What happens if...(question about Bucks admissions)

Eleven Plus (11+) in Buckinghamshire (Bucks)

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Marylou
Posts: 2164
Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2006 2:21 am

What happens if...(question about Bucks admissions)

Post by Marylou »

Here's a conundrum for the Bucks experts. Something Etienne said a while ago set me thinking but unfortunately I can't find the original message.

Supposing a child passes the 11+ but, being OOC, fails to secure their first choice of grammar because of distance. The transfer appeal fails but they choose to stay on the waiting list.

The 11+ qualification lapses after one year - so what happens then? As I understand it there is no provision for a child to resit it in order to remain on the waiting list so presumably they would have to wait until the following April for the 12+. If a Y7 place were then to come up in the meantime during the year, they would be out of the running as there appears to be no mechanism for enabling them to stay on the waiting list.

Etienne suggested that a way around this would be to make a late application to a different grammar school that did have spare places, in which case the qualification would not lapse a year after the test was taken. The question is this - could the child then stay on the waiting list for their first choice of school and have a better chance of transferring during the year for any places that might become vacant in that time, and could not be filled from within catchment? As opposed to not being on any waiting list at all if they start their secondary education outside Bucks, since there appears to be no provision for this?

I know it's a complicated one - so any ideas you may have would be very much appreciated!
Marylou
Marylou
Posts: 2164
Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2006 2:21 am

Post by Marylou »

Finally found it!

Here's the original thread:

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... ght=#61882

The answer is that the child would stay on the waiting list if at a different grammar school in Bucks.

It does raise an interesting question, however - there seems to be a "grey area" in which anyone wishing to apply after their qualification lapses is effectively excluded. Apparently you need to have "exceptional reasons" for wanting to be tested outside the normal round - so, presumably, simply wanting to stay on the waiting list for your preferred school isn't enough. Wouldn't it be fairer to make the qualification valid until the following April, which would be the earliest opportunity to sit the 12+?
Marylou
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