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Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Primary education

Exceptional Circumstances

69 replies

rememberme2 · 28/07/2011 09:59

Does anyone know what the process is for applications that are sent to LEA regarding exceptional circumstances and how they should be processed by Surrey County Council

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prh47bridge · 28/07/2011 10:59

For an in year application such as yours the process is as follows (and is the same regardless of whether or not your child qualifies under "exceptional arrangements"):

See if the child falls into any of the categories covered by the Fair Access Protocol. If they do allocate a place in line with the Protocol. I'm afraid your child doesn't fall into any of the Fair Access Protocol categories on the information you have posted.

See if any of the preferred schools has a place available. If it does the place must be offered. If more than one preferred school has a place available the highest preference school with a place will be offered.

If no place is available at the preferred schools see if any other school in the area has a place available. If a place is available it will be offered. If multiple places are available the LA will only offer the place nearest to the home address.

If there are no places available in the area the Fair Access Protocol must be used. In Surrey's case this means a place at the local school will be offered unless this would breach Infant Class Size regulations. However, in your case there was a place available so the Fair Access Protocol would not be invoked.

If none of the preferred schools has a place and waiting lists are in operation place the child on the waiting lists for the preferred schools. The position on the list is determined by the admission criteria so Surrey would need to look at whether or not your child qualified in the "exceptional arrangements" category to ensure they were placed correctly.

As I have said to you before, for an in year application there is absolutely no need for Surrey to look at your arguments that your child qualifies under "exceptional arrangements" because they make no difference. If there was a place available and several children were applying it would matter as that would determine which child was admitted. But that is not the situation.

You have told us that the school is over PAN in the year for which you are applying. Surrey are therefore absolutely correct to reject your application for this school without looking at your arguments for "exceptional arrangements".

I know you want "exceptional arrangements" to mean that your daughter automatically gets admitted to your preferred school but I'm afraid that isn't how the system works.

admission · 28/07/2011 15:27

I can only agree with PRH, you are reading into the admission code something that in reality does not exist.
If your preferred school is full then Surrey will offer you an alternate school, which does not have to be that close to where you live (legally an hour has been deemed near enough). You can accept that or reject it, but either way Surrey have complied with their legal requirements.
Only if there were no places available across and area would the in-year fair access protocol come into force and even then the LA does not have to offer you a place at your preference school, just one within reasonable distance.
In the admission criteria for Surrey maintained schools, there is an admission criteria for exceptional arrangements and this says

Occasionally there will be a very small number of children for whom exceptional arrangements will apply. Evidence from a consultant doctor will be required for medical cases or documented evidence from any support services involved for other sensitive family circumstances will be required.

The reality is that this only applies to a handful of applicants each year and every LA applies a very high threshold for this admission criteria for the very reason that we are posting this message, lots of people think it should apply to them and usually it does not.

rememberme2 · 04/08/2011 10:15

Surrey CCadmission & transport had the in year application since may, at no stage since may had they looked at exceptional circumstances or advised me they needed further evidence.
They have sent me an apology letter, they did not handle it correctly and will look at additional evidence..A bit late as schools are closed and Surrey C C don't even know themselves which Dept keeps records. Police report are going to take 40 days, causing me further stress. Have to deal with this instead of enjoying school holidays with kids - I am having to do all the running around now and all this information could have easily have been gathered if the schools had been open. What a mess!

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rememberme2 · 03/10/2011 00:57

Help my daughter has been given exceptional circumstances, currently not at school but a place came available at a school that my daughter can get to and was given to someone who had a younger sibling at the school and lived further away from my daughter. Surrey cc are now saying year 4 is full and has to wait until a place comes available. It is an in year application with exceptional circumstances. Does anyone know if this is correct?

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prh47bridge · 03/10/2011 10:38

Yes, it is correct. Deciding that your daughter qualifies under "exceptional arrangements" simply moves her up the waiting list if there is one. They will not admit your daughter until there is a place available. That is how the system works.

The only circumstances under which a school has to admit a child even though it is already full are:

when the child has a statement of SEN naming the school
when the child is admitted under the Fair Access Protocol

On the information you have posted your child does not qualify to be considered under the Fair Access Protocol as there is a place available at another school, albeit a school you don't want. Your daughter does not have a statement of SEN. Surrey are therefore absolutely correct in saying that your daughter will not be admitted until a place becomes available.

admission · 03/10/2011 12:30

PRH has explained the situation but i think that you need to ask some more questions of the LA. If you have been given admission priority under exceptional circumstances for this school then assuming that this a maintained school you should have had higher priority than a sibling. That is you should have been given the place providing that you did have exceptional circumstances priority and that you were on the waiting list with this other child at the time the place became available.

prh47bridge · 03/10/2011 16:37

My apologies. I overlooked thie bit in your post about another child being admitted. If this happened before the council agreed that your daughter falls into the "exceptional arrangements" category they have done nothing wrong. If it was for a different year they have done nothing wrong. However, if it was in Y4 and it happened after your daughter was placed in the "exceptional arrangements" category you need to query this as it would appear that Surrey may have got it wrong.

rememberme2 · 04/10/2011 10:33

My daughter has a medical condition where she has to walk to school not taken taken by car. Specialist letter states she needs a school nearby within 1.5 miles walking distance. The fair access protocol states schools can not claim they are full if she has a medical condition. Is this correct?

