School admission appeals

Your right to appeal

If you have been refused admission to your preferred school, your child’s name will be placed on the waiting list and you have the right, by law, to appeal to an independent appeal panel.

It should be noted that the waiting list and your position on it have no bearing on the appeal process. Waiting lists are managed by the School Admission Team and are refreshed annually.

When considering whether to appeal, it is important to note that although the law allows you the opportunity to appeal against admission decisions, it does not give your child the right to a place at your preferred school. There is no guarantee that your appeal will be successful.

If you are appealing for a place at your preferred school, you should make arrangements for a place at an alternative school in case your appeal is unsuccessful.

Accepting a place at another school does not affect your right to appeal for the school you prefer.

If you do not wish to accept an offer of a school place, either because your circumstances have changed or you are unhappy with the alternative offer made, you must confirm this in writing to the school admissions team.

No offer will be made if you are currently attending a local school unless an alternative is requested

Children with an education, health and care plan cannot appeal through this process and must appeal through the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal

Who will deal with your appeal?

If your child has been refused admission to your preferred school(s) and you wish to find out more about available school places in your area, where your child is on the waiting list, or discuss how to apply for a school place please contact the School Admissions Team at admissions@devon.gov.uk or call 0345 155 1019.

If you have further questions on the appeals process after reading all the information provided, or you would like to speak to the School Appeals Clerk about your appeal, please contact appeals@devon.gov.uk or call 01392 381362.

Admission appeals timetable

When are appeals held?

Appeal hearings are held during the working day. They are not held at weekends, in the evening or (usually) during the school holidays.

Generally, we cannot accommodate working patterns and therefore you may need to book time off work. If you know that you cannot attend an appeal on certain dates (for example, you are on holiday) please include this information on the appeal form. If possible, we will try to avoid hearing your appeal on these dates.

Appeal hearings are usually held remotely via Microsoft Teams. They could also be heard at the Council offices on Topsham Road in Exeter, or at other external venues.

You will receive email notification of the date, time and arrangements for your hearing no later than 14 calendar days before the hearing. The notification will include the school’s submission and a deadline for the submission of any further evidence you may wish to provide other than that already included with your initial appeal form.

Appeals timetable for normal round entry

Each year, we will publish an appeals timetable for the normal round admissions by 28 February. We are required to set out the appeals timetable for the normal round of admissions into reception and year 7 in September.

Primary reception class appeals

National offer day is 16 April 2025.

The deadline for lodging appeals is 31 May 2025 (we will aim to hear these appeals within 40 school days of this deadline).

Appeal hearings are scheduled throughout June and July. Appeals not received by the deadline may have to be heard in September.

Junior transfer appeals

National offer day is 16 April 2025.

The deadline for lodging appeals is 31 May 2025 (we will aim to hear these appeals within 40 school days of this deadline).

Appeal hearings are scheduled throughout June and July. Appeals not received by the deadline may have to be heard in September.

Secondary transfer appeals (year 7) and appeals for normal round transfers to studio schools and university technical colleges (year 10)

National offer day is 1 March 2025.

The deadline for lodging appeals is 22 April 2025 (we will aim to hear these appeals within 40 school days of this deadline).

Appeal hearings are scheduled throughout May and June. Appeals not received by the deadline may have to be heard in September.

Sixth form appeals (year 12)

Each sixth form sets its own offer day during the academic year. This will generally be in the spring or summer term.

The deadline for lodging appeals is no less than 20 school days from a refusal (we will aim to hear these appeals within 40 school days of this deadline).

Appeal hearings are scheduled throughout May and June. Appeals not received by the deadline may have to be heard in September.

Where an appeal is on the grounds that academic criteria were not met when exam results were published during the summer holidays, they will be within 30 school days of confirmation of those results.

In-year admission appeals

For in-year admissions into any academic year group, we will aim to hear these within 30 school days of being received by the appeals office.

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