CANCELLING transfer tests has done little to end the anxiety of children and their parents.
People are now torturing themselves by playing a migraine-inducing guessing game, wondering how schools will decide which pupils to admit.
Speaking to parents, it is clear that many hope for the same thing - bespoke criteria with their own child in mind.
Those who live next door to the `big school' hope geography will come first. Those who have older kids at the grammar think it should be siblings.
Those whose children did well in practice papers may think these scores should be permitted, however fair or unfair. And so forth.
One positive about transfer tests is they make admissions relatively straightforward for grammar schools.
While schools already have a host of tie-breakers in the event of over-subscription, many never have to call upon them.
There are concerns that with no selective criteria, grammar schools will be massively over-subscribed.
Some schools have made early moves to thwart opportunistic parents who never had any intention of applying, but now might, by insisting children must have entered transfer exams.
The number of applications is still likely to be higher than usual. It could be that all children who entered the test will seek a place when in previous years those who would have scored poorly in the exam might have been discouraged.
Many parents have expressed the view that there is now no way for academically `brighter' children to prove themselves.
They fear they will miss out on a school due to arbitrary criteria that could include an alphabet lottery or the number of letters in their child's name. Neither of those are made up.
Peter Weir's use of the phrase `limiting opportunities' was unfortunate, although there is a large group of people who genuinely believe that one type of school is better than another.
Ending admissions tests will not limit choice, as has also been claimed by the minister.
Parents can still choose to apply to whatever school they wish. They might not get their child in this year, but that is an entirely separate issue.
Furthermore, there is no such thing as `parental choice'. There is `parental preference'. No one can simply pick one school and expect to get their child in.
What is inevitable is that no matter what the schools decide their criteria will be, there will be someone who thinks it is unfair.
