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This is a new page and entries will be added as time permits. If you want information on a particular school or comment on any entry below, let me know and if relevant, I will include it on this page. There is considerable information on some schools on other relevant pages.
City Academies: Go to Link page.
Archbishop's School: This is a very good school, but has a totally bizarre admission scheme that breaks the rules in both the old and the new Government Codes of Practice for School Admissions. It is impossible to determine any order of priority for the 85% of children admitted on religious grounds. Each year some very odd decisions are taken, children from parishes where there is no current vicar, appearing to be particularly hard done by. The other 15% of children are admitted on academic grounds, taking a verbal reasoning and a non verbal reasoning test, the scores being added together to determine the top performers. Year on year I have had successful appeals, the most famous year being 2005, when there were 24 successful appeals, and the school was brought to account by the Appeal Panel for its secretive way of allocating places.
Dartford Grammar School: The school is currently consulting on new Admission criteria for entry from September 2009. Under the current oversubscription rules, priorities are for children with brothers or sisters at one of the Dartford Grammar Schools, for those living in Dartford and for those in other parts of North West Kent. The proposed new rules sweep most of this away and give priority to children who have passed the Kent test (a) in local authority care (required by law) (b) from Dartford (c) with the highest scores regardless of locality. This means that local children from NW Kent will lose out to London children with higher scores.
Dover Grammar School for Boys & Dover Grammar School for Girls: These two schools have negotiated a unique agreement in Kent. Access through both is either through the Kent Test or a separate Dover Test and children can take both tests. The Dover test comprises VR, NVER, maths and English and pass is by an aggregate score. There is relevant information in Appendix Five of Proposed Arrangements. The Dover Test is not recognised by KCC as valid for entrance to any other grammar school and a pass has not generally been considered a valid case by Independent Appeal Panels for other grammar schools.
Leigh Technology Academy: Until this year, Leigh was a City Technology College. CTCs are independent state funded institutions, not subject to the rules of state schools. They operated admissions schemes completely separately from Local Authorities. Leigh has now taken on Academy status, one result being that its admissions procedures are now consistent with KCC and applications are through the Common Application Form. The school is always oversubscribed. Siblings take priority, then the school admits pupils across the ability range only from its catchment area, split into inner and outer areas, in the proportions 70/30. All applicants are tested for ability, then divided into five ability bands. Pupils are selected randomly from each band in the required proportions.
Currently vacancies are made up from the waiting list. Last year there were no successful appeals, for it is difficult to make a case against random selection.
Maidstone Grammar School, has nowpublished revised admission criteria for entry in September 2009. Whilst watered down on the original controversial proposals, they are now the most complicated grammar school criteria I can recall and will still cut out local boys. Details are here. Whilst this may be good for the school's academic results, it is still bad news for some local boys who will pass the test but with lower scores, and for Oakwood Park Grammar who will lose some of their ablest boys. The scheme will suck boys into MGS from other towns, and with both schools full last year, some local boys of grammar school standard may find themselves without a place in Maidstone. West Kent parents already know of the difficulties because of their own super-selectives! This is partly driven by last year's oversubscription, the first time for many years. The school states that with Foundation status "The School will be responsible for its own appeals", which appears to challenge the concept of independence for Appeal Panels.
Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School (the Math, the Maths School): The Math, found outstanding in its recent OFSTED Report, has been regularly oversubscribed for the past five years. In that time, all boys who have passed and been initially turned down because of oversubscription, have eventually been offered places where parents have persisted. Medway Council has vigorously opposed appeals on grounds of oversubscription, to the extent that I have taken them to the Ombudsman complaining about maladminstration on two occasions, have been awarded fresh appeals for parents, and have then secured places at the school. This process has on occasion been very protracted. For 2008 entry, the Planned Admisison number has been raised from 155 boys to 168 so, with falling rolls in Medway, there is less likely to be an issue on this basis, I have supported the overwhelming majority of parents appealing each year because of oversubscription. Those being turned down have mainly been from the further parts of the Hoo Peninsula, the Rainham area of Medway or beyond, and occasionally from areas such as Stockbury & Meopham in Kent.