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rememberme2 · 04/10/2011 10:45

Also the coumcil allocated 2 extra places in year 3 above the PAN 1 for exceptional circumstances and 1 for a sibling. If the council have the authority to do that for one child with exceptional circumstances it is only fair to another child who has exceptional circumstances to create an additional place. If they did not then is it not discrimination?

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prh47bridge · 04/10/2011 11:59

Starting with the Fair Access Protocol, it applies if your daughter is not currently in school and she has a disability or medical condition which has already impacted on her attendance or participation at school. A medical condition on its own is not enough. If I recollect correctly you withdrew your daughter from school due to bullying. You haven't given any indication that she had a poor attendance record due to her medical condition. I am therefore not sure that she qualifies for consideration under the Fair Access Protocol. Even if she does qualify for consideration it does not mean you are entitled to a place at your preferred school even if it is your nearest school. Yes, if she is placed under the Fair Access Protocol the school concerned has to take her, but that is the school chosen by Surrey, NOT the school you want.

Turning to the children admitted above PAN in Y3, it is likely that they were admitted as a result of successful appeals or because they qualified for consideration under the Fair Access Protocol. In either case it is not discrimination to refuse entry for your daughter.

I note that you haven't answered my questions about the other child admitted from the waiting list. Was this in Y4? Didi it happen after Surrey agreed to put your daughter in the "exceptional arrangements" category?

rememberme2 · 04/10/2011 13:08

Yes it was in year 4 but my application for exceptional circumstances was put in in May 2011 which they ignored due to the work load they had at the time which is why it has taken so long. They sent me an apology letter.
The two additional places weren't as a result of successful appeals, they made these spaces available due to the number of applications they received for that year group, and then a further two places were given on appeal. She has not attended school since september 11 because of her condition as she has to walk and schools offered are too far away for her to walk to.

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prh47bridge · 04/10/2011 13:24

Increasing the PAN for one year group, which is what they have done for Y3, does not mean they have to do the same for other years. So I'm afraid I don't think you can argue discrimination.

I think Surrey would take the view that your daughter does not qualify for consideration under the Fair Access Protocol. You haven't taken up the place offered because you believe it is unsuitable because of your daughter's condition. That is not the same as your daughter's condition impacting on her attendance - that would happen if you had accepted the place and your daughter had attended but her attendance record was poor because of her medical condition. And, as I said before, even if Surrey accept that your daughter should be dealt with under their Fair Access Protocol it still doesn't mean you will get your preferred school.

Are you saying that the child was admitted from the waiting list after you had put in your case for "exceptional arrangements" but before Surrey put her in this category? If that is the case I think you may have grounds for appeal. You can argue Surrey should have come to a decision on your case before offering the place. However, if this only applies if the child was admitted after you put in your case for "exceptional arrangements".

rememberme2 · 04/10/2011 13:38

Yes but what they are saying is they did not have the information of my daughters condition. they did have the information but did not address it until i questioned them.

I took her out of the school she was bullied at for over a week before putting her in private. Can't afford private so therefore need the right school for her this time where she has support from friends.

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prh47bridge · 04/10/2011 13:47

The sequence of events is important. If they had the information that meant your daughter should have been in "exceptional arrangements" before this other child was admitted you have a case as per my last post. They should have processed that information and arrived at a decision on whether or not your daughter should be in "exceptional arrangements" before admitting anyone off the waiting list.

rememberme2 · 04/10/2011 14:13

The bullying and racist issue I feel it was not dealt with correctly. the person dealing with it made a comment ' with this in mind, i am unclear as to why you specifically moved back to Weybridge when you returned back to the UK' I found this offensive and what has it got to do with the Facts of what has happened to my child. It is as if she is saying we should not be here or why did we come back? She ignored the letter from my GP

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admission · 04/10/2011 22:09

rememberme, you need to concentrate on one bit of this at a time, you are confusing things by moving from one bit to another.
Can you answer the question when did the LA officially confirm to you that they accept that your daughter should be considered for admission purposes as an exceptional medical case? It is not when you applied it is when you officially were told that you were in this category. Secondly has since that date the school admitted any pupil to year 4?

prh47bridge · 04/10/2011 23:45

I agree that we need the date on which the LA confirmed that your daughter was in the "exceptional arrangements" category. If the school has admitted a pupil to Y4 after that date it suggests they have made a mistake which would give you a case for appeal.

Your posts seem to suggest that the LA took a long time to make a decision. If the delay was unreasonable and they admitted another pupil in that time it may give you a case.

