11+ Appeals Information
If you find that your daughter has been refused an offer of a place at Boston High School for entry to Year 7, and you wish to appeal, please read the attached information. The process is not difficult, and need not be stressful. Our Clerk to Governors can guide you through the process and answer any queries you might have – and she is the person to contact about appeals. Please email her on clerk@bostonhighschool.co.uk.
Frequently Asked Questions
All parents have the right of appeal against the decision not to admit pupils based on the 11+ test outcomes.
Sometimes parents, class teachers and primary Headteachers don’t understand why a particular student has not passed the 11+. For whatever the reason, every year, some of the very best students don’t pass and it’s a shock to all concerned. Many of these students will be working at, or towards, exceeding expected standards in their key subjects at primary school. Such students are in the top 25% of the ability range and could be considered to be suitable for a grammar school education. If your daughter is working at or towards this level, you may wish to ask her Headteacher to support you in making an appeal against our decision not to admit her based on her 11+ test outcomes. We can’t admit her based on that information alone, but an Independent Appeals Panel will consider it – and other information you can offer – very carefully. That discussion with your daughter’s primary school should ideally be held before you submit your Secondary School application.
If she didn’t achieve the required standard and was expected to do so, then please do exercise your right to appeal.
Until all places have been accepted for your daughter’s year group, we won’t know how many there will be in her particular year. You will be supplied with this information before the appeal is held.
No. It’s actually quite straightforward. The Clerk to Governors will manage the appeal process and will answer any questions you may have.
You can’t make an appeal until after the Local Authority has allocated you a school place on March 1st (i.e. a place in another school), however you can register your interest with the Clerk to Governors before that date. Please email her at clerk@bostonhighschool.co.uk to do so. After March 1st, the Clerk will forward an appeal form for you to complete along with some additional information for your reference. The appeal form asks for some basic information about you and your child, and offers you the chance to make a statement supporting your daughter’s suitability for grammar school.
The appeals timetable can be found on the Boston High School website. Please note that the dates are not always the same as for Lincolnshire County Council administered appeals – this is because we handle our own appeals and can therefore set our own dates. We aim to hear appeals as early as possible within the hearing window, however, this may be dependent on the availability of the panel. We will avoid the week in which Year 6 take their SATs.
Most parents include the following additional evidence:
- Copies of school reports from Years 5 and 6 (earlier reports are not required)
- Evidence of predicted SATs levels from your daughter’s school
- Letter of support from your daughter’s Headteacher and / or Class Teacher
- Information about any extra-curricular activities your daughter undertakes
- Examples of awards/certificates she has won (please choose no more than three or four)
- Medical evidence (if relevant)
If possible, please don’t send originals, but copies on A4 paper. There is no need to bind or laminate your evidence
as it will need to be copied multiple times for the panel. If you can’t send copies, then the originals will be returned
to you after the appeal has been heard
We advise parents/carers of children who didn’t pass the 11+ not to put Boston High School as your first choice on your application, however you do need to put us as your second or third choice if you are going ahead with an appeal. This is because you won’t be automatically allocated a place at Boston High School in March as your daughter did not pass the 11+ test, so Lincolnshire County Council will completely disregard this choice and allocate another school to you. Therefore, in order to maximise your chances of getting an offer at your back up choice of school, we advise parents to put this as their first choice. You do need to ensure that Boston High School is one of your preferences so that the County Council can record your interest.
If your appeal is successful, we will inform Lincolnshire County Council and all the admin around the change will be
done for you.
The Appeal will be heard by an Independent Appeals Panel consisting of a Chair and two additional panel members. A representative from Boston High School will also be there. An appeals clerk will be there to take minutes of the hearing. A parent/carer should attend in order to make the case for the child. You are also welcome to bring support such as your daughter’s teacher or head teacher, an additional family member or friend or someone to translate for you. Please inform the Clerk if anyone is accompanying you to the hearing.
Yes. The panel like to meet the child in question and will ask her some questions about herself and why she would like to attend Boston High School.
The Clerk will email you the outcome of your appeal as soon as possible after the last appeal has been heard. This will normally be within a few days of your appeal. You will be informed on the day exactly when to expect your result.
Please email the Clerk to Governors at clerk@bostonhighschool.co.uk.
