To appeal or not?

[as2]

Hello, been following this forum for a few weeks now, since getting the Bexley results through but this is my first posting.

DS missed qualifying for Bexley by the smallest of margins and we are now faced with the difficult decision of whether or not to appeal. The Head Teacher has put in a "headteacher appeal" with supporting documents but I can see from a post under the appeals section that these never seem to be successful.

Chis + Sid would be our first choice followed by BGS then Beths - we live in catchment for all 3 schools.

The reason I've posted here and not under appeals is because I'm trying to get opinions from those who did and didn't appeal.

I've spent a lot of time going through the appeals section and it seems that Bexley appeals are virtually impossible to win. It is for this reason that we can't decide what to do. Part of us wants to appeal so that we then know we did everything we could for our son, but the other part of us feels that, given the odds are so highly stacked against us, and we've submitted the CAF (we listed all the Bexley grammars ahead of any comp) that perhaps we should leave it there and what will be will be and try and get some sort of closure on it all.

Is there any one on this forum that appealed to Bexley and were successful and if so, any tips on the best way forward?

Additionally, are there any parents who didn't appeal and feel that that was the right decision looking back? Or the wrong one?

Any advice gratefully received, as we seem to be going round in circles.

[Juneboy]

How many marks was your child short by? We didn't appeal as our headteacher said they are never successful but all depends on circumstances I guess.

[as2]

he missed by 1 mark. To be honest, there aren't any particular circumstances, we just feel he should have passed as does his school, but I'm aware that there must be many children in exactly the same position saying exactly the same thing.

Did your head teacher tell you that it's was more or less pointless in appealing? It is the message seem to be getting from various people which is why we're not sure we want to go through this. But we don't want to not do it and then regret it.

He did pass Kent but we live too far away for Wilmington and the score wasn't high enough for Dartford, so Bexley is really our only option.

[streathammum]

I can't really advise on the odds of you winning any appeal you lodge. However, I would say that your child can have closure now even if you do decide to appeal - your child doesn't need to know you're doing it and so doesn't need to go through a second set of disappointments if you're unsuccessful. We're the adults and we ought to be able to handle the stress and uncertainty of an appeal, even if the children can't.

So what I'm saying, really, is that you can do this without any impact on your child and so, in a lot of ways, you don't really have anything to lose.

[hybiscus]

The Bexley appeal would be (has been) near to impossible I believe, as there are only 800 places and the selective list goes until ~1800. So most likely even children who are into the 1800 wont get a seat.

[Fingerscrossedmum]

Although there is a thread on here that says last year Chis and Sid accepted 5 local children with scores just below the pass mark. If your child only failed by 1 point, maybe they’ll get in anyway?

[Novice mum]

Hi as2,
We are in a similar situation as you ... My son scored 213 in the Bexley test . Our head teacher has lodged a review ,so fingers crossed on this .
There are 72 or 73 boys on the same score as our 2 ... Bexley provided this info on request.
Last yr 5 kids got in on reserve list , which is a rarity so it's not anticipated it would happen again.
So if the review isn't successful your only option would be an appeal , again these don't seem to have a high sucess rate .
Sorry to be all doom and gloom ... But in my opinion go to appeal you have nothing to loose.
Do you have some good non grammar options near you ?
Good luck with it all in my nieviety I thought getting my son prepared for his 11 plus was the difficult bit ......
All the best ,
Novice mum

[1971]

In Sept the heads of Beths and Townley came to our school, and I asked about the no of kids they took that year under the pass mark. Beths said they took 1 boy under the pass mark, so if you put all 3 Bexley schools on there, you might want to contact Beths after allocation day, to ask if they have a reserve list for children under the pass mark, that you can go on.

My daughter was 2 under. she knew about the reserve list option, as she asked me on the day of the test, what happened if she didn't pass. I have not told her about the head teachers review, and don't intend to tell our about appealing to Townley, which our head has recommended, so as not to build up her hopes too much.