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.

Two-stage appeal process

If you are appealing for a place for your child in year groups 3 to 11 (or year groups reception,1 or 2 where there are not 30 pupils in a class), your appeal will follow the two-stage process.

Stage one: (about the school’s circumstances)

The presenting officer will present the case of the admitting authority, explaining why a place could not be offered for your child at your preferred school.

You and the panel may question the presenting officer on what has been said.

The panel will, separately from any other party except the clerk, consider whether the admission arrangements comply with the School Admissions Code the School Standards & Framework Act 1998, whether arrangements were correctly and impartially applied and whether additional children would ‘prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources.’

If the panel decides that the arrangements did not comply or were not correctly applied in your case, or that the year group is not full, the hearing will not go on any longer.

If yours is the only appeal for the school, your child will be admitted.

Where there are multiple appeals for the same school and some but not all of the applicants could be admitted, the hearing would move to stage two to consider which children should be admitted.

Stage two: (about your personal circumstances)

If the appeal moves on to stage two, the panel is satisfied that the admitting authority met their obligations (listed above) or the panel is not satisfied but does not believe all of the appellants can be admitted.

You will then be invited to present your case independently of any other parents who are appealing and explain why you are appealing against the admitting authority’s decision.

You should mention all the reasons why you feel the school you are appealing for is the best option for your child, and what extenuating factors justify your child getting a place even though the panel has agreed that there was a good reason for turning you down.

The panel and presenting officer may question you about what you have said. All parents will be interviewed individually before any final decisions on admission are made.

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