passed for that school and she put it 1st on her form, otherwise it will be whichever school her dc meets the criteria for.

If she put absolutely no other school on the form she will be allocated her nearest school AFTER everyone else has been given places and it may not be a school local to her - it will be whichever one has a spare place that is closest to where she lives, it could be miles away.

However, whichever school her dc is allocated she can always appeal for a different school.

[Alisha99]

Thanks for that Snowdrops,
Her first choice was CH and the other 2 choices were not grammer schools but local secondary schools.

The closest to her is CH and then NHGS but she didnt choose NHGS on her list

Thanks for that any way.

[mitasol]

Hi Alisha,

She won't be offered a place at North Halifax if it is not on the CAF. If 155 spaces are not filled at Crossley Heath before rank 261 she will be offered a place at CH.

NHGS must be included as one of the three preferences on the CAF if you want your daughter or son to sit the admission test and be considered for a place in September 2010.

[Alisha99]

thanks for that Mitasol,

So basically what we're saying is that if the places at CH are all taken up before her ranking of 261 then she will not get a place at CH and she will definately not get a place at NHGS because she didnt select it on her CAF.

Therefore, if she doesn't get a place at CH, then she will be given a place at a secondary school. >>>> am i right in thinking this ???

Thanks for all the response

[Snowdrops]

Yes, you've got it.

BUT, she also has to eligible for the secondary schools - if people rank above her they will get the spaces first.

[Alisha99]

Thanks for that everyone !!!!!!!

I will just get hold of her and give her the bad news that she doesn't want to hear>>>>>>>

[mitasol]

Sorry Alisha - she may still get a place at CH but she has reason to be worried.

[zetamgr]

Thanks for that everyone !!!!!!!

I will just get hold of her and give her the bad news that she doesn't want to hear>>>>>>>

There are 155 places at each school so 310 in total. The numbers ranking NHGS or CH in 1st place seemed reasonably balanced last year so at position 261 her child is very likely to have got into to CH. This would only not occur if substantially more of the higher scoring children have placed CH in first preference rather than NHGS.

To slighly correct what someone else said about appeals, I think you can only appeal to schools that you placed as one of your preferences. You can apply to go on the waiting list for other schools in case of drop-outs etc.

In fact some children are admitted beyond even rank 310, because there are some children who have not placed the Grammar school at first preference, others are from out of area and may have got in somewhere else closer, others try for private school scholarships, and a handful move during the period. So I would say you friend's child has an excellent chance.

Martin R

[mitasol]

I think you can put in a late application (processed after March 1st) and then go on the waiting list or appeal. Regarding the waiting lists, if you ask to go onto a waiting list for a lower preference or non-listed CAF school, you have to give up the school you have been allocated. So you could end up without a school.