Won my LGO complaint - advice on going for second appeal!

[swimmer1971]

have just been informed that my complaint with EFA has been upheld
So will be getting a fresh appeal in 21 days. Do i present the same case or completely new ? Has anyone any experience of using a solicitoor or educational expert who has experience in this field?. Absolutely have to win this appeal as no way is ds goin to offered school (young offenders institute !!!!) any advice much appreciated

[prh47bridge]

You can use the same case, improve it a bit or go for a completely different case. It is entirely up to you.

I would avoid using a solicitor. You will not recover your costs and in my experience even those who specialise in education don't understand how admissions and appeals work. I know of a number of cases where a solicitor managed to thoroughly antagonise the panel.

There are a number of people who advertise their services to help parents with appeals. I would treat them with caution. Again, you won't recover your costs and many of them make claims that don't stand up to scrutiny.

I would generally recommend doing it yourself.

[admission]

You are in an interesting position in having a second appeal. Whilst in theory it is a new panel who will not be told that anything about the first appeal, they will have to be quite dumb not to realise what has happened. As such the admission authority will be keen to ensure that mistakes are not made this time, so expect somebody legal to be clerking the appeal. That does not mean that you should get somebody in, in fact I would say it would be a disadvantage as you seriously risk raising the stakes and getting into a situation where everybody and their dog had a solicitor present. In that situation my sympathy is with the panel!

So i would not go with a solicitor or a so-called expert. However you might find it of use to take somebody with you who can just act as another pair of ears, so that you do not miss anything important. Do you have a relative who could do that?

I would stick with the same case as far as possible but appreciate that given what happened and what was said you may need to alter some of the case. The admission authority should also be providing substantially the same case and if they suddenly come up with a completely different set of reasons for not admitting I would complain - having the previous papers with you would be a good idea.

[swimmer1971]

Admission / ph47 bridge - thanks for advice. Will let you know the outcome !

[Boygirl5]

Hi, just hoping you can tell me your grounds for maladministration please.

I've recently complained to the efa and I'm waiting to hear. Also did you win your second appeal.

Thanks for any info