Hi please can anyone help.

My Son is an "A" student at his school and with his tutors and he was predicted if not guaranteed that he will fly throught his 11plus exam without any difficulty. He has had a tutor for over 2 years and has continued to understand and do well in his subjects , in addition he was going to an additonal specical classes for 11+ for over 6 months.

On getting his results he failed with an average mark of less than 50% , which of course did not get him into any grammar school.

His Grandmum passed away unfortuately in End July , whom lived with him with his Grandad and us, he was left numb and very hurt after her death as he was very close to her. His grades declined in the months following , then after great effort he pulled him self together. On the night before the exam he asked for a photo of his grandmother(whom he called "Mom") , which we want sure if it was a good idea , but we put a little photo for him without him knowing in his pencil case.
On the morning of his exam he was violenty sick on the road side after asking us to stop the car. He got to the exam , finished it and didnt really comment.

We dont understand what went wrong , but this bright young lads future in schooling has all been decided by 1 exam which he done bad in itand really not his fault. Tutor are shocked and said it cant be and there must be a mix up of names . The school also are shocked by the results and cannot understand it and say it can only be "Nerves". Both are supporting us with letters stating his past results and academic brilliance and there shock and dismay.

We wish to appeal but wondered if there was any help or advise out there.

Can any one help ?

Thank you for listening.

A very distressed parent.

Register for appeal and get yourself on the waiting list. Under 50%, what actual score? If you are above 290 you may have a chance.

There have been mix ups in the past. I know of two children who were given the wrong result, get the school to remark his paper prior to appeal. At appeal you will need to provide evidence of his academic ability and it is advisable to get a large volume of evidence. I only know of one appeal for a Southend grammar that has been successful due to mitigating circumstances and it was very well prepared.

Good luck and please remember that you can put his name on the waiting list and he can sit again when a child leaves the grammar school. He will also do well anywhere as he is a clever boy as long as he is motivated to succeed.

"This bright young lad's future in schooling has all been decided by 1 exam"

No it hasn't. It might feel like it - but it hasn't.

You are clearly right behind your son when it comes to his education - so I'm sure he'll be just fine.

Just be careful about heaping too much pressure on this guy. You say you are 'very distressed' like this is the end of his education which is daft. You tutored him for 2 years which, to me, sounds like too much - especially if everyone considered him as "dead cert" in the first place but clearly your intentions were in the right place.

Anyway - all of that is history - let's look to the future.

Firstly good luck with your appeal - concentrate the majority of your effort on presenting his acedemic qualities and get every possible piece of evidence to support your case.

Unfortunately too many people will come up with excuses that aren't even real so when a genuine situation occurs it may not have the impact you want it to. How many appeals do you think have, "my child was ill that day" ? Quite a few I guess.

So you need old reports and certainly statements from previous teachers and head teacher(s) that back you up fully.

Has his current teacher noticed a significant drop in his work?? I'd be more worried about his general well-being and whether he's happy or not before anything else - re-heaping the pressure on may not be helping him.

Good luck though - and keep us informed on his progress.