Bucks - chances for getting admission for someone in London

[Daddy123]

Hi
Wonder if someone can help.
My DS is writing the Bucks test on 27 October.
As we live in Fulham, is there any chance of him getting a seat in any of the Bucks Grammer schools? We intend to move to Bucks/Berks by June 2013.
Have used the London address now and the allocation of seat will be based on this address.

Does any school in Bucks allocate places on Merit, based on 11 plus tests?
If not, is it even worth putting a Bucks school in the CAF?

Thanks

[Sally-Anne]

Hi Daddy123, and welcome!

Provided a child achieves the minimum qualifying score of 121 (or an appeal review is successful), places are allocated on distance and not according to 11+ score.

As you can see here http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/school ... n-profiles" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; , some schools are regularly "All Offered", i.e. wherever you live your child would be allocated a place.

One school (Dr Challoners Boys) has a residence requirement of 18 months prior to the planned date of admission, so it is not an option for you on those grounds, as well as on distance.

Sally-Anne

[alana]

One school (Dr Challoners Boys) has a residence requirement of 18 months prior to the planned date of admission, so it is not an option for you on those grounds, as well as on distance.

I have seen mention of SWBGS having introduced a similar residence requirement for 2013 on this forum. However, when I checked the source it was not clear to me whether this was the case. According to http://www.swbgs.com/Resources/Admissio ... r_2013.pdf they appear to follow Challoners policy quite closely. The exact wording is:

a) In order to qualify for admission under Rule 3, the applicant must have been resident within the catchment area continuously since April 1st of the year preceding proposed admission.

But rule 3 varies depending on whether it is entry for normal 11+ admission, late transfer or for sixth form. Am I missing something?

[Daddy123]

Thanks Sally-Anne for the input.
So as per the link, Chesham and Sir Henry Floyd are the only ones who gave seats to ALL in previous couple of years.
So I have to put these schools in CAF, in case I am willing to commute.
Other schools seem to be not welcoming anyone residing that far.
Surprising that none of the schools in Bucks (inspite of having 13) take people on Merit and Slough consortium, Tiffin, Sutton etc. take purely on Merit.

Thanks

[Etienne]

..... schools seem to be not welcoming anyone residing that far.

The other side of the coin is that to be more 'welcoming' to children living far away would mean being less so to other children ......
Admission authorities are free to set any lawful admission rules, and unfortunately there will be 'winners' and 'losers' under any system.

Surprising that none of the schools in Bucks (inspite of having 13) take people on Merit and Slough consortium, Tiffin, Sutton etc. take purely on Merit.

Bucks grammars do of course admit on merit - children are required to score at least 121.
If a school is undersubscribed, any child who is qualified is welcome to fill the vacancy.
The problem is what to do when a grammar school is oversubscribed with children who are all of the required academic standard.

Where admission is based quite strictly on rank order, the debate about 'Superselectives' v. 'local schools for local children' can become a very intense. You have only to read some of the threads regarding Tiffin in the Surrey section of the forum to see what a thorny issue this is!

There has been some movement in the Slough consortium to more of a 'mixed' system, giving some priority to those in catchment.

Bucks used to have score rather than distance as the final criterion, but in recent years both the LA and the grammar schools have been united in preferring distance. Whether this will change in future, as individual academies flex their muscles, remains to be seen.

[Daddy123]

Hi Etienne,

Thanks for the clarification.
I appreciate the Bucks reasoning to give preference to children from Bucks and not based on Merit List.
However, if the above reasoning has to be justified than we should have equal spread of Grammer schools (GS) in each Region. Unfortunately we have an uneven spread of GS in various regions e.g. in south we have Kent with so many GS, Bucks with around 13, Berkshire with few and Greater London with very minimum. As GS's are considered among the best (excl. Independent schools), every child should get equal chance irrespective of where the school is based and how near the parents have decided to buy their house. If catchment criteria has to be applied, than every child in the country should have a GS in their catchment. Else, we are being unfair on children who live in an area with no GS. Also, children in counties like Bucks and Kent get an unfair advantage in choosing their secondary schools.....As opening GS in every part of the country is not feasible, the best alternate is to make entry to all GS purely on Merit so that the best gets a chance to get into a GS. Just a suggestion from me....appreciate views from parents who don't fall in GS catchments.

[hermanmunster]

We lived in an area that had no GS - it suited a lot of people who were very happy with their local comprehensive which meant they did not have to travel and the kids could stay with their friends etc. However many people preferred to use indies or travel to neighbouring areas for GS - or even move.

In areas with GS, there are more children who do not get in to the GS than do get in - and while the GS may be great for the minority, many parents (those of the majority not getting in) prefer to have their children at a good comprehensive rather than the secondary modern option which may exist alongside the GS. Decades ago Solihull went comprehensive and I remember hearing a quite that "every child in the area who doesn't get a GS places is a vote for comprehensive"

if you made all GS have no catchment it would be a total free for all with children travelling huge distances both to the GS and also to non selective schools if they did not make the cut for the rather more local GS.

I am a fan of GS and moved to an area with them - easier to do if not tied to London and have kids who can do the test OK without too much stress - but working in London has always had downsides and there are problems with schools there..

[MollyB]

I totally agree with Hermanmunster many people sacrifice the size of their house and are prepared to commute from Bucks in order to give their children a chance of getting into Grammar school, not to mention the stress throughout the primary school years of preparing their children for the 11 plus.I think Bucks have a fair system regarding catchment areas. If lots of children from London started coming into Bucks where would the Bucks children go to school? I am sure after moving out to Bucks there would be few parents who would be prepared to put their children on a train into London.
Daddy123 have you thought of moving? You seem very keen on a Grammar school education for your child and prepared for your child to travel is it not possible for the commute to be reversed I would prefer to have a difficult commute rather than my child.
I am fortunate that mine have all gone to Grammar schools but I am not sure I would have moved here had I known of the pressure and anxiety people go through over the 11 plus and we are in a very fortunate position of being able to afford to educate our children independently should they have not got their first choice Grammar school.

[Daddy123]

Daddy123 have you thought of moving? You seem very keen on a Grammar school education for your child and prepared for your child to travel is it not possible for the commute to be reversed I would prefer to have a difficult commute rather than my child.

100% willing to move, once we have get a place. DS is in year 6 now and we will be shifting to Bucks/Berks, if he gets into GS. Lets wait and see.

[faitaccompli]

Due to being a late sitter last year, I had to move lock, stock and barrel (including changing junior school for the lsat term of year 6) in order to ensure my son had a place at a Bucks GS. I had to finalise the move BEFORE I found out his results.

Yes, it was uncomfortable financially, but fortunately my initial worries about changing school in March just for one term were unfounded and my son has not "suffered".

If you want the school then you simply have to follow the rules. I could have left moving until July 2012, but the chance of getting a place in September 2012 in the GS of our choice would have been pretty remote.