Appeal Question
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Appeal Question
Hi,
My DS recently sat the Grammar test at Pates and shared results with Tommies and Crypt, however he never got a qualifying grade for any the schools. His school were shocked as he's been on gifted and talented for 2 years (Maths) and had high SAT's and CAT scores.
We resigned ourselves to the fact there was no point in an appeal (he was ranked 500 for Tommies), however we have recently embarked an scholarship applications for Kings and St Edwards and are very pleased to have been offered a scholarship from both schools!!!
Is it worth appealing for Pates / Tommies after March, or do they heavily weight their decision on the test score?
TIA
My DS recently sat the Grammar test at Pates and shared results with Tommies and Crypt, however he never got a qualifying grade for any the schools. His school were shocked as he's been on gifted and talented for 2 years (Maths) and had high SAT's and CAT scores.
We resigned ourselves to the fact there was no point in an appeal (he was ranked 500 for Tommies), however we have recently embarked an scholarship applications for Kings and St Edwards and are very pleased to have been offered a scholarship from both schools!!!
Is it worth appealing for Pates / Tommies after March, or do they heavily weight their decision on the test score?
TIA
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Re: Appeal Question
Hi and welcome
If you are keen to give the appeal ago then there is nothing to be lost - you need plenty of academic info to back up the application.
Section b11 gives some advice re the evidence http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... lification" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
If you are keen to give the appeal ago then there is nothing to be lost - you need plenty of academic info to back up the application.
Section b11 gives some advice re the evidence http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... lification" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Re: Appeal Question
I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong, but in previous years I think during the appeal only academic evidence is considered. I don't think the appeal board are informed of the test results. If you are desperate for a place, then you have no choice but to appeal. Good luck with whatever you choose.
Scholarships have no influence over an appeal panel, sound evidence as to why DS should have a place at the school is vital.
Scholarships have no influence over an appeal panel, sound evidence as to why DS should have a place at the school is vital.
Re: Appeal Question
Hi yes I would say that academic evidence is the key thing for an appeal but I suspect an appeal to Pates is going to be a difficult one to win due to their selecting the very top scorers in the GS test so difficult to argue how your ds is more needing of a place than the other children who have not ranked for Pates but have qualified for other schools. The changes in PAN for each school may also affect the potential for successful appeals as well.
My DS did not get a qualifying score for any of the schools 3 years ago but did try the Kings test and was offered a scholarship- we went on to appeal for Crypt and he was awarded a place on appeal and is thriving there. If you have good academic evidence then it probably is worth considering but I suspect high CAT scores and L5/L6 SATs were probably more important than than the scholarship offer.
My DS did not get a qualifying score for any of the schools 3 years ago but did try the Kings test and was offered a scholarship- we went on to appeal for Crypt and he was awarded a place on appeal and is thriving there. If you have good academic evidence then it probably is worth considering but I suspect high CAT scores and L5/L6 SATs were probably more important than than the scholarship offer.
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Re: Appeal Question
Not ideal, and others will know better than me, but would it be an option to apply and sit a test for in-year admission in Year 8? Not sure socially how good that would be as peer groups may have been established, so it would depend on your ds's personality as to whether he could "handle it". I know several people who have dc's at Kings and they are thriving (not so sure about St Ed's) so if you can afford it, perhaps stick with that as an option. As has been said though, you have nothing to lose by appealing (although I understand it is very stressful) with very strong academic proof.
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Re: Appeal Question
You have absolutely nothing to loose by going to appeal. It does not matter at all that your Son did not reach the qualifying grade, as long as you have sufficient evidence to back this up your son's academic ability. If you contact the school, they should be able to give you details of past appeal success rates.
Re: Appeal Question
Forgive me for asking, but you did actually put these schools on your CAF, didn't you? If not, whether you should appeal is (please excuse the pun) academic.Tabbitha wrote:Hi,
My DS recently sat the Grammar test at Pates and shared results with Tommies and Crypt, however he never got a qualifying grade for any the schools. His school were shocked as he's been on gifted and talented for 2 years (Maths) and had high SAT's and CAT scores.
