 If you are not offered a place at your preferred school or if you are unsatisfied with the school place allocated to your child, for whatever reason, you have the right to appeal to an independent panel.
The letter you get from the local authority informing you of your offer of a school place should also provide information on why your application to particular schools may have been turned down, and about your right to appeal. This letter contains information about next actions, but you must be sure you make your appeal within the deadline given.
The strength of your case influences greatly on the result of your appeal. The panel goes through two stages in most admission appeals:
• Stage 1 - The school's admission authority explains to the panel why it did not propose you a place. The panel determines whether the school's published admission arrangements were correctly applied, and whether there was a rational reason for turning down the application. If the Appeals Panel is not satisfied that either of the above are true, it must uphold the appeal at this stage and your child will be admitted to the school. Nevertheless, if the Panel does decide there was a good reason for turning down your application, it will go on to the second stage where the panel hears your case and why you are appealing against the decision.
• Stage 2 - You can tell all the reasons why that school would be the best suitable for your child, and what particular factors justify your child being proposed a place at the school, in spite of the reasons for turning you down. The panel then makes a rational judgment. This is where they decide whether the advantages for your child going to the school you are appealing for - instead of the school you have been proposed - outweigh the effect on the school and its other children of having one more pupil in the class. If the appeal panel determines that your case is the stronger, it will uphold your appeal and the admission authority is then obliged to admit your child to the school.
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