Son given wrong paper. Had to sit 11 plus twice!

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JIMBO

Son given wrong paper. Had to sit 11 plus twice!

Post by JIMBO »

:(Hello there. Wondered if anyone could please help me. I am not familiar with grammer schools but my son, who has Aspergers but hasn't a statement of Special Needs, sat the 11 plus this year.

Things went very wrong. He was the only one at his school who sat the papers. He was given the wrong paper on the second occasion and this wasn't noticed until 10 days later. he became ver distressed that he was told he had to do it all over again. The results are he failed by 4 points!!!!!

I am really angry. I feel he has not had a level playing field at all and he sat the exam under stress the second time.

I don't know what to do know except lodge my complaint with his primary school and the grammer school who marked his papers. (I would like to see the results of his "practise" paper that they gave him thinking it the real one!!).

Any advice would be really appreciated.
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Post by Guest55 »

Is this for september 2008 entry? If so I would suggest that you appeal. Read the 'stckies' at the top of this section and get back to us for more help.
Appeal Mum
Posts: 2049
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2007 10:29 pm
Location: Wirral

Post by Appeal Mum »

Hi Jimbo,

I have just read your post in Lincolnshire and was about to say post here but you beat me to it..

I really do understand how you are feeling right now, it's a sickening time and my heart goes out to you.

On a more practical note in my opinion I think you would have good grounds to appeal. I think it's appalling your child was put through this! It's stressful enough without the added pressure of having to resit it 10 days later because of their mistake. How many points was a pass mark? 4 points doesn't seem that much to me.

Etienne and Sally-Anne are the best people to answer your questions and give you advice, both were invaluable to me.
Sally-Anne will be around shortly, she is never to far away and I'm sure Etienne will pop up during the later hours.

In the mean time register so you can take full advantage of what this website has to offer you.. It's free and you will get no spam I promise..
One thing I will promise you from this site is lots of support.

Take care and remember you are not alone.. :D

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

Post by Etienne »

Dear Jimbo

My feeling is that most appeal panels would be sympathetic in these circumstances, but you will need evidence of academic ability to demonstrate that under "normal circumstances" your son should have passed.

Talk to your school and see if you can get them to write a letter (a) acknowledging the mistake and pointing out how distressing this was for your son, (b) stating that they expected him to qualify, and believe that he would have done so but for this additional pressure, (c) providing as much evidence as possible of academic ability.

Does the grammar school handle its own appeals, or does it delegate to the Local Authority? [Your chances with a Local Authority panel could well be better.]

Kind regards
Etienne
Alex
Posts: 1097
Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 10:10 pm
Location: Lincolnshire

Post by Alex »

Hello Jimbo,

1. Do you know the breakdown of your son's results? Was the shortfall in marks only on the NVR? If you do not have the breakdown of the marks yet you will be able to get them by telephoning the GS on Monday.

2. Did your primary school make a non-statutory head-teacher's appeal to the Grammar School? If so, your only option now is to go to appeal. If not, it is just possible that the Grammar School may consider a late head-teacher's appeal. These are usually considered before results are released but it has been known for them to take place late. To succeed there would need to be good academic evidence and the explanation of why your son did not perform to his best ability.

3. I think it is most likely that practice papers have not been kept. The VR practice papers have been used year upon year and I would guess that the NVR practice was the same as last year (though I do not know this for fact) and so the value of practice paper scores as evidence of ability is devalued.

4. The GS should be able to tell you on Monday how many children have passed out of those who registered with it. This will tell you if the school is likely to be oversubscribed. You will know then whether any appeal will be only against non-qualification or will be for a place in a full school as well. Appeals in Lincolnshire are not held until after school places are allocated on March 1st.

5. The GS should also be able to tell you how many people succeeded on appeal last year. Lincolnshire may not follow the trend in other areas for appeals to community/controlled schools having a better chance of success. I understand that the success rate for non-qualification appeals is generally less than 1 in 10 in these schools in Lincolnshire. On the other hand some of the undersubscribed Foundation schools definitely had a few successful appeals last year, and some of them had scores lower than your son's.
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