School admissions appeals
If we are not able to offer your child a place at your preferred
school you will be advised of your right of appeal. The leaflet
sent to you will set out the appeals process and what will
happen.
The appeal is heard by an independent panel and any decision they
make is binding on the admission authority, the school and you.
Appeal papers are available to download below, along with a copy of
the leaflet.
A provisional schedule for school appeals will
be available to download after allocation. There are separate
lists for
secondary
school appeals and for starting school,
junior
and
middle
appeals. Please note that these dates may change. You
will be notified by the Appeals Administrator of the actual date of
your appeal.
Supporting documents
Frequently asked questions
How can I appeal?
If you cannot be offered a place at your preferred school, you
will be sent a leaflet explaining how to appeal, if you wish to do
so. If you are happy to accept the alternative place that you are
offered, you do not need to appeal. You can also accept the school
that you are offered and appeal for a place at your preferred
school at the same time. The appeal form is available to download
under the supporting documents above.
If you wish to appeal, you will need to complete the form
stating why you want your child to attend that particular school.
Do not forget to fill in your address details as the form needs to
be returned to the Appeals Administrator in Legal Services at
County Hall in Chichester, and your details will not already be on
file there. When returning the form, try to send all the
information that you want the panel to see. The panel will not
contact people on your behalf, so if you want it to see papers such
as a doctor’s report, you will need to get that yourself and send
it to the Appeals Administrator in good time before the hearing
date.
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What happens after I have completed the appeal form?
Once you have completed and returned the appeal form, a hearing
will be arranged by the Appeals Administrator in Legal Services.
Please bear in mind that it may be several weeks before your appeal
can be heard, especially for places for the following September.
However, you should be notified of the date of your appeal at least
10 working days in advance. Sometimes you may be offered an appeal
date with less notice. If that is the case, you will be asked if
you wish the appeal to go ahead, or whether you would like a later
date.
The hearing should take place within your area, usually at a
neutral venue. All of the documents that you have provided will be
sent in advance to the panel and the admissions’ representative.
The admissions representative will also provide a statement
explaining their reasons for refusing a place at that school and
providing information on how places were allocated and the number
of children at the school. That document will be sent to you and
the panel. If you are appealing for a
community
or
voluntary
controlled school, a map showing your house and the location of
your preferred school and the school offered will also be sent.
Maps are not always sent if you are appealing for a
voluntary
aided (
church
),
foundation
school or
academy
.
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I cannot make my appeals hearing, who should I
contact?
If there is more than 1 appeal being heard, you will be
given an appointment time. It may be difficult to rearrange these
appointments but, if you are notified of an appointment you cannot
keep, please contact the Appeals Administrator on 01243 777175 to
see if it is possible to alter the arrangements. It will not
usually be possible to change the day of the appeal, but it may be
possible to alter the timing of it.
What happens if I cannot or do not want to attend the
appeal?
If it is not possible, or you do not wish to attend the appeal
hearing in person, you can ask the panel to consider your appeal by
reading what you and the admissions representative have sent in.
Your case will be considered in the same way as at a hearing,
although obviously there will not be an opportunity to ask
questions. The panel will make a decision at the same time as it
considers all the other appeals for that school.
What is an 'independent appeal panel'?
The appeal panel is not part of the admission authority or the
school. It is not bound by any arrangements or policies of the
school or the admission authority. The decision of the panel is
final and binding on all parties (parents, schools and the
admission authority). Panel members are independent and are
required to comply with the School Admissions Code (2010) and the
School Admission Appeals Code (2009) which are written by the
Department
for Education and approved by Parliament.
The panel can allow places for particular children at a school
even though that year group is full, if there are convincing
reasons to do so.
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What will happen at the hearing?
The clerk will usually speak to you before the hearing and will
invite you and the admissions representative to go into the hearing
at the same time. If there are several appeals for the same class,
the hearing is likely to take place in 2 parts, which may be
on different days.
The first part of the hearing is called a plenary session, and
all parents are invited to attend. The admissions representative
will present the case for the school, explaining why the school is
full and cannot take any more pupils into that year group. All
parents and panel members and the clerk can ask questions. After
the questions, all parents and the admissions representative will
leave the room while the panel, assisted by the clerk, makes its
initial decision. If the panel decides that the year group is full,
you will be asked to attend the second stage of the hearing which
considers your case.
