School Admissions Appeals - Tips for Appellants

"What if my child gets rejected from our first choice of schools? What happens when they don't get into any of them?"
It's a horrid thought that we all hope doesn't happen to us. 

Unfortunately, it's nearing that time of year again that many parents across the UK dread: The Admissions Appeal window for government-run schools. 

On average, tens of thousands of appeals are opened and discussed each year – with only 18-21% of them being successful across Primary and Secondary schools. 

We've collated some tips and advice below

Please note that there may be subtle differences between county councils and what their preferences are on appeal requirements.

• Remember that any case needs firm, factual support. Whether that looks like a GP letter for any medical needs (for physical, mental or social support) or any extra-curricular accolades for specialised schools.
• All appeals have to be made in writing within 20 school days.
• Try to leave out reasons that come across as more emotional or biased reasons; reports of better behaviour at a certain school or wanting to get into a catholic-school etc unfortunately are more likely to be rejected.

• In general, a case usually has a better outcome if the appeal is for educational needs. Educational specialisms must have a valid reason and be backed by evidence by you

  If a specific advanced science or language is offered, then this case must be backed as above. The more facts you can go into, the stronger the appeal.

A “Boost Year” is an exceptionally high number of students in one age group, a school may have to reject all appeals due to PAN (Published Admission Number), understaffing or building size restrictions.

• When this happens, the panel reviews the resources the school has and weighs up that there are no allocations to be made, mainly due to health and safety or risks of a poorer education environment.

The GOV.uk website states that the general plan of the interview/hearing would be as follows:

“2.19 The clerk must notify the parties of the order of the proceedings in advance of the hearing. A suggested order is set out below: 

1. case for the admission authority; 
2. questioning by appellant(s) and panel; 
3. case for the appellant(s); 
4. questioning by the admission authority and panel;
5. summing up by the admission authority;
6. summing up by the appellant(s).

The panel must hear all the evidence on an issue before deciding that case. The panel may decide issues as they occur during a hearing or at the end, but must retire to reach such decisions.”

You will need to show the panel that the detriment to your child of not having a place at the school of your choice, is greater than the detriment to the school of taking a child over numbers.

It can be a stressful process when time is running out and you will most likely be trying to think about the logistics of the to and fro for your child going to another school that wasn’t (one of) your initial choice(s). Especially if you have to go further afield.

There are also some areas were there’s a lack of schools in general which can pose a further problem.

• Please remember, when you receive the decision letter, you must respect and not counter the panel again if it does not work out in your favour. It’s a hard decision to make for any panel however all decisions are finalised.

It's well worth mentioning that designated state grammar schools are the only schools in this bracket that are allowed to pick students based on their highest academic abilities. 

They do not have to fill student capacity if there aren’t enough pupils that fulfil the criteria set on their entrance tests.

While this can be frustrating, it's good to know when picking a Grammar school that's in your area. It could very well be a benefit with their often, smaller class sizes.