Some children of families who are amongst the many re-locating to Medway, and local children who are late developers, may be denied grammar school places this year as there is no facility to sit the Medway Test late, contrary to previous practice. This is because the Council quietly changed its selection procedures last year so that only children who are registered at the correct time can ever sit the Medway Test, which takes place in September.
Late applicants are therefore effectively barred from being considered for Medway grammar school places which require a Medway Test outcome for admission (the two Chatham grammars have a secondary route via the Kent Test). Most grammar schools have not made arrangements to put an alternative form of testing in place for admission this September, the combination being contrary to Medway's own co-ordinated scheme for secondary admissions.
The consequences of this decision by Medway Council are wide ranging and may well spell the end of the Medway Test as an objective standard for grammar school entry in Medway, with each grammar school defining the standard and setting its own test for entry, as explored further below.
Also, the Council has also been acting unlawfully for years in putting conditions on late admissions to other Medway schools, although these appear to have been withdrawn from 2020/21.
The Council’s view is that they are acting lawfully, as parents can make late applications to grammar schools which then apply their own Testing procedures. However, schools that have not introduced this cannot set up such a scheme until 2021/22 entrance as they would have to change their admission policies. These need to go through a process which includes consultation before they can be applied, For a variety of reasons they may choose not to in any case, thus removing the possibility of a late entry which would of course again be unlawful.
The published requirement states:
If you apply for a school place after the closing date, your application will only be considered if you can provide a good reason, for example:
- serious illness
- bereavement
- late move to the Medway area.
If you miss the closing date you can still submit an application up to 5pm on Friday 9 November 2018 with a covering letter explaining your reasons for being late.
We'll decide if late applications received by 9 November 2018 can be accepted. Any applications not accepted or received after 9 November 2018 will be held pending until after the offer of school places on 1 March 2019.
What is not stated is what happens to these pending applications. Every year I am approached by parents who inform me that Medway Council Admissions Team interpret this as meaning such applications are to be rejected because there are not exceptional circumstances. The Council has usually given in if parents are prepared to push hard enough as I have advised, but the advice appears to vary day by day and adviser by adviser. The coordinated admission procedure for 2019 states that such applications should only be processed after ‘consultation with the relevant admission authority for the named schools/academies’ which certainly gives them flexibility, but is not allowable, unless the child has been previously twice permanently excluded. The relevant phrase has been withdrawn for the 2020/21 coordinated scheme, underlining the illegality this year.