MORE than 1,000 pupils from outside Bucks have passed this year’s 11 plus exam and are eligible for grammar school places in the county if there is enough room.

Buckinghamshire County Council said there were 2,419 out-of-county children who took the 11 plus this autumn, and out of these, 1,023 have automatically qualified for a place at grammar school in Bucks with a score of 121 or higher.

The figures were released after a worried Bucks mum questioned the county council.

However, the council said that pupils from Bucks who qualify for a grammar school place are always given priority by each school's admission policy.

There are 13 grammar schools in the county and about 2,136 places. This year 2,400 pupils have automatically qualified, which means the school's admission policy will give priority.

But BCC spokesman, Richard Wells, pointed out that out-of-county pupils choose to apply to take the test, as opposed to Bucks children, who are entered into the exam automatically, unless they choose to opt out. This means there is a wider ability range in Bucks.

He said the inclusion of a large proportion of self-selecting children who do well in the test can increase the overall ability level of the group and therefore may affect the raw score/standardised score conversions across the board.

This could mean the ability level could be pushed up which, in turn, leads to fears from parents this could leave Bucks pupils who were expected to pass missing out on a place.

A worried mum, who put the question to county hall about how many out-of- county pupils are admitted to grammar schools, said the standard this year appears to be very high.

The mother, who asked not to be named, said: "My son actually passed but many of his contemporaries who are easily just as capable did not. The standard required this year appears to have been very high.

"My issue is that I don't want him to be at a super selective pressure cooker school full of kids who live miles away. I want him to go to school with local children who are bright and want to learn but aren’t all necessarily destined for Oxbridge."

The 11 plus results were released at the end of last month. Parents have 14 days from the result to ask for the results to be reviewed and will learn whether or not they have been successful in February.

But another mum, who also did not want to be named, was shocked when she discovered her son, who was expected to pass, had not.

She said the headmaster at her son's school expected him to pass and he has always been in top sets.

She said that the test is not a "level playing field" as many of the children from out of county will be from private schools where they will have had an "intense degree of coaching for the 11 plus."

She said this will lead to grammar schools "full of over coached bright children" and not naturally bright all round intelligent children.

She said of the 1023 places for out of county had not been allocated her son and many other children from Bucks would have passed.

BCC spokesman Mr Wells said legally the county cannot bar any child who wants to sit the test.

He added: "Many out-county pupils sit the test but have other local schools as a higher preference than a Buckinghamshire grammar school so some never even need the Bucks grammar qualification. Others have to stay on the waiting list and /or appeal for popular grammar schools and possibly, in the process, have to accept out-area comprehensive schools which were lower preferences."

Mr Wells said a summary of admission rules can be found on the BCC website adding: "Broadly speaking a grammar school will take pupils who qualify from its catchment area, and when all have been placed will consider those outside its catchment area according to a priority schedule."

The three grammar schools in Aylesbury put siblings higher than catchment area pupils.