School admissions - appeals
General information on appeals
- The appeal panel are completely independent of the school and the council; they comprise a mixture of lay-members and those with a background in education (for example teachers or governors, though they will not have connections to the school you are appealing for).
- You are entitled to attend the appeal hearing in person and are given the opportunity to explain your reasons for wanting a particular school. You can bring along a friend or advisor for support, or if you prefer they can present the case on your behalf.
- Appeal panels are composed of between three and five members and if you object to any of the appeal panel members you are entitled to request that a different appeal panel hears your appeal (please note that this may delay the appeal process whilst new panel members are found).
- The panel cannot consider, nor make judgments on the policies of the Department for Education, or the council, or the admissions criteria of the particular school.
- There are no set criteria that appeals panels consider, each case is decided on individual merit. Only exceptional circumstances are likely to lead to a successful appeal.
- Your grounds should be very specific to the school that you are appealing for i.e. why is it the only school that can meet your child’s needs? If you are citing medical or social reasons for wanting a particular school you are advised to provide documentary proof of the circumstances otherwise the panel may not take it into consideration when making their decsion.
- The fact that a school is single sex or has an excellent reputation is unlikely to lead to a successful appeal unless there are additional compelling reasons.
- If your appeal is unsuccessful you cannot make a further appeal in the same academic year at the same school, unless there is a significant change in your circumstances, such as a move to a new address closer to the school.
- Further information on the appeal legislation is available in the Admission Appeals Code of Practice (external link).
- The council cannot provide support in preparing your appeal documentation as this would compromise the independent nature of the appeal. If you need advice on completing the form or have other appeal related queries you can contact the Advisory Centre for Education (external link) who offer free, confidential, impartial advice.
Appeals for community schools
If your child has not been offered a place at a Barnet community school for which you applied this is because more children wanted to go to these schools than there are places available. Your application has been considered using the published oversubscription criteria (full details of the criteria are available in our Primary and Secondary school brochures).
If you wish to consider making an appeal for a community school place, you should request appeal forms by writing to:
- Helen Zandes
Children’s Service
London Borough of Barnet
Building 4, North London Business Park
Oakleigh Road South
London N11 1NP
Please note that the appeal hearings for community schools take place at Hendon Town Hall, not North London Business Park.
Appealing for a place at secondary transfer stage (Year 7)
You will be posted notification of the outcome of your application on 1 March (or if 1 March falls on a weekend we will post the notification on the first business day after that date), if you are not offered a place at one of your preferred schools you have a legal right of appeal. The appeals for transfer from primary to secondary school are typically held in May and June each year.
Appealing for a place at Reception class stage
You will be posted notification of the outcome of your application by the middle of April. Although there is a right of appeal against a decision not to offer your child a place at a school of your preference, the grounds for appealing are very restricted because infant class sizes must not exceed 30. An appeal panel can only allow an appeal in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 if it is satisfied that, either:
a) the decision to refuse admission was not one which a reasonable authority would have made in the circumstances of the case, or
b) the child would have been offered a place if the school’s admission arrangements had been properly implemented.
Appeals will not be heard until all available places at any school have been offered and accepted. Appeals for community primary schools are typically heard at the beginning of July.
Appealing for a place during the middle of the academic year (in-year admissions)
You will be posted notification of the outcome of your application approximately three weeks after submitting the form. Appeal hearings are held every few weeks throughout the academic year (term-time only) and your hearing will take place within 30 school days of an appeal being lodged.
Appeals for foundation and voluntary-aided schools, and Academies.
Appeals at voluntary-aided and foundation schools and academies are still subject to all the provisions of the Appeals Code of Practice and therefore they will still be entirely independent and conducted within the timescales outlined above.
If your child has not been offered a place at a voluntary-aided, foundation school or academy this is because more children wanted to go to these schools than there are places available. Your application has been considered using the schools' published oversubscription criteria. Appeals for foundation and voluntary-aided schools and academies are arranged by the individual schools and further information about the appeals process will be available from the clerk to the governors at the relevant school (the oversubscription criteria and the school contact details are available in our Primary and Secondary school brochures).
Children, young people and families
Email this pageLast modified by: Douglas Shaw on 30/07/2010