Prior to offer day on 1st March, 2013, the admissions website stated: "If you reside outside the relevant priority circle for the school you are applying for and your child achieves the qualifying score in the selection test, they will not be offered in the first round of offers and may be placed onto the waiting list (depending on their score)."

This was repeated in 2014 when the results letters stated the same and LSS made offers to boys outside the priority area down to a score of 213. Rugby High School also offered girls places on 3rd March, 2014 who lived outside the priority area. This was repeated in 2015 and 2016.

Admissions staff also provided the same advice prior to the deadline for applications.

This information was clearly not true for the 2013-2016 cohort, as offers outside the priority circle were made at LSS and RHS during the first round under category 5, as the school's admission policies permitted. This has been acknowledged as an error, by Admissions, and has now been removed from the Admissions' website. At LSS alone, 17 offers were made to boys outside the priority areas; with most parents surprised they received first round offers.

What is notable is that out-of-area children would not receive Warwickshire admissions booklets and would reply upon the admissions' website, and expect the information to be accurate. They would be unlikely to specifically inspect a school's actual policy.

This incorrect statement and incorrect advice given by admissions may have influenced parents to move inside the priority area (which is permitted within the rules) in order to gain a place, when this would not have been required.  29 families moved.

Retrospectively changing rules and failing to abide by own advice during 2013 admissions.

During December, 2012, an 11+ admissions officer stated in an email..."If you already own the property and will rent it out for 6 months from January, then we would require a copy of the 30 day eviction notice you give to your tenants when that is sent to them in May/June. We may then ask for further evidence to show that the family are living in the property during July/August, when the bills will no longer be in the tenants name, but the home owners. If evidence cannot be provided because the family are not residing in the property by the beginning of September, then consideration will be given by the Local Authority and the school where a place has been offered based on the evidence provided previously of the new address, and the place may be withdrawn. This would only happen though if a place would not have originally been offered based on the child's old address (or the one from which they never moved)."

"As long as your evidence shows that you will be residing in the property 'after the start of the Autumn term' (September 2013) then that would satisfy us as a Local Authority. There is no further limitation on how long you have to live at the address once the child has started at the school."

In essence the advice was one need not move if they would have been offered a place in round 1 from an existing address. If they would not have been offered a place, they only had to live at the new address for 1 day (first day of term).

When put to the Council, they stated it was the Governors at Lawrence Sheriff School who would decide. They failed to provide any form of response for over 4-months, with implicit threats of withdrawing a place and claiming a child is not on a list when failing to send out year 7 information packs and denied the opportunity to attend induction day. After 4.5 months, 2-days before term ended they withdrew the place unlawfully. Two days later the school reassessed the application and again unlawfully denied a place and failed to offer an appeal. The advice from WCC was that the place should not have been withdrawn. The Governors ignored this.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT OMBUDSMAN FINDS FAULT IN LAWRENCE SHERIFF SCHOOL. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE REPORT.

PAN  (PAN = The published admission number).

2024 Entry on March 1st 2024

2023 Entry on March 1st 2023

2022 Entry on March 1st 2022

2021 Entry on March 1st 2021

2019 Entry on March 1st 2019

Almost 20% of candidates were tested late in 2017 (obtained under the FOIA):

  9th Sep 17: 1979     81 % (main testing date),
10th Sep 17:   229       9 % (1 day late)
13th Sep 17:     99       4 % (4 day late)
20th Sep 17:   139       6 % (11 days late)
            Total: 2446
 

2017 Entry on March 1st 2017

2016 Entry on March 1st 2016

2015 Entry on March 2nd 2015

• Mean score for the main testing date the Sep 2014 was 198 of 1803 candidates.
• Mean score for the second testing date was 214 (8% higher with 76 offers) from 278 candidates, who may have known content.
• Mean score for testing on 21st Oct 2014 was 188 with 5 offers from 44 indicating high scores for 5 candidates, who may have known content.
• Mean score for testing on 20th March 2015 was 187 with 1 offer from 3 indicating a very score of over 240 if a girl or 250 if a boy may have known content.

3 offers made in error at Stratford Girls Grammar and Rugby High. Mean scores for those tested on 7th Sep 2014 was 199 and mean on 14th Sept 2014 was 217.
8 offers were made to out of area children at LSS on national offer day down to 213.