I echo Admissions request that you concentrate on this.

rememberme2 · 05/10/2011 00:10

I sent a GP letter containing history of racism, bullying at previous school and its effects on my daughter and also information about her deformity.
Also, police reports with crime ref n0 and reports from children services. Whilst I was waiting for a response, advised them of my daughter having to walk to school due to her deformity and not at school due to this as she is finding it difficult walking her brother to school. Got a response on 20.9.11 via telephone to advising unsuccessful due to racism issues letter will be in the post . Asked about the issue regarding deformity and was advised nothing on the letter from GP re daughter having to walk, if I can get a letter supporting this then will look into it. Spoke to other colleagues re this and was advised comments would be passed on but hadn't.On the same day they offered a place to the other child in year 4. My daughter has been home schooled because schools offered too far to walk and she has no community of friends there that can support her if she is bullied again. Sent information re daughter having to walk and needs school nearby within 1.5 mile, not by car from specialist. Will find out of the outcome tomorrow. Where does my daughter stand now? Reason for refusal for racism on above post.
Hope this is clearer - thanks

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rememberme2 · 05/10/2011 00:31

Sorry dates incorrect got a telephone call on the 19.9.11 re decision on racism but did not look at the deformity issue advised will send additional letter from Specialist. Place was offered to the other child on the 20.9.11 without them looking at specialist letter. 1st specialist letter sent without mileage but confirmed daughter had to walk to school not in car. Got a response saying no mileage indicated on how far she can walk will be put on exceptional if can get specialist letter with distance. Have sent that and will hear tomorrow.
Thanks

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rememberme2 · 05/10/2011 09:19

They offered a place to the other child on the 20th and on the 21st rang me about not being successful.

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prh47bridge · 05/10/2011 09:56

That is clearer. Thank you.

I was under the impression you had given all the evidence about your daughter in May and it took them months to arrive at a decision during which time another child was admitted. Indeed, I was under the impression that Surrey have already agreed to put your daughter in the "exceptional arrangements" category.

Looking at your latest posts it seems that Surrey have still not agreed to put your daughter in the "exceptional arrangements" category and that you did not provide the letter from the specialist giving the mileage until after this other child was admitted. If that is the case they have behaved correctly. At the time the vacancy arose this other child was ahead of your daughter on the waiting list. The fact that you subsequently provided the letter from the specialist which they requested and which may mean that your daughter will be moved into the "exceptional arrangements" category does not change that.

What matters when a vacancy arises is who is top of the waiting list at that time. Subsequent changes to the waiting list are irrelevant. If Surrey had taken an unreasonable time to process the evidence you provided there may have been an argument that your child should have been at the head of the waiting list. However, on the dates you have given they didn't even have the required evidence from you when this vacancy arose. They therefore had no choice but to offer it as they did.

I would like to help and I've been trying to find evidence that Surrey have broken the rules in some way. I am afraid everything you have posted to date indicates that Surrey have got it right. Y4 is full and therefore you have to wait until someone leaves. If they do put your daughter in the "exceptional arrangements" category she is likely to be at the head of the waiting list and will therefore be first in line for any place that becomes available in Y4 but they do not have to admit her until a place is available.

Having said that, if they do put your daughter in the "exceptional arrangements" category you could suggest to Surrey that circumstances have changed and you should be entitled to a fresh appeal. They may not agree to this but if they do you can use the letters from the specialist as part of your case. You may be able to persuade an appeal panel to admit your daughter on medical grounds. But if they do give you a fresh appeal please concentrate on the medical evidence. Everything else is irrelevant. If you go into an appeal with the scattergun approach you have used here the panel is likely to end up confused.

rememberme2 · 05/10/2011 10:27

The place came available in year 4 at the beginning of the year as I rang the school to check. Then I informed Surrey CC about the place. If they had concerns regarding my daughter's deformity on the GP letter they had plenty of time to look at this and request further information but they did not. They could have taken medical advise themselves, but they did not. I had informed them of my daughter having to walk to school and at no point from my telephone conversations did they mention I needed to get confirmation from the specialists.

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prh47bridge · 05/10/2011 11:10

It is up to you to provide the evidence to get your daughter into the "exceptional arrangements" category. It is not up to Surrey to go searching for evidence. As Surrey's admission booklet says, "Parents are responsible for providing the evidence to support an application for a medical or social placement". I therefore remain of the view that Surrey have acted correctly. At the time this vacancy arose the only evidence you had supplied was a letter from your GP which was insufficient to get your daughter into the "exceptional arrangements" category. The place was therefore offered to the child who was at the head of the waiting list at the time. Surrey had no other choice.

I know that is not what you want to hear but on the information you have given I cannot arrive at any other conclusion.

admission · 05/10/2011 23:20

I have to agree with PRH. You do not have any admission priority for exceptional circumstances as of today because Surrey have yet to rule on that. Any admissions will be on the basis of who is top of the waiting list at that time and you would not have been top, the sibling would have been top and therefore was admitted. Surrey have therefore correctly administered their admission system.

rememberme2 · 06/10/2011 12:39

I have received a reply back and provided the specialist letter that my daughter needs a school nearby within 1.5 miles but they have still refused because I have not given a reason why it is the only school.
The school is 100m away from my son's school, she is finding it very difficult and is crying because she has to walk.

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