KING EDWARD VI GRAMMAR SCHOOL
ADMISSIONS POLICY
1. The selection test and eligibility for entry to Year 7
a) There will be one selection test for the eight Essex Grammar Schools and for the two Southend Roman Catholic Bilateral Schools and two Southend comprehensive schools who have some selective streams of entry. This will save children whose parents express a preference for more than one selective school taking multiple tests.
b) The number intended to admit to King Edward VI Grammar School is 112.
c) Application forms can be obtained from the Essex Local Education Authority. Additional administrative forms (Supplementary Information Forms) will be supplied by the CSSE.
d) Only boys who have been entered for the test, are of the appropriate age and who attain the required standard in the prescribed arrangements for selection by reference to ability and aptitude will be eligible to be considered for admission to King Edward VI Grammar School in the September of Year 7. The test is available to pupils in Essex and from outside the County. All will be given equal consideration. Typically, over 1000 boys outside the Southend area take the final selection tests for both Colchester Royal and King Edward VI Grammar Schools. Of these, a substantial amount of boys place KEGS as their preferred choice.
e) The test is normally available to boys aged at least eleven years and under twelve years on August 31st following the taking of the test. Exceptionally boys under the age of eleven will be allowed to take the test at the discretion of the Deputy Headteacher on behalf of the Governing Body under direction of the Headteacher.
f) The selection process for the standard number of 112 is by three tests in Verbal Reasoning (50% of the total mark) set by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), with English (25%) and Mathematics (25%) The tests will be marked by staff employed by the school and a mark aggregated for each applicant.
g) Applicants whose move to the area could not be foreseen in time to meet application deadlines, will be permitted to take a test. If this can be completed and processed before the publication of results then the applicant will be placed in rank order with the rest. If offers of places have already been made, but the applicant’s result would have earned him a place at King Edward VI Grammar School, then the result will be forwarded to the Local Education Authority for them to place the applicant on the waiting list. Parents will be advised of their statutory right of appeal to an independent Appeals Panel against the decision not to admit the applicant.
h) Applicants who are ill, or through other special circumstances are unable to take the test on the main date, will be allowed to sit a test on another stated day at a stated venue, subject, in the case of illness to the provision of a medical certificate, and, in any other circumstances to a written explanation of the circumstances.
i) This process is subject to regular review.
2. Venue of the tests for Year 7 entry
a) Tests will be taken at a selective school or other designated centre. Normally applicants for King Edward VI Grammar School will take the test at the school or other local site which the school may use.
b) In the interests of fairness no applicant will take the test at his own school except as described in (c) below where no alternative is available.
c) Applicants intending to move to Essex for the start of their child’s Year 7 education, but who currently live abroad or in areas of the country which make it impractical to attend a local test centre, will take the tests on the main test date at a place to be decided in consultation with the applicant’s parents.
3. Date of the tests for Year 7 entry
The tests for the September entry will normally be taken on a Saturday in the second half of the Autumn term except for variations described above.
4. Over-subscription for entry in Year 7
a) Where applications for admission exceed the number of places available in Year 7 places will be awarded in rank order to the top 112 boys in the selection test who made this school one of their preferences, unless they have already been offered a place at a school for which they expressed a higher preference
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b) Where selected pupils drop out between the time of publication of the test results and the start of the following academic year places will be offered to the next pupil(s) in rank order who expressed a preference for this school, unless they have already been offered a place at a school for which they expressed a higher preference.
c) Where there are a number of pupils with equal scores competing for the last available place, due to applicants achieving identical aggregate test scores, preference will first of all be given to “looked after” children, and then to siblings. Should there be no siblings, or should there be more applicants with siblings at the school than there are places available, the preference will be given to the pupil(s) who live closest to the school by straight-line measurement.
Please refer to Essex County Council’s booklet, “Secondary Education in Essex” for definitions of “looked after children” and siblings.
d) A waiting list of the remaining pupils who took the selection test, will be held for one year following admission to Year 7.