The second part of the hearing is just for your child. The clerk
will again invite you and the admissions representative to go into
the hearing together. You will be asked to explain your reasons for
wanting a place at the school and why you think the admission
authority has made a mistake or applied the admission policy
unreasonably. You can be asked questions about this. The
admissions’ representative can sum up or add additional comments.
You can then add your final comments. You and the admissions
representative will leave the hearing. When all the parents have
made their own comments, the panel will consider each case, and
make its own decision.
Is the process the same where there is a small number of
appeals?
If there is only a small number of appeals for the same year
group (usually up to 3), you will be invited to attend just once.
Your appeal will be just for your child. The admissions
representative will outline its case first followed by questions,
and then you will be able to put forward your case and be asked
questions. The admissions representative can then make any final
comments before you are asked to make your final comments. Again,
the panel will not make a decision until they have heard all the
appeals for that year group.
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Who can I bring to the appeal?
One or both parents can attend the appeal, and in addition, you
are entitled to be accompanied by a friend, relative or interpreter
to assist you in presenting your case or to give you support. It is
not usual for your child to attend the hearing and it can be
distressing for children to hear themselves being talked about. The
hearing will be as informal as possible. It is not usual to need
legal representation or help from an appeals service, although you
can seek legal or other advice if you wish.
My child’s name is on the waiting list. Does that affect my
appeal?
No, the waiting list is separate and does not affect the panel’s
decision. The admission authority should confirm that your child’s
name has been added to the waiting list, but will not tell the
panel at what position.
What decisions can the appeal panel make?
The panel will hear all appeals for places at a particular
school before any decisions are taken. Therefore the timing of your
appeal will not affect the decision. As explained above, the
hearing may have a plenary session and the panel will decide at
that point whether the school is actually full, or whether it could
take more children into that year group. Where it agrees that the
school is full, the next stage is to hear each parent’s case
separately.
If there is not a plenary session, the panel will hear all the
appeals and then make a decision in 2 stages. The first stage
is to decide whether the school is actually full. The panel must be
satisfied that if more children were given places, it would
adversely affect the resources or education at the school.
Where, either at the end of the plenary session or at the end of
stage 1, the panel is not satisfied that the admission
authority’s case is a good one, it can decide that the admission of
more children would be possible up to a particular limit.
If the panel makes this decision, the children will be admitted up
to that number by the panel considering the admission arrangements
applying to that school. This process will be followed until the
point at which the panel has decided that the resources or
efficient education at the school would be adversely affected. If
there are any appeals still remaining, the panel will move to the
next stage.
If the decision of the panel is to agree with the admission
authority’s case (or after the panel has added pupils at stage 1)
that the school is full, it can still decide to admit more pupils.
The panel will make this decision based on the circumstances of
each particular case. If the panel believes that there is a very
sound and convincing reason for your child to get a place at the
school even though it is full, it can tell the admission authority
that it must give your child a place. That is why it is important
that you must give a full account of your reasons for wanting your
child to go to that school.
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How will I hear about the decision?
The decisions about appeals for a particular school will be
taken once all of those appeals have been heard. They will be taken
on the last day if the appeal hearings run for more than a day. You
will be able to phone the Appeals Administrator on 01243 777175 on
the day after the last appeal to find out whether your appeal has
been allowed or refused. You will also receive a letter from the
clerk about a week later explaining the decision.
The panel’s decision is final and is binding on the admission
authority, the school and you. There is no further right of appeal
for parents. You must therefore make the most of this one appeal
opportunity.
What happens after the appeal?
If your appeal is successful, the admission authority will let
the school know, and you should contact the school to get details
of the start date for your child. If your appeal is not successful,
and you are dissatisfied with the alternative place offered, you
can ring the Pupil Admissions office in Horsham or Worthing
to discuss the possibility of a place at another school.
If you are concerned about the procedure during your appeal, or if
you believe that the panel has acted unfairly, you should contact
the Appeals Administrator, who can give you details about
presenting your case to the Local
Government Ombudsman for investigation. However, the Local
Government Ombudsman cannot review the decision reached by the
panel.
Can I appeal again if I haven’t got a place?
No, you cannot appeal again for the same school, in the same
academic year unless there is a significant change to your own
circumstances, or that of the school.
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