PLEASE NOTE: The parallel article for Kent admissions was only circulated to subscribers to this site below another article, so may have been overlooked by them. You will find ithere.
This article is triggered by the Medway Council Press Release on secondary school Allocations, which as usual contains an absolute minimum of information. In summary: Of the 3,431 Medway children offered places, more than 96 per cent have been awarded a place at one of their preferred secondary schools. 4,459 secondary school applications were processed, including 1,028 children from outside Medway.
The major change in admission patterns this year is also referred to in the Press Release. This is the opening of the new eight form entry Leigh Academy Rainham for September, offering 240 places from 514 applicants, and well above its Planned Admission Number of 180, which will have a major impact on other schools situated in the eastern part of Medway, and explored below.
The other piece of information I have obtained recently is the performance of Pupil Premium children in the Medway Test, below, showing a fall of over a quarter in the number passing, which will follow through into grammar school allocations.
Families will also find initial advice below on what to do next if you haven't been allocated the school of your choice. I shall publish two further articles shortly, looking at the outcomes for individual Medway grammar and non-selective schools as I receive the data. The parallel articles for 2020 admission are as follows: for non-selective and grammar schools.
So what next? I have already written a general article looking at strategies in this very strange year, and offering considerable advice, but which contains specific advice relating to Medway grammar schools. If you are not awarded the school of your choice, then certainly go on the waiting list for every school you have applied for and still wish to consider.
You have the right to appeal to any and every school for which you have been turned down. My article on 2020 appeals should be taken as guidance only, with a breakdown of outcomes, other data and comment for each individual Medway school here. You will also find plenty of free advice in the appeals sections of this website at: Medway Grammar Appeals (complete with a warning about the Review process); Kent Grammar Appeals; and Oversubscription Appeals (in the process of rewriting). There is also copious grammar school appeal advice on the 11 plus Exams website, although it is not Medway specific and in any case often written for out of county candidates who have different expectations and perceptions, so be careful. Mention of Kentadvice is banned from the site.
Obviously, you should talk to your primary school who should be able to offer advice and, if you are not sure of the school to which you have been allocated, ask for another visit, which is likely to be as an individual rather than with the crowd who were there on Open Day.
You also have the option of making a late application for a fresh school. Unfortunately, Medway operates a very centralised and convoluted process in contrast to Kent's simple system. As a result, parents and I have often found it difficult to pin down a shifting procedure, the Medway Admission Booklet being of limited assistance. The phrase ‘at the discretion of the Student Services Management Team’ is used too often in discussion. Medway Council scrapped late testing for grammar schools three years ago, and at present there are no schemes for individual schools, but I have identified a route in for late applications, via my earlier article, although only for Chatham Grammar (girls) and possibly Holcombe. These two also offer places in return for success at the Kent Test, or an Appeal possibility if your child has been unsuccessful at the Kent Test.
Every year we see a considerable ‘churning’ effect as children take up places off waiting lists, as children win appeals at higher preferences, and some unhappy families remove themselves from the state system, so don't lose hope!