11+ eligibility- by date of birth or Year group?

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sonu17
Posts: 54
Joined: Tue Sep 16, 2014 4:03 pm

11+ eligibility- by date of birth or Year group?

Post by sonu17 »

A friend of mine is intending to relocate to London from India this summer. His son is April/2006 born and is currently in Year4. Academic year in India starts in April, so he will be starting Year 5 next month in India.

If we go by his date-of-birth, the child would be eligible to sit for 11+ exams this September (but he won't actually be in Year6 by then).

If anyone else has gone through similar experience in the past, can they shed some light on when he would be eligible to sit for 11+ exam, in Sep/16 or Sep/17?

Many thanks!
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: 11+ eligibility- by date of birth or Year group?

Post by Guest55 »

Which 11+ tests? In Bucks it is standardised by date of birth not Year group.
sonu17
Posts: 54
Joined: Tue Sep 16, 2014 4:03 pm

Re: 11+ eligibility- by date of birth or Year group?

Post by sonu17 »

Thanks, Guest55. That's what I have seen on most council websites but will they allow a child who meets the age/dob criteria but is in Year5 to sit the exam?
Region-wise my friend is flexible (in Greater London area), he might end up choosing whichever council lets his child complete Year 5 and then sit for 11+ in Sep/17. Is that feasible if anyone knows?
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: 11+ eligibility- by date of birth or Year group?

Post by Guest55 »

In some areas over-age candidates can sit but he would need permission to join the 'wrong' year group when they move. The standardising would penalise his age.
Stroller
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Joined: Thu May 17, 2012 9:39 am

Re: 11+ eligibility- by date of birth or Year group?

Post by Stroller »

This particular family may know all this already, but it's not obvious to everyone overseas, so I'll jot down how the system works. For school entry, England looks at a child's date of birth and expects the child to join the year group that has other kids with the exact same date of birth. As far as I can see, there's no discretion and they don't care how much or how little you've done elsewhere, you're just forced into the appropriate year group to keep the chronology tidy.

For example, I have a daughter in year 7 (the first year of secondary school here). Every child in her class had turned 11 before 1st September of year 7 and will turn 12 on or between 01/09 and 31/08 before they move into year 8.

A child born in April 2006 who already goes to school in the UK will begin secondary school (year 7) in September 2017. Therefore they will sit the 11+ in September 2016 (give or take - some schools are a bit sooner, others slightly later). That would be the beginning of year 6 here, therefore they are in year 5 at the moment. Some applications have to be submitted late in year 5, so the family needs to focus on this now.
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PettswoodFiona
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Location: Petts Wood, Bromley, Kent

Re: 11+ eligibility- by date of birth or Year group?

Post by PettswoodFiona »

In UK grammars it is mostly by birth date but for early admittance the child had to have been in Y6. I know some grammars which admit out of usual date of birth and take year group into account but they all do it the other way, I.e the child is in the school year above. In my area for example you need to register for the tests in May and June ready to sit the tests in September.
loobylou
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Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2014 5:04 pm

Re: 11+ eligibility- by date of birth or Year group?

Post by loobylou »

I think that your friend's child will be expected to join year 6 this September regardless of which year he was previously in. So I think he will be expected to do the 11+ this September along with his (new) peer group. However do make sure they know about entering the child earlier than that. Many schools close entries in June and some are even earlier.
sonu17
Posts: 54
Joined: Tue Sep 16, 2014 4:03 pm

Re: 11+ eligibility- by date of birth or Year group?

Post by sonu17 »

Thanks Guest55, Stroller, PettswoodFiona and loobylou for your thoughts.
Mandy21
Posts: 302
Joined: Tue Jul 16, 2013 12:27 pm

Re: 11+ eligibility- by date of birth or Year group?

Post by Mandy21 »

If you google the School Admissions Code, there is a section about what schools are obliged to do regarding children entering a cohort which is not their age-related cohort (2.17).

I've just checked the admissions policy for our local grammar school and it does say it is possible, but will be considered on a case by case basis. I would get your friend to contact various schools to check what their policies are and to get the timescales for registration.
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