Family appeals school place refusal for gifted girl

Svetlana wants her daughter Viktoria to start high school this year

A family is to appeal a decision not to offer their gifted daughter a place at a nearby secondary school.

Svetlana's daughter Viktoria, 10, who lives near Wisbech on the Norfolk-Cambridgeshire border, has skipped a school year and is due to attend high school in September.

The local school - Marshland High in West Walton near Wisbech - said there was no place available for her this year because it was already oversubscribed.

In Norfolk there has been a 15% increase in the number of students being educated out of their chronological year group in the past three years.

Viktoria has an IQ of 136 which means she has significantly higher intellectual abilities than the average 10-year-old.

She says she enjoys her current school and has been looking forward to the prospect of going to high school.

"I want to move up with my friends and also to move up academically," she said.

"Then I wouldn't have to redo the same year because I would already know everything that's happening, there won't be anything new for me."

The family live less than half a mile from Marshland High School

Figures from Norfolk County Council show there were 97 children being educated out of their chronological year group in 2022, increasing to 112 in 2024.

The increase relates to children born in the summer whose admission to reception is delayed rather than children like Viktoria who skip a year.

Svetlana said she was advised by the Norfolk Admissions Service to contact prospective schools directly to explain the situation.

The family live a five-minute walk from Marshlands High School, part of West Norfolk Academy Trust, and had hoped to secure a place there.

Svetlana said she was told by the head teacher they should apply for a place for the 2026 academic year.

'Reach potential'

Viktoria has had assessments with Potential Plus UK, the operating name of the National Association for Gifted Children.

It concluded that Viktoria had the cognitive and emotional development of a 13 year-old and recommended that she go to high school with her current classmates.

Svetlana said: "It is very stressful. You can't predict what is going to happen. It's cost a lot as we have sought legal advice.

"Right now we are in the stage that we have submitted an official complaint to the Department for Education and we are just waiting to see what the next step is."

A spokesperson for Marshland High said: "Our school has an excellent reputation for the quality of education we provide.

"As such, we are the school of first choice for many parents within the communities we serve, and the number of applications we receive far outweighs the available places.

"Admission offers are made on our behalf by the local authority following the Department for Education statutory guidance on school admissions and in accordance with our published school admissions policy.

"This inevitably means, given the school's popularity, some parents and students will be understandably disappointed in not securing a place at our school."

The school would not comment specifically on Viktoria's case.

Olivia Smith, deputy chief executive of Potential Plus UK, said it was not uncommon for gifted children to face problems when they move up schools.

She said: "Over the last 50 years we have seen a massive improvement in the quality of educational provision and policy for special educational needs and disabilities but hardly any improvement in the provision for gifted children, despite all the research that shows that gifted children also need specific provision to reach their potential and thrive."