‘11-plus exam is unfair on pupils born in the summer’

GRAMMAR schools face adjusting 11-plus scores depending on the month children are born, to prevent older pupils in the same academic year from gaining an advantage.

The Office of the Schools Adjudicator found that the entrance exam for Colchester County High School for Girls, a grammar school in Essex, was “unfair” for summer-born children, and it must change its admissions arrangements.

The ruling could have wider repercussions, as other schools or 11-plus admissions boards may now change their tests to avoid a challenge, campaigners have said.

Responding to a complaint from an anonymous parent, the adjudicator said: “A smaller proportion of summerborn girls who take the test achieve the required test scores compared to girls born at other times of the year. I consider that the admission arrangements currently in operation are unfair to girls who are born in summer.”

Results for last year showed that only 19 per cent of pupils born in July or August achieved a test pass mark for the grammar school, compared with 35 per cent of children born in September.

The adjudicator ruled that pupils taking the 11-plus test for the school, designed by the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex (CSSE), from now on must have their scores adjusted to reflect age differences.

This test, which has been operated since 1997, is used by 10 grammar schools in Essex.

Jo Bartley of Comprehensive Future, a campaign group for fair school admission policies, said it is likely other grammar schools will follow suit. “This could set a new precedent,” she said. “The adjudicator is saying summer-born children have had less development.”