Graduation hat logo
School appeals

The appeal hearing

Appeals are heard by a panel of three people and follow the School Admission Appeals Code. 

Appeals are typically held virtually using Microsoft Teams. You do not need to have this installed, a weblink will be included in your appeal invitation.

GOV.UK website - school admission appeals code

Notice of an appeal hearing date

In line with statutory guidance, parents will be notified of appeal dates and times at least 10 school days before the hearing. 

In certain circumstances you might be asked to agree to a shorter notice period. This will be discussed on an individual basis. 

If you lodge appeals for more than one school you may get a separate date for each appeal. These could be some weeks apart. 

Due to the volume of appeals these dates will often not be in the order you listed your preferences.

Who will be at the appeal

You

You can present the reasons for your appeal and the panel can ask you questions. You can also bring a family member, friend, or someone else to support you.

If you don't attend the hearing, the panel will make a decision based on your written appeal.

School admissions and the school

Someone from the School Admissions Team will be there to present the case on behalf of the school. This is part of the traded service schools have with us to do this on their behalf. The school may be there as well. This could be the headteacher and/or another member of staff.

The panel

The independent panel consists of three people. The panel, and only the panel, make the decision to uphold or dismiss your appeal.

The panel must include:

  • at least one lay member i.e. someone without personal experience in the management of a school or the provision of education in a school (disregarding experience as a school governor or in another voluntary capacity)
  • at least one person with experience in education or is a parent of registered pupils at a school

Although panel members may be school governors or teachers, they will not be a governor or teacher at the school in question. 

They will not represent the interests of your preferred school or the Local Authority.

Clerk

A clerk will be there to make sure that everything is carried out fairly and legally and to ensure everything stays confidential. 

They are present when the panel make the appeal decision, but they do not contribute towards it. 

The panel, and only the panel, make the decision to uphold or dismiss your appeal.

How it works

Appeal hearings take around 30 to 45 minutes. If a school has a lot of appeals, you might need to attend on more than one day.

They usually follow a certain schedule: 

  1. Introductions
  2. Stage one - the school explain why they did not offer your child a place. If there are other parents appealing to the same school, they may be there for this part. You and the appeal panel can ask questions on the school’s case, excluding any personal reasons
  3. Stage two - you will explain your case to the panel. If there are other parents appealing to the same school, this part will be done during individual sessions. This is so that each parent’s case and personal details are not heard by other families. The school and the appeal panel can ask you questions on your case.
  4. Decision - the panel will decide in private whether to uphold or dismiss your appeal.

After the hearing

You, the school, and the school admissions team will usually be emailed the result of the appeal hearing within 24 hours. This will only be a yes or no. 

A letter with the panel’s decision will be sent to you within five school days of the hearing. 

For multiple appeals, where there is more than one appeal for the same year group at the same school, the decisions will be made when the panel has heard all the appeals. 

This may take anything from one day to several weeks, depending on the number of appeals being heard.

The panel's decision

The decision of the panel is legally binding for all parties. 

If your appeal is successful, you will need to confirm which place you wish to accept. This is either the school you won the appeal for, or if applicable, the school place already offered.

If your appeal is unsuccessful, it is not normally possible to appeal again during the same academic year. This is because the Admission Authority does not consider repeat applications for the same school year unless you have a significant change in circumstances relevant to your application.

If you think proper procedures were not followed in the appeal hearing:

If they agree that the appeal process was not followed correctly, they can't overturn the decision, but they can ask for your appeal to be heard again.