We resigned ourselves to the fact there was no point in an appeal (he was ranked 500 for Tommies), however we have recently embarked an scholarship applications for Kings and St Edwards and are very pleased to have been offered a scholarship from both schools!!!
Is it worth appealing for Pates / Tommies after March, or do they heavily weight their decision on the test score?
TIA
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
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Re: Appeal Question
+1 Toadmum - my understanding of the appeal process is this: to be able to appeal to a school, you must first be "rejected" by that school, having applied for a place, and THEN (for a selective school) provide evidence of academic ability (plus any extenuating circumstances) and still you may not get offered a place.
The first part - "you must first be rejected by that school, having applied for a place", requires you to have listed them on your CAF by the deadline set by the county in which you live (usually end October) and then get "rejected" by them on National Offer Day in March (as your child has not met the academic standard) at which point you can appeal....
The first part - "you must first be rejected by that school, having applied for a place", requires you to have listed them on your CAF by the deadline set by the county in which you live (usually end October) and then get "rejected" by them on National Offer Day in March (as your child has not met the academic standard) at which point you can appeal....
Re: Appeal Question
The only problem with this "understanding" is that when we had a Glos. Council Education Rep. visit our primary school a couple of years ago to discuss Secondary School options, she told us that if our DC had not qualified for a Grammar School NOT to put it on CAF, as we would be wasting a place on the form.kenyancowgirl wrote:+1 Toadmum - my understanding of the appeal process is this: to be able to appeal to a school, you must first be "rejected" by that school, having applied for a place, and THEN (for a selective school) provide evidence of academic ability (plus any extenuating circumstances) and still you may not get offered a place.
The first part - "you must first be rejected by that school, having applied for a place", requires you to have listed them on your CAF by the deadline set by the county in which you live (usually end October) and then get "rejected" by them on National Offer Day in March (as your child has not met the academic standard) at which point you can appeal....
I ignored her and put the GS DS wanted to go to first on the CAF. The Council allocation email informed us he could not have a place because "he had not reached qualifying score" and only the 96 who had qualified had been offered places. We asked for reconsideration - this was turned down because "he hadn't qualified", but his choice of GS offered him a place anyway, without appeal. I am so glad I did not heed the advice given, as I am sure putting it on CAF helped him get a place. Knowing GS was undersubscribed also gave us hope and inspired us to start our appeal process.
It is too late now for 2016 entrance as CAFs have been submitted, but it is advice to keep in mind for future CAF submissions.
Re: Appeal Question
I advised friends to put a Grammar school at the top of their list a couple of years back as DC was only one mark off pass. The school had a track record of offering places to DC who have only just missed out and DC was offered a place after second round allocations had been done without having to appeal. I suspect we are talking about the same school Cazien.
I definitely think there is some confusion in this area that needs to be made clear to parents when filling in their CAFs. Parents need to know to put Grammars down despite not getting the required mark if they intend to appeal. I also think the very short time that is given between getting the result and filling in the CAF form doesn't allow people to come to terms with a surprisingly low score and make an informed decision re the CAF. One of the problems with the CEM test is the length of time they take to get the results back to parents. GL had got it down to one week in Gloucestershire, that would have given a whole month to visit schools and have a rethink.
I definitely think there is some confusion in this area that needs to be made clear to parents when filling in their CAFs. Parents need to know to put Grammars down despite not getting the required mark if they intend to appeal. I also think the very short time that is given between getting the result and filling in the CAF form doesn't allow people to come to terms with a surprisingly low score and make an informed decision re the CAF. One of the problems with the CEM test is the length of time they take to get the results back to parents. GL had got it down to one week in Gloucestershire, that would have given a whole month to visit schools and have a rethink.