Priority by Aptitude

The Governing Body does not believe that it serves the best interests of parents and children for an oversubscribed specialist school to have to turn away prospective pupils with the potential to benefit from Denbigh's style of education simply because they do not live in the immediate vicinity of the School. Nor do they believe that access for pupils with similar potential to benefit, who live locally, should be unduly restricted. The School, therefore, gives some priority to pupils who might particularly benefit from the School’s specialism in Technology.

The School Standards and Framework Act 1998 allows every school with a specialism in a prescribed subject to give priority to up to 10% of pupils who can demonstrate an aptitude in the relevant subject.

Denbigh School is a Specialist Technology School. 20 places will be available on the basis of the aptitude of the applicants for Technology. Denbigh uses a problem-solving test to establish whether a student has an aptitude for Technology.

These tests are independently produced by the National Federation for Educational Research (NFER) and are non-verbal problem-solving tests. These tests are not directly linked to National Curriculum subjects but have been specially designed as a way of assessing a child’s potential to show whether they can think a problem through.

The test is to be open to all. The parents of those children who wish to apply for one of these places will need to indicate their intention on the application form and complete an Aptitude Test application form which should be returned directly to Denbigh by Friday October 30th 2009.

You will find a copy of the Aptitude Test application form inserted into the School Prospectus (there is also a link at the bottom of this page). If you receive a Prospectus that does not contain this form, a copy can be obtained directly from Denbigh School.

Testing

If you complete the Aptitude Test application form, your child will be offered an opportunity to attend Denbigh School on a Saturday morning (December 12th 2009) to take the test. You will be notified of the exact date and time of the test after the deadline for applications has been reached and all applications have been received.

Please note that only one opportunity will be available to take the test and it will be important that your son/daughter is available to take the test at the School on the specified date and time.

Marking of the Tests

Test outcomes are standardised by NFER. The process balances the overall performance of children in tests from one year to the next and ensures that no child is unfairly advantaged or disadvantaged because of his or her age.  It takes into account the child’s age in years and months on the day they take the test.

The Results

We will inform you of the standardised marks of the test score. This will be communicated in a letter that will be sent on March 1st 2010.

Results cannot be released to parents over the telephone. Test papers cannot be viewed by parents.

Parental Right to an Independent Appeal

Where parents are not offered their preferred place for their child, they can appeal against this decision via the Independent Appeals Panel. Details of how to appeal against an admissions decision will be provided by the Local Authority in writing if your application has been unsuccessful.