Admission Appeals
Appeal against an admission decision
If you are not happy with the school place you are given, you can appeal for any school.
Despite the restrictions that are in place, as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, appeals will still be considered over the summer months following emergency legislation and guidance from the Department for Education.
You can contact the area education office (admissions department) for help, we can:
- tell you which schools have places available
- add your child's name to waiting lists for other schools
- provide information to help you appeal
If your child has a statement of special educational needs (SEN) or education, health and care plan, procedures differ; the SEN team at the area education office can help you.
The appeals process
You will need to appeal in writing on the relevant appeal form:
Notice for all appellants – Submission of admission appeal forms
If you are unable to fill in an Admissions Appeal form yourself due to a disability or any language barrier you feel may compromise your submission then help is available from our Customer Service Centre who will be able to assist you in filling out the relevant form.
The Contact number for the Customer Service Centre is 0300 123 6707
The Contact Centre staff are unable to advise you of your submission and are only able to fill the form out on your behalf.
If you have been refused a place at a community or voluntary controlled school, you can appeal to the county council by returning your appeal form to the area education office.
If you have been refused a place at a voluntary aided or foundation school or an academy or free school, you can appeal against the decision of the governing body. For these schools you must return the appeal form to the school (not to the area education office).
The Department for Education has confirmed that appeals will not be conducted in the usual way, with face to face hearings.
While social distancing measures are in place, we are exploring how your appeal may be considered.
It is therefore really important that your appeal case includes all the information you wish to be considered by the independent appeal panel. It will not be possible to introduce new information during the appeal hearing as panel members will not be able to give this the appropriate consideration.
Once we receive your appeal you will be invited to participate in an appeal hearing. The intention is that hearings will remain informal and last around 20 minutes.
A provisional list of appeal hearing dates is published below. We will write to you to confirm the date and time for your hearing and how this will be conducted.
You will be asked to confirm whether you wish to participate or are happy for the hearing to proceed in your absence, with your written submission. Where possible you will be notified at least 14 days before the hearing to give you time to prepare.
The appeal will be heard by a panel acting independently of the Local Authority. They will have no connection with the school you are appealing for, or the school your child has been allocated a place at. These are the people who will make the decision about your appeal.
We will write to you to let you know the result of the hearing within 7 calendar days, wherever possible.
If a place has already been refused at appeal, the admissions authority will only consider a second appeal for a place at the same school or academy in the same academic year if they consider that there has been a relevant, significant and material change in the family's circumstances (since the original appeal hearing). If this is the case a second appeal hearing may be appropriate. Individual admissions authorities will decide in relation to re-appeal requests.
Appeal hearing dates
The 2021 admission intake timetable has not yet been issued please check back after 16th April 2021 or alternatively click here