Best Practice

School admissions appeals: How to support parents and carers

Parental engagement
It can be distressing for the minority of parents who do not secure a place at their chosen school – and they often approach their current school for help. Nabil Dance discusses common pitfalls that parents and school staff can encounter and tips for how to support parents
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On April 16 most parents of pupils moving on to primary school received the news as to whether their child has secured a place at their chosen school.

This comes hot on the heels of the secondary school offer day which this year fell on March 1.

In the last academic year, 92.5% of applicants in England and Wales received an offer of a primary school place for their first preference, while the equivalent figure for secondary school places is 82.6% (DfE, 2023a).

However, according to the Department for Education (DfE), in 2022/23, 14,900 primary school admission appeals were lodged, with 9,628 reaching the stage of being heard by an Independent Appeal Panel. At secondary level, 38,186 appeals were lodged with 30,379 heard by a Panel (DfE, 2023b).

When forced to lodge an appeal – especially for a secondary school place – parents often approach school staff and/or senior management for support. This article will focus on the appropriate ways to handle this.

 

School appeal deadlines

School admission appeals have multiple deadlines but the most important are the deadline for registering the appeal, and the deadline for final evidence to be submitted. A crucial tip to give parents is to be aware of this, and not to assume that there is a single deadline. The majority of admission authorities have a published appeals timetable with various deadlines (as this is a legal requirement).

Missing these deadlines can be disastrous for families and result in a late appeal which are generally more difficult to win, and any supporting evidence can be excluded by the Independent Appeal Panel.

Much panic by families comes from the assumption that their entire case has to be prepared when the appeal is registered. Where there are two deadlines, as set out above, this is not the case. In this scenario, the parents can simply submit a summary of reasons for appealing when registering their school appeal, and the supporting evidence can follow later.

Parents must find the aforementioned school appeals timetable, or request details of the deadlines if they have not been published. This will help them to manage their time and prepare a stronger school appeal in what is essentially a process with a very short lifecycle.

 

The admissions criteria is not everything

Parents tend to assume that their appeal will fail because they are not high on the waiting list, or because they do not meet a particular criterion where the last group of children were admitted. Both concerns are essentially irrelevant to an appeal but can easily be a source of hyperfocus for parents.

They should concentrate on, for instance, reasons for wanting a place at the desired school and why the school offered is unsuitable. The Independent Appeal Panel will consider these points and my experience suggests that this is how the majority of appeals succeed.

 

There are no guarantees

Every season since around 2006, I hear the same comments from numerous parents – along the lines of: “The current primary school told me we will definitely get a place at St John’s High School.”

In admissions there are no guarantees, even for pupils with Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCPs). I have observed every kind of child being rejected, from applicants falling under the sibling rule, feeder schools, catchment areas, and beyond. The same principle applies to comments regarding the likelihood of securing a place through the waiting list.

As such staff must avoid making such comments to parents. This “misinformation” can be devastating and ruin the appeal because families are simply too upset to focus on preparation and strategy. It can undermine their confidence in the education system, and subsequently, the admission appeal process as a whole. I have personally handled school appeals for clients where I have spent up to 15% of my time on the case simply correcting misinformation of this nature.

 

Supporting letters

I have personally reviewed hundreds of supporting letters from primary schools. They are often generic and give the impression that the author wrote them simply to be supportive but with no particular strategy or purpose in mind. If parents approach you without a strategy, consider suggesting that they seek specialist advice (see later). You may wish to simply tell families that generic supporting letters are unlikely to be helpful without some form of plan.

While it is perfectly fine for a member of school staff to write a supporting letter, it should be co-signed by the headteacher or deputy head. This principle extends to specialist staff, e.g. SENCO. The Independent Appeal Panel will give more weight to the letter and your efforts will not be wasted.

 

Specialist advice

School admission appeals can be a minefield with a system of laws and government guidelines. There are different rules for specific types of appeals, such as grammar schools, infant class size, and beyond. School appeals consultants do exist and have supported parents and carers for many years. Parents are typically unaware that professional services exist and often proceed with their appeal alone and in a heightened state of bewilderment. While of course I have a vested interest in this respect, nonetheless these services can greatly improve prospects of success for a school appeal.

 

Your school’s data

In some instances, parents do not have all of the technical data gathered by a primary school concerning their child’s performance. Examples could include CAT, NFER, GL, BPVS, and the Renfrew Language Scales assessment. This data can be particularly useful for grammar school appeals, cases involving a child with SEND, or a scenario where a pupil excels in a particular subject which becomes a key point in the appeal.

With this in mind, this technical data should already be in the pupil’s school file. You may wish to consider recommending that the parents review this file in case there are any documents that they have not seen which may be of use in a school appeal. The odds are low that parents will find any unseen material, but it was worth the small time investment for them.

 

Infant class size appeals

A common sentiment in the world of education is that infant class size appeals are impossible to win. This is an exaggeration based on ignorance, or, rather disturbingly, a potentially deliberate attempt by admission authorities to mislead a family.

It is essentially a paradoxical statement as the fact that an appeal exists implies the potential to succeed. This, combined with DfE data confirming a nationwide success rate of 9.5% for infant class size appeals in 2023 (DfE, 2023b), completely refutes the assumption.

While infant class size appeals are challenging, and can be quite technical in nature, they are not impossible to win. Families should be made aware that the odds are against them but not misled into a false sense of hopelessness.

 

Final thoughts

Whether parents are appealing for a place at another primary school, a junior school, or seeking your support for a secondary school appeal, there are simple ways to guide them in the right direction. This article provides just a few examples of how to support them during what will inevitably be a difficult and confusing phase in their child’s education.

  • Nabil Dance is a consultant in education law who advises parents and schools in England and Wales. He is an Independent Appeal Panel Member in school admissions. You can contact him via educlawadvice@gmail.com. The contents of this article do not constitute legal advice and is provided for informational purposes only.

 

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