| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:DOW - Gunnersbury School Admission Policy | |
| Posted by: | R Rees Williams | |
| Date/Time: | 01/11/05 23:55:00 |
| That is absolute rubbish, Carrie! The Oratory and the Vaughan are comprehensives and therefore have an obligation to select across the academic range. In the case of the Vaughan (I speak with some confidence, as my son attends the school) their intake is as follows: 25% top set, 50 % middle set and 25% lower set. 121 boys in my son’s year (out of 122) took their Key Stage 3 exams recently and 99% of them reached a minimum of level 5 and (although not officially confirmed) I believe that all of his set passed at the highest grade. So no, they do not prevent less able pupils from sitting a test to massage their results! I went to the Oratory, on their open evening, and did note that the head teacher stated that ~60 schools were represented in the previous year’s intake. This supports your statement that they don’t always show special preference to local boys. The Vaughan’s intake is (a child’s application does benefit from their proximity to the school) more likely to represent the local area. Both have a very high percentage (very high 90’s) of boys going onto to the sixth form and a similar proportion going onto further education. I make the comparison in their differing ‘catchment’ areas to make a point: The Vaughan’s academic record continues at some pace to better the Oratory, which may belie your view that the Oratory are spreading their net ‘wider’ to catch the proverbial ‘bigger’ fish? |