5. Policy on numbers and over subscription for casual entries in Year 7-11
a) Applicants will be defined as migrants or non-migrants.
b) In broad terms those moving into the County are migrants. Those seeking a transfer to the school from another school within the County are non-migrants. However parents resident in the County whose children at independent school, in or out of the County, are forced to leave for reasons of reduced income will be treated as migrants. Parents of children already at school in the County, but on the geographical fringes, who are moving house to the Chelmsford area for employment reasons, will also be treated as migrants provided that their former school is a greater straight line distance from their home than is this school. This recognises the large size of the County and the special circumstances of the move.
c) If there are spaces in the relevant year group, applicants will be given this school’s own internal tests. The tests will not aim to replicate the 11+ but will seek to establish whether the applicant can sustain the pace of the school’s classroom education and fit within the parameters of achievement of the relevant year group. A short-list of applicants whose tests show them to be suitable will be established. All short-listed applicants will be rank-ordered and places awarded in that order. Successful applicants may start immediately if there is room in the year group or at the beginning of the next academic year if there is no vacancy until then, if that is the parents’ choice.
d) If there is a tie for the last available place priority will be given to migrants.
e) If the tie is between non-migrants, then preference will be given to an applicant who has a sibling currently at the school. If this does not resolve the matter, the distance from home (as at the intended time of entry) to school by straight line measurement will be used: preference being given to the nearer candidate.
6. Sixth Form Admissions Policy
a) External applicants for Sixth Form places comprise both males and females without bias.
b) All applicants will be asked to specify their intended subject choices, upon which the school will determine the projected number of teaching groups for each subject. Interviewing applicants or their families for entry to Year 12 will not take place, although meetings can be held to provide advice on options and entry requirements for particular courses.
c) Admission by any applicant to the Sixth Form is based on GCSE grades attained in full courses. The equivalency of other qualifications obtained will be taken into consideration.
d) The minimum number of external applicants likely to be admitted is 48. The upper limit of Year 12 external applicants will be based, not on total Year 12 numbers projected for the following academic year, but on the projected size of the teaching groups. Taking into account choices for A Level study, applications will be refused where the school considers the size of teaching sets to be detrimental to the education of the group and where it is not financially or educationally desirable for the Governors to alter the balance of the school’s staffing or to appoint additional staff.
e) The current requirements for admission into Year 12 are:
i) an average GCSE points score of 6.5 across a minimum of eight subjects (A* = 8 points, A = 7 points, B = 6 points, etc.)
ii) grade B’s or higher must be achieved in GCSE Mathematics and English (whether or not these subjects are being followed to A Level)
iii) a suitably high GCSE grade, usually A or better, in each chosen subject of study
iv) available places in the teaching sets for each subject.
f) In cases of over subscription, places will be offered first to all internal applicants then to external applicants. Each individual applicant must meet the same admission criteria, and places will be offered in descending rank order of their average GCSE points score across eight subjects. In the case of a tie, the results in GCSEs beyond the eighth subject will be taken into account.(The school will also strive to maximize the viability of each pre-published A Level course running).
7. Appeals
a) Parents whose children do not gain admission will be advised of their statutory rights of appeal.
b) Parents wishing to appeal against the refusal of a place should contact the County Council’s Statutory Appeals Panel. Parents must communicate their wish to appeal to the Clerk to the Independent Appeal Panel, P O Box 11, Chelmsford, Essex. CM1 1LX. The Clerk will then inform parents of the appeals procedure and dates for the appeal hearing.
d) Appeals for entrance to Year 7 in September are normally held in May. Typically less than ten appeals are heard, with on occasions one or more being upheld by the Independent Appeals Panel.
8. Parents’ visits and information to parents
a) A number of open tours of the school are arranged for parents who wish to visit prior to making their choices for year seven entrants in September. These dates and times will be published in the local press. Appointments may be made via the school office, who will be able to specify available dates and times.
b) Opportunities to visit the school will also be provided for late 11+ entrants awarded a place after the initial meeting. Prospective pupils also spend a day in the school in July with the permission of their primary schools and an introductory meeting is held for parents of successful 11+ entrants with their sons. Prior to the selection procedure parents may wish to see the school in action. Requests to see round the school should be made individually by telephone or in writing to the Headteacher, who will seek to accommodate as many as possible.
