[Solved] Secondary School Admission Appeals Procedure?

Hi, sounds like you're not alone

http://www.dadtalk.co.uk/education-news/1475-school-admissions-half-of-pupils-rejected-in-some-towns

As to whether it's worth appealing, all I can say is that if you don't appeal, then you are definitely stuck with the choice you have been given, so really you have nothing to lose but your time and effort, but if you are serious about it, you will be up against a lot of opposition from other parents and from the school itself.

Hi there

You need to ask yourself - what have you got to lose?

There are grounds for appealing - it is worth googling and then you will be invited to present your case

We appealed and won (but we were in catchment)

Good Luck

Two points

1.
Be wary of the various orgs that state they will take on appeal on your behalf at a cost or sell you information to put the appeal in your favour.

2.
Find out what the selection criteria is for the school, i.e. if it is the same as for the state schools.
If so find out where you were in distance from school and distance of last pupil to be admitted.
Think about your case and the reasons for the school being able to cope with additional children and why your children should be part of any additional children at the school
Be aware that there will be other appeals going on and consider why yours is more valid
Don't rubbish the school you have been given
Try your arguments out on yourself and see if they make sense or even here and let us ask searching questions of you to tighten up your reasons (no professional advice on appeals to be given, just another dad)
Think about your attendance at church and involvement at church and school and why this involvement would benefit them being at that school or benefit from them being at that school

Good Luck

Good Morning

Manyt hanks for your replies.

You stated

Be wary of the various orgs that state they will take on appeal on your behalf at a cost or sell you information to put the appeal in your favour.

I found a website which charge approx £2000 to take on an appal and say that they have an 80% success rate. My wife an I were considering contacting them. It does seem to be a lot of money, but then again, we are talking about my child's future.

Do you think we could be wasting our money with these people?

Thanks

Hi,

£2,000 does sound like a lot of money.I've been through the appeal process twice with my 2 daughters for a middle school we wanted them to go to. They got in without the £2,000. What does this company offer, for the 2 grand, that you couldn't do yourself?

The main thing that we looked at was what the school's criteria was for admitting children & their order for selecting children e.g. 1) lives in catchment 2) has siblings attending school etc.. & work out which of the criteria you can tick off. Also, find out how many spaces they offered & how many they are allowed to take it. Our daughters school was already over full, but because we were in catchment they offered her a place at appeal. If they are already over full you can state this in your favour (to some degree). Will 2 extra children make that much difference to their class sizes? I believe your religious grounds are very relevant if this is your nearest C of E church school and you are a regular attender/member of a church. Would definately advise taking evidence of this along if you do appeal. If you are unsuccessful I'm not sure if you can reappeal. You'll have to ask your local authority that deals with school appeals.

Do you have a partner/wife to take with you?

Hope my experience of this is of some help & hope you get your twins in!

Hi

Many thanks for you reply.

We are actually not Christians so had to apply in their category c, which is the intake from other faiths. Apparently, the school received 245 applications for this category and only 30 students got offered places. A reason which I think they refused my twins a place could be that they do not want to allocate 2 places to 1 household. Taking this into consideration, I am wondering if it is worth appealing.

Regarding the people who would charge £2k - They turn up to the appeal and do all the talking for you !! They state that they have an 80% success rate. Taking this into consideration, I am in 2 minds of whether or not to take up their offer for my twins.

Of course, there is always the chance that I could fail the appeal and thus my £2k would have been wasted.

What would you guys do if you were in my shoes?

I'd be reluctant to spend the £2k on the basis that they can't do any more than you can, but doing the appeal yourself is a different matter, but you do raise a good point about allocating 2 places, that is going to make it much harder. What were the figures for your second choice?

Hi

Many thanks for your reply.

Yes , £2k is a lot of money - for me anyway. However, if it gets our twins to the school of our choice then it would be worth it,

The professional people who charge £2k would probably only state the facts which they will get from me any way. But I thought the advantage of having them do all the talking is that they may be able to put a 'spin' on it - a bit like politicians !!

Am I not correct?

I'm afraid I have no experience of them at all, is there any way you can speak to anyone who they have represented?

I agree with Actd £2k is a lot of money and I would research like mad to understand the admissions criteria and how your kids fit in to that. Do you live in the catchment area?

Also have a look at the following pages

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Schoolslearninganddevelopment/ChoosingASchool/DG_4016309

http://www.childrenslegalcentre.com/userfiles/School%20admission%20appeals%281%29.pdf

I believe that the company you have looked at will only take on cases they have a 90% chance of success.

When I did my appeal I asked loads of people to help me, I asked the head teacher at my son's current school, many people I knew who could check my speech.

Above all it is your passion delivering it that shows the panel that you care about your children's education and not your wallet!!

I wish you all the best and would be happy to check over your speech - as would many people on here.

Hi there

FOund these too!!

http://www.schoolappeals.org.uk/downloads/digest.pdf

http://www.piggott.wokingham.sch.uk/Files/Applications/ACE_Appealing_for_school.pdf

There are loads more online - and you can buy books (or get from library)

I may also have my letters too!!

Good Morning Folks

Thanks very much indeed for your replies.

I will check out the links what a few of you kind folks have provided.

The school is definitely in the catchment area - it is only a 5 minute walk from my house! However, that is by using the school’s back entrance, which most students use anyway.

The one thing that annoys me is that I have been on the governors board at that school for the past 2 years !!

Hi Folks

I hope you're all fine.

Today, the school of our 1st choice (which has not offered my twins a place), told us that our kids are ranked 6th and 7th on their waiting list. So, presumably 5 children above them will be considered first, should a vacancy arise.

Originally, we applied under catergory C, (Faith Community Places). We are now trying to prepare the paper work for the appeal and was wondering if it would be worth it for me to provide further evidence of 'committment to faith' at the appeal hearing?

Thanks in advance for your repsonses.

Hi there

If you were 6th and 7th then I would definitely appeal - if it is the closest school to you then that is a major factor as it means your kids can walk, have friends in the catchment area and be able to go to clubs etc which is in the best interests of the child.

The previous government had a policy called Every Child Matters and it may be worthtrying to refer to it as it shows that you know something of schools policies. Also have a look at DfE website

http://www.education.gov.uk/inthenews/inthenews/a00205582/gibb-our-reforms-will-allow-all-parents-to-send-their-child-to-a-good-school

Also look at the current class sizes this intake versus previous years and also how many appeals were won - the county education website should have this.

I would not mention the religious thing unless you mean it as you dont want to be seen as misleading

As previously stated do your research and good luck!