Parents cheat 11-plus exams by sending older siblings to sit the tests to get their children into grammar schools, head teachers say
- Several people reported cases of older siblings or cousins sitting grammar tests
- This has prompted some grammar schools to introduce strict photo ID checks
- Former grammar school head Andy Williamson shared evidence he has noticed
Andy Williamson is the former head of Wilmington Grammar School for Boys in Dartford, Kent and shared what he’d noticed
Several head teachers have revealed that parents are sending older children to sit grammar school tests on behalf of their 11-year-old siblings.
Some schools have even introduced photo IDs to stop children much older than 11 sitting the tests.
There are 163 grammar schools in Britain and they remain extremely popular among parents, with some even moving miles to secure a place for their child.
Andy Williamson, the former head of Wilmington Grammar School for Boys in Dartford, Kent, revealed how he came across a case of a struggling student who seemed to be below the level of his school.
He recalled how he suspected the boy of not having sat the 11-plus exam and was vindicated when he compared the boy’s handwriting to his supposed exam paper and realised the answers had been written by different people.
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He told the Times: ‘By then he was a pupil at my school, struggling and unable to keep up with his classmates.
‘I raised it with Kent county council but they decided to take no further action.
‘If you had a family from outside the area coming to take the exam, without verified photo ID, it could well be a sibling sitting the exam for another.’
Families are known to send their children miles away from their home to sit the test, as some grammar schools allow children from any part of the country to try and pass the entrance exam.
Children travel to grammar schools from all over the country as some leave their entrance exams open to all. This makes it hard to verify who is sitting the test (stock photo)
This makes it easy for siblings or other relatives to sit the test in place of the 11-year-old.
Other cases of cheating include a tutor who claimed that siblings or cousins of some candidates in Slough used to sit the test in their place, prompting the introduction of a photo ID system.
The Slough consortium of grammar schools has the following rule on its website: ‘Registrations will not be complete unless the photograph of your child is uploaded.’
Meanwhile, Edward Wesson, head of The Skinners’ School, in Tunbridge Wells, also claimed that the grammar school system could be abused by imposters.
He revealed how, during the last set of exams, 170 candidates came from outside of the local area which made it hard to identify them.
However, some people have warned that ID cards or passports may prove to disproportionately affect children from a poor background who might not necessarily have those documents.
Jim Skinner, chief executive of the Grammar School Heads’ Association, has suggested that a special form co-signed by the child’s primary school that includes a photo would be the best solution.
A spokesman for Kent county council said: ‘We must consider the impact of any actions on children sitting the test. We believe that it would be disproportionate to require children to present some form of ID.
‘Those from poorer families may not have passports or other photo ID and even if these were available, they last for several years and may not present as a likeness to the child and may also look like older siblings.
‘Handwriting is unique. A place would be withdrawn if it was felt it had been secured fraudulently.’
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