If you disagree with the school place allocated to your child you can appeal for a place at any alternative school.

Before deciding to appeal you may prefer to speak to staff within the School Admisions team to discuss your options, including your right of appeal.

The appeals process

All appeals are considered by an independent appeals panel. Decisions made by the appeals panel are legally binding on both the Local Authority and the governors of the school. The Clerk of the appeals panel writes to parents to inform them of the decision.

Appeals for Voluntary Aided (VA) schools are organised by their respective governing bodies.

Please be aware that you can appeal for a place at any school even if it was not one of your original preferences.

Stages of an appeal

Most appeals for primary and secondary schools are dealt with in exactly the same way. There are two distinct stages involved in an appeal:

• First: A factual stage – The admissions authority must prove that ‘prejudice’ would arise were an extra child to be admitted to the school.
• Second: A balancing stage – parents present their information to the panel. The panel must then exercise its discretion, balancing between the degree of ‘prejudice’ and the weight of parental factors.

Parents are only entitled to one appeal for an individual school once each year. A re-appeal would only be considered if new evidence became available which could not have been made available at the original appeal hearing.

'Infant class size' appeals

Where an appeal is for a place in recpetion, year 1 or year 2, and that place has not been offered because of the legal limit of 30 pupils per class, the appeals panel will consider:

• Whether the decision was not one which a reasonable admission authority would make in the circumstances of the case.
• Whether the child would have been offered a place if the admission arrangements had been properly implemented.

If the panel is satisfied that the above have been met then a place will not be allocated. If you would like additional information about the appeals process please contact Democratic Services.

Pupils with Special Educational Needs

There is a different appeals process for pupils with Statements of Special Educational Needs. Further details are available from the SEN Service.

How to appeal

If you decide to proceed with an appeal you can complete the Appeal Request Form available on this page and return it to the School Admissions team. You will then be sent an appeal form relevant to your case for completion, together with information about the appeals procedure. You should set out the reasons for your appeal clearly and return it by the date given to Democratic Services to the address indicated on the form.