City Academies: Go to Link page.
Archbishop's School: This is a very good school, but has a totally bizarre admission scheme that breaks the rules in both the old and the new Government Codes of Practice for School Admissions. It is impossible to determine any order of priority for the 85% of children admitted on religious grounds. Each year some very odd decisions are taken, children from parishes where there is no current vicar, appearing to be particularly hard done by. The other 15% of children are admitted on academic grounds, taking a verbal reasoning and a non verbal reasoning test, the scores being added together to determine the top performers. Year on year I have had successful appeals, the most famous year being 2005, when there were 24 successful appeals, and the school was brought to account by the Appeal Panel for its secretive way of allocating places.
Dartford Grammar School: The school is currently consulting on new Admission criteria for entry from September 2009. Under the current oversubscription rules, priorities are for children with brothers or sisters at one of the Dartford Grammar Schools, for those living in Dartford and for those in other parts of North West Kent. The proposed new rules sweep most of this away and give priority to children who have passed the Kent test (a) in local authority care (required by law) (b) from Dartford (c) with the highest scores regardless of locality. This means that local children from NW Kent will lose out to London children with higher scores.
Dover Grammar School for Boys & Dover Grammar School for Girls: These two schools have negotiated a unique agreement in Kent. Access through both is either through the Kent Test or a separate Dover Test and children can take both tests. The Dover test comprises VR, NVER, maths and English and pass is by an aggregate score. There is relevant information in Appendix Five of Proposed Arrangements. The Dover Test is not recognised by KCC as valid for entrance to any other grammar school and a pass has not generally been considered a valid case by Independent Appeal Panels for other grammar schools.
Leigh Technology Academy: Until this year, Leigh was a City Technology College. CTCs are independent state funded institutions, not subject to the rules of state schools. They operated admissions schemes completely separately from Local Authorities. Leigh has now taken on Academy status, one result being that its admissions procedures are now consistent with KCC and applications are through the Common Application Form. The school is always oversubscribed. Siblings take priority, then the school admits pupils across the ability range only from its catchment area, split into inner and outer areas, in the proportions 70/30. All applicants are tested for ability, then divided into five ability bands. Pupils are selected randomly from each band in the required proportions.
Currently vacancies are made up from the waiting list. Last year there were no successful appeals, for it is difficult to make a case against random selection.
Maidstone Grammar School, has nowpublished revised admission criteria for entry in September 2009. Whilst watered down on the original controversial proposals, they are now the most complicated grammar school criteria I can recall and will still cut out local boys. Details are here. Whilst this may be good for the school's academic results, it is still bad news for some local boys who will pass the test but with lower scores, and for Oakwood Park Grammar who will lose some of their ablest boys. The scheme will suck boys into MGS from other towns, and with both schools full last year, some local boys of grammar school standard may find themselves without a place in Maidstone. West Kent parents already know of the difficulties because of their own super-selectives! This is partly driven by last year's oversubscription, the first time for many years. The school states that with Foundation status "The School will be responsible for its own appeals", which appears to challenge the concept of independence for Appeal Panels.
Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School (the Math, the Maths School): The Math, found outstanding in its recent OFSTED Report, has been regularly oversubscribed for the past five years. In that time, all boys who have passed and been initially turned down because of oversubscription, have eventually been offered places where parents have persisted. Medway Council has vigorously opposed appeals on grounds of oversubscription, to the extent that I have taken them to the Ombudsman complaining about maladminstration on two occasions, have been awarded fresh appeals for parents, and have then secured places at the school. This process has on occasion been very protracted. For 2008 entry, the Planned Admisison number has been raised from 155 boys to 168 so, with falling rolls in Medway, there is less likely to be an issue on this basis, I have supported the overwhelming majority of parents appealing each year because of oversubscription. Those being turned down have mainly been from the further parts of the Hoo Peninsula, the Rainham area of Medway or beyond, and occasionally from areas such as Stockbury & Meopham in Kent.