An Outline of the Schools Appeals Process in England By Antony Heywood
In the world of Education law the appeals process for school admission is an area that is becoming increasingly important. Did your child gain admission to their first choice school? In 2009 in England almost one in six children in England were refused a place at their first choice of secondary school - and the rate rose to one in three in and around London. Parents are often left wondering how to deal with the heartbreak and anxiety this causes. The appeals process is laid out in Education Law and the code was updated in 2008 to provide a better balance between the desire of the parents and the responsibilities of the local authority and school. For infant school children of the ages of five, six and seven class sizes are limited in law to be no greater than 30 pupils. Admissions can therefore be refused on the grounds that a class intake has reached its legal limit. If this is the reason for the refusal of a place then the scope of the appeal is fairly limited. The main way to challenge this type of decision is on the way that the admission arrangements and process have been followed correctly. If there are flaws in the process then an appeal has a good chance of succeeding. For all school appeals the guidelines are as follows. No one with a connection to the school or who it might be felt would be partial towards the school or the child can sit on the appeal panel or be the appeal panel clerk. This rules out teachers, governors and local councillors from being members of the appeals panel. Timescales must be laid out in advance and met in order for the schools appeal process too be deemed legal. The local authority must give the parents at least 10 days notice of the date of the appeal hearing. Hearing for Secondary school places must be heard by the 6th July or the next working day. Primary school appeals must be heard with 40 days of the appeal being made by the parents or before the end of the final term in the school year whichever is sooner. For sixth form places the appeal must be heard within 40 school days of the lodging of the appeal. All members of the appeals panel must be fully trained in the terms of reference of the admission codes for the school and local authority. The must also be trained in the related areas of law including education law, the Sex Discrimination Act, the Disability Discrimination Act and the Race Relations Act. In order for the parents to get a fair hearing the local authority and school must provide information on the reason for the refusal and the evidence used to make the decision. The parents are also advised to seek legal advice on how to process their appeal.
At least 3 working days before the appeal the hearing clerk must send the parents the details of the panel member and the clerk and details of any witness that will be giving evidence to the school admissions appeal panel. The appeals panel must be made up of three to five members of the public. A parent can only make one appeal per place. Therefore if you didn't gain your first three choices then you can make single appeals to each of those three schools. The appeals panel must consider the impact of allowing the appeal to succeed on the class sizes, general levels of education and resources of the school. If the child has been permanently excluded twice and is turned down for a place you may not be able to appeal the decision. The rules of admission must have been met and the admissions process must have followed the School Admissions code the SSFA 1998. If the Local Authority has not followed the strict admissions rules that the ground for an appeal are stronger. Once the appeal has been heard the appeals panel will retire to consider its verdict. For non class size appeal the following criteria are used. (1) That the schools admission arrangements are unlawful (2) That the school can cope with the extra pupil (3) The problems a child will face if they do not get the place are greater than the problems faced by the school if they admit the pupil.
The decision of the panel is not communicated on the day but via letter within 5 working days of the appeal. The letter must outline the reason for the panel's decision. You cannot appeal the findings of the appeal panel. The importance of the getting the right school for your child means that you should always seek good legal advice on the appeals process
Education Law Solicitors specialising in School Admission Appeals : my school appeal