Hello All,

My DS is attending Buckinghamshire 11 plus test this year. It looks like we need to attend Practice Test and Secondary Transfer Test. As we live outside Bucks, can we attend only Secondary Test. I assume practice test does not count as main test and it looks like it is for practice only. Also If any has idea from their previous experience what time these exams will start and finish. I can book the train tickets in advance if I have the rough idea.

Many thanks in advance.

Regards,
Anjan.

Your DC does not have to attend the practice test, but would presumably be at a disadvantage if they did not do so. I would imagine when you are allocated a centre to sit the test at they will tell you the timings.
I may have misunderstood, but it seems as though you are based in the midlands somewhere? You are aware that the Bucks grammar schools admit mainly on distance (once a qualifying score is reached), rather than on score, and that from where you are your DC would not be allocated a place?
I would urge you not to let your DC sit this test as some kind of practice as this has a detrimental affect on the children living in Buckinghamshire (by pushing the qualifying raw scores up). If you are planning on moving you have a very short time between receiving the results and the dealine for moving, and would be risking not getting a place in the second round of allocations if you did not move in time. Which school in particular are you interested in? I would urge you to visit the schools as the Bucks grammar schools are very varied in character.
ETA: moved to Buckinghamshire sub forum

Do you actually want your child to go to a Bucks grammar school? If you do, why would you make them miss the practice test?

Please do not be one of the selfish parents who uses the Bucks test as practice. Spare a thought for those children who really want to go and will get in if they pass. Do you really think it's ok that your child's participation in the test could stop them getting a place? If you are not planning to send your child to a Bucks grammar, please do NOT sit the test.

Thanks for your valuable advise. Sorry I thought Bucks exam is open to everyone, I am new to these grammar schools selection criteria and I am not sure which schools we can apply. I am not trying this one as practice, I am planning to relocate wherever my DS get a place. If DS doesn't get a place in my local area at least we have an other option. Sorry if it creates any trouble to anyone.

Regards,
Anjan.

Test Tourism. The sooner the DofE admissions working group does something to tackle this, the better. I can only wonder why it is taking them so long. In the meantime, aside form clear disadvantages to children 'legally' living in catchment, and administration costs incurred in terms of allocation process etc., it is the children being paraded around the country to sit these tests, that I really feel sorry for.
What is wrong with the schools in your area? If you genuinely want to relocate for whatever reason other than touting for tests, then yes it is very much your choice, but I can't imagine why you would put your child through such a major upheaval, in what would be a very short time frame for relocation..(buying and selling houses takes time!), and then have the issue of finding a year 6 place for the remainder of the year. Let your child enjoy their primary school years without this upheaval. Surely the Midland schools are not so dire that any parent seriously needs to consider this an option.

You really need to check all the admissions criteria before subjecting your son to multiple stressful tests. The criteria are quite clear on all the Buckinghamshire grammar school websites and the Bucks county council website. The tests are open to all, but that does not mean he would be allocated a place if he passes. The results are available on 18 October (but will be sent to you by post as your son doesn't attend a Bucks school, so let's say 20th October). The deadline for moving into catchment is 31 October, so you have 11 days. Even then, there is no guarantee of a place unless you live very close to the school. There is a chance to get a place in the second or third round of allocations (March/April 2020) if you move house, but there is no guarantee as many schools are full on March 1st.
Timeline for Bucks county council secondary school admissions
My advice to you would be to forget Bucks schools. I would also say that a grammar school isn't the holy grail. There are many many good schools that are not grammar schools (and many grammar schools that are not that good). Remember, the main reason that grammar schools get good GCSE & A level results is that they are creaming off children who have already proved that they are good at exams. Choose a school where you know your son will be happy, don't uproot him for the sake of a school. Imagine the pressure to succeed.

In addition you will also need to visit the schools you are interested in applying to. If you are too far to consider sitting the familiarisation test, then that’s possibly also an issue.

You’d have just over a week from getting the results, to deciding what schools you want to and apply to, therefore where you want to live, finding a place to live, sorting out the paperwork and physically moving.

Plus you will also need to think about primary school places, as it sounds like the current primary won’t be an option. Unless you are going to home educate.

Or commit to the county, if you are so keen for your DS to get a place at one of its schools - move now, to be sure of having all the required proofs of address in place and apply asap for an in-year year 6 place. Your DS may well still have to sit the exam as 'OOC' (I have no idea what happens where DC have moved to a Bucks primary school before the exam, but only just before it, but I'msure someone in Admissions at the County Council will have the answer), but will be applying for grammar or its alternative as a bona fide resident.

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Hello All,

Thanks for all your valuable suggestions, We got the clarity now. We will try hard in our local GS instead of relocating to Bucks as we have very less chance to get the place .

I believe the practice test must be completed before children are allowed to sit the actual exam. We were told that if our child was ill for the practice exam then they would have to sit that later and then do the real exam after that. It seems to be an important, non-negotiable part of the process and you can’t skip it.