Note for 2013 entry Verbal Reasoning comprised of 50% of marks with Numeric Reasoning and NVR 50%. This change occurred after the tests as was without notice.
In previous years each subject comprised of 1/3 of the standardised scores.
 

* Score for Area 1

Test

The test isset by CEM Centre for Evaluation & Monitoring, Cambridge University.

The test covers Verbal Reasoning (Comprehension, synonyms, antonyms and cloze passages); Numeracy, and Non-Verbal Reasoning with two 50-minute papers set on the same day with the same test as the Birmingham Consortium.

Please note, that some parents "play the system" and children deliberately sit the tests as late as possible, so they can find out what was on the paper or what was not on the papers, by asking other children who sat the test. They then practise maths and NVR question types that they know were on the paper and are aware of the vocabulary. Of course, there is nothing unlawful about "playing the system". The only issue is the morality. Some argue it is Warwickshire Education Authority's fault by reusing the same test repeatedly.

WCC refuse to provide the cost of 11+ testing and have no evidence the test is resistant to preparation.


What happens in Warwickshire on 11+ Testing day?

On the test day parents can take children in to the examination room. On their desk is their 11+ application form with photograph.

Children from the same school tend to sit next to other (in columns), in alphabetical order.

When children are settled parents are asked to leave and when the test is over the children are collected outside of the examination hall.

2012 Applicants for 2013 Entry
 

Results

Parents are provided with comprehensive results for their children. They are informed if they inside the Southern Priority Area and the Eastern Priority Area (both Area 1 and 2).

Scores are broken down in to three categories: Verbal Reasoning; Numeracy; Non-Verbal Reasoning and provided with a standardised score in each subject out of a total of 483 (in 2012). Each subject is given an equal weighting.

Children are provided with their actual ranking in their region. Eg: Ranked 50 out of 527 boys and 90 out of 1029.

They are also ranked out of all boys in the all areas Eg 70 out of 935 and ranked out of all children Eg 120 out of 1817.

This is followed by a list of schools with their PAN and past qualifying scores covering the previous 3 years.

This makes it relatively easy to determine if the child is guaranteed a place when completing the application forms for schools.

Comments:

Ashlawn School is one of the five bilateral schools in the country that has a selective grammar stream as well as non-selective places. Historically, although the PAN for the selective places was 30, it has been effectively 60 because children who score high Sats results entered an effective grammar stream (a back door entry). The official 34 places are gained via the 11+ and for the first time up to 22 via a Modern Language Aptitude test. Unofficially, more places are available via good Sats results. Entering the grammar stream in year 7 does not guarantee a grammar education as children can be moved out of the grammar stream, if they struggle.

King Edward VI School (KES) takes additional boys above their PAN via appeals.

In recent years the Lawrence Sheriff School (LSS) waiting list moved as follows: 2013 (19-reoffers), 2012 (5 re-offers, down to a score of 358), 2011 (4 re-offers down to a score of 334) and 2010 (9 re-offers, down to a score of 344) It traditionally had a pan of 94 but took up to 120 children, the additional on appeal. Because the Rugby High School (girls) increased their PAN from 94 to 120, LSS increased their PAN to 120, effectively closing appeals, as the school is at full capacity (4 classes of 30 children). This could have a severe impact on siblings who are out of area, as they need to score highly to get any chance of a place from the waiting list, where in previous years they could win a place on appeal (up to 26 additional places were available). However, 2013 was unique in that offers were made to out of area children in round 1 and with 13 re-offers there was no great difference in chances of out of area children gaining a place.

KES takes boys with higher qualifying scores than LSS and arguably more intelligent boys. A child offered the 15th place at LSS, would only be around the 50th highest score at KES. It is interesting that boys at KES learn Latin in year 7, as most grammar schools do, but not LSS. In addition LSS only offer French and German as GCSE languages, one of the smallest number of options in any secondary school.

Stratford Girls Grammar School has increased its PAN from 75 to 120. A huge increase, whilst KES has increased its PAN from 75 to just 81. Ashlawn and Alcester are the only co-educational grammar schools in the area. In the Southern area there are likely to be more boys at Alcester Grammar School than girls for 2013 entry as the places available for girls is far greater than for boys at the single gender schools.

Past papers are not released, but sample questions are available. Past content is available on many sites under the radar. If you know where to look you will find it.