Good luck - 11 transfer Northern Ireland

cpsmum

HI
My son is unplaced following AQE score of 97 specials access which granted extra time and applied for Special Circumstances

Schools accepted SC valid but did not upgrade my son!

His current options are seconday school in Belfast
He is on waiting list for his 2 prefrences so we have a long nervous wait
Have rang most grammar schools in belfast no places available

I have just received the appeal forms from BELB- they are numbered 25 and 26 so there are other dissatisfied parents and children

Any advice regarding the appeals process welcome
Thanks
cp'smum

facingthefuture

I am surprised your son wasn't placed with special circumstances, my son got 240 (A) but there were children with B's and special circumstances that were placed ahead of him at his first choice school and he didn't get in. Still his second choice may well prove to be more desirable.

I think a lot of people have started using SC for lets just say any old reason making it harder for those with genuine conditions/problems and other pupils to get fair treatment. (I am sure you are not one of them!)

Hopefully the appeals process will work for you and get your child into a school which he flourishes, even though it isn't his first preference.

icelandic_queen

I know the teachers are paid well but they have been so good to my kids, especially the ones teaching the GCSE's with extra booster classes. I think it's nice to be nice and show a little appreciateion!!

flymetothemoon_2

Hello all - I have only recently discovered this very interesting forum & have found it almost theraputic to know that so many other parents have been as stressed as I have over the whole transfer process this year! I notice that some of you have quoted higher cut off marks for schools than last year and that has certainly been my experience. My child scored 96 in the AQE and was turned down by 1st and 2nd choice schools which last year had cut off marks of 94 (Belfast High) & 95 (B.R.A.) - their cut off marks this year were 99 (Belfast High) and 97 (B.R.A.) - we were surprised and disappointed! Thankfully, we did end up with 3rd choice but their lowest score also rose by 5 points this year. Meanwhile my friend's child who scored 95 did not secure a place in Antrim Grammar (where the cut off was 92 last year but 97 this year). Another friend with a score of 90 got her last choice which was Victoria College and even their lowest score has risen this year to 89 (it was 88 last year). I am really confused as to how so many schools have higher cut off marks this year when 206 less children actually sat the AQE (according to the Belfast Telegraph). I had been guided by the scores printed in the Bel Tel's very helpful article last year but am now wondering did they include special cases for some schools and not for others! I too, applaud Strathearn, for posting the outcome of this year's process on their website so promptly. All other grammars should do the same. Good luck to all.

Flower-power22

Got a letter today from NEELB! My DD has got a place at another school!!! Soo relieved that she won't have to go to Ballee after all phew.
Can't wait now to go and get her uniform

beccasmum

My DD went through the unregulated system last year and we too didn't understand the whole workings of it but with a DS going throgh it in November I now feel I have got a better grasp of how it works. The cut off points will always shift a bit because each area will always have different proportions of the highest marks ie if Belfast has a large percentage of chidren in the top 2 quintiles then the cut off points will go up and this seems to have happened this year. This also happened in the old sytem with schools taking in only A's one year then accepting B's the next. We have to realise that each year group is only competing against their own peers and what previous years scored , although a useful guide , can never be 100% accurate. I hope this makes sense as I know I came through a very anxious time last year and I wish all the kids this year the very best in their new schools and if they are anything like my DD they will have a ball!!

RikM

flymetothemoon wrote: »

I am really confused as to how so many schools have higher cut off marks this year when 206 less children actually sat the AQE (according to the Belfast Telegraph).

I've been thinking about this, and I suspect it's because we're still going through a period of transition. Last year a lot of people looked at their child's score and just did not bother applying where they thought they would not get in. As a result, some kids lost out, because they would have got in with the scores they had. And it drove the cutoff scores down, in many cases.

This year people looked at last year's cutoffs, and decided they had a chance, which pushed the cutoff scores up!

It's not universal, though. My son's new school had a cutoff of 104 last year, which I think scared people off this year. I've already heard of one score of 100 getting in without SC (so far as I know). It will be interesting to hear what the cutoff is, when that information is released.

Pmum

I still think we are not able to compare the "cut off" scores we have seen this year with those published in the Tele.

Surely the figures in the paper included children who were admitted with low scores but allowed places because of Special Circumstances whereas we are all probably only hearing about children admitted this year without special circumstances?

I agree there will have been some local variations and some schools will have seen a rebound because of the scores they admitted last year but I still don't think we have seen the full picture of this years admissions.

RikM

Also don't forget; many schools changed their criteria this year. I know our local grammar left some places open for "other criteria" i.e. not selected by score, last year. But they said this year's admissions would be entirely by score (apart from appeals due to SC).

flymetothemoon_2

Many schools are apparently being very open about their cut-off points if you ring and ask. I rang the 2 schools that my child did not get into and they told me the cut off marks straight away - thye didn't even ask my name. I know many other parents who have done the same. Perhaps the schools are trying to avoid the 'exposure' caused by the Belfast Telegraph last year! That said, I hope the Tele does the same again this year to help all those going through this process as it is still very new to those going through it for the 1st time. I even asked one of the schools how many special cases had been admitted for Sept 2011 below the cut off mark for all other kids and they told me there were 2 and told me those 2 kids scores - very transparent of them - I had not expected them to answer this. So if anyone else wants to know cut off marks or how many SC were admitted below the cut off mark, go ahead and ask - they really should answer this.