What if grammar school is not 1st preference?

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Carlawillsmer
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri May 22, 2015 5:30 pm

What if grammar school is not 1st preference?

Post by Carlawillsmer »

If my sons sits the 11+ and he passes, do I have to put grammar schools down as 1st choice when applying for secondary schools. All the schools in my catchment are not the best and just want to give him the best chance of getting into a good school. We cannot move house, in case anyone suggests this. I would like him to sit the exam so he has best possible choice, his school and I feel is most able of passing but his 1st choice is not a grammar.
Guest55
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Re: What if grammar school is not 1st preference?

Post by Guest55 »

Which school do you want? That is the school you must put first on the CAF.

If you want the GS then put it first but otherwise put the schools in the order that you want them. If the first school cannot offer a place then the 'second' preference becomes your top choice etc.
hermanmunster
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Re: What if grammar school is not 1st preference?

Post by hermanmunster »

Is there a school outside the catchment that you want him to go to ? Or is it a non grammar school within the catchment?

If he passes 11 +, you don't have to put a GS down at all, your DS will be offered the first school on your CAF list who can offer him a place.


If the school you want is outside catchment then be sure that you have some chance of getting a place or at least make sure you have a good back up.
ToadMum
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Location: Essex

Re: What if grammar school is not 1st preference?

Post by ToadMum »

OP, correct me if I'm wrong, but my assumption from your post is that you really want a particular non-grammar school (for which you are not in catchment?), but, failing that you would prefer your DS to go to a grammar school than to one of the local schools? And from your comment about not moving house, the grammar school may be some distance away from where you live?

(Not QE Barnet, by any chance?).

Anyway, as has been said, the most important thing to remember is to put the schools on your CAF in your true order of preference. The schools all judge your application against their own admissions criteria in complete ignorance of other applications you have made. Your LEA's job is to pass on to you the offer (assuming you fit the criteria at at least one school) from the one you ranked the furthest up your list and to reject on your behalf offers from any lower-ranked schools.
Last edited by ToadMum on Fri May 22, 2015 8:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Stroller
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Re: What if grammar school is not 1st preference?

Post by Stroller »

ToadMum wrote:Your LEA's job is to pass on to you the offer (assuming you fit the criteria at at least one school) from the one you ranked the furthest up your list and to select on your behalf offers from any lower-ranked schools.
....reject..? :)
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ToadMum
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Re: What if grammar school is not 1st preference?

Post by ToadMum »

Stroller wrote:
ToadMum wrote:Your LEA's job is to pass on to you the offer (assuming you fit the criteria at at least one school) from the one you ranked the furthest up your list and to select on your behalf offers from any lower-ranked schools.
....reject..? :)
:evil: :evil: :evil: Showed up as 'reject' as I was typing, but phone has a nasty habit of 'correcting' itself as one moves on. Will edit original post!
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Carlawillsmer
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Re: What if grammar school is not 1st preference?

Post by Carlawillsmer »

Thank you all so much. I had been told that if my son sits and passes the exam, we HAD to put grammar schools down as 1st choice. No, the school of choice is not Barnet. I just want as many options as I can offer him. Now I don't feel quite so cornered. All our grammar schools are quite some distance away, we do have great schools closer but are still out of catchment so just want to give him all options.
ToadMum
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Re: What if grammar school is not 1st preference?

Post by ToadMum »

Probably what people mean is that you have to put the grammar school first if you want your DS to go there (which they will probably assume you do as he is taking the 11+ in the first place). But that is the same as with any school you really want, when there is another school which you might get 'accidentally' should you have put it higher up on your CAF for some reason and then qualified for it, so to speak. Usually this happens where someone listens to some idiot at the school gate with zero understanding of the equal preference system instead of taking note of what their LEA has set out perfectly clearly on their website...
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
Daogroupie
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Re: What if grammar school is not 1st preference?

Post by Daogroupie »

There is no link between sitting the exams and what you put on your CAF. You can sit as many exams as you want and then not apply for any of the schools. Thousands of students sit exams for schools they have no interest in applying for in order to gain exam conditions experience. Sit the exams, wait for the results and then decide for your family the school that best suits and put that first. DG
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