Admissions Error

[FrustratedByAdmissions]

So, I would like help with where to start on building an appeal.

I live in one LEA but applied for schools in a neighbouring LEA.
I applied via paper form, which I hand delivered to the admissions team near the beginning of December.

A week later they emailed me about the application with a query that I responded to immediately. They replied to my response 3 weeks after that.

So it came to last week, waited patiently for the offer letter - none came. Called the admissions team on Thursday "We have to speak to the other LEA, we'll call you back" - no call ever came.

This morning I rang the other LEA directly - "We have no record of the application". Call my LEA back - "Ah, a mistake was made, the application was sent through on Thursday, it will be processed as a late admission"

Spoke to the school - they've offered out all their places, I have to hope my child gets a place in the 2nd admission round (We are not in catchment however my older child attends so we have sibling priority).

I've raised a formal complaint with my LEA about the failure to send the application and then keeping that information from me last week (10 day turnaround so I imagine I won't hear back for a while yet). I have made the school aware who have spoken to the other LEA, but also said I would have to wait til the next round.

If he doesn't get the space, I'm assuming I have grounds to appeal. Has anyone had a similar experience, or information about what I should do?

[eddiemairswife]

Did you submit your form before the January deadline, and Did you get an acknowledgement?

[FrustratedByAdmissions]

Yes. As I said in my original post I hand delivered it more than a month before the deadline. Yes I had email confirmation from my LEA that they had it, and when I spoke to them on the phone they said they had made a mistake and not sent it to the neighbouring LEA as they should have done.

[eddiemairswife]

I think you would have a good chance at appeal. You have done everything correctly and on time.

[admission]

Sounds like you have a good case to take to appeal. The issue is to be able to prove that firstly the LA had your application on time even after the query that was raised. Then the next question is if your LA had processed the application properly would the other LA have offered you a place at one or more of the schools you applied for. If the answer is yes then the appeal panel should admit. I

[PanelChair]

I agree with Admission. If you have clear evidence that you applied on time and that the LEA's error in not forwarding the application deprived your child of a place at your preferred school, the panel should allow the appeal (in fact, you ought to get the place anyway but many LEAs will insist on referring the matter to the appeal panel).

[prh47bridge]

Also agree with Admission. The central question is whether you would have got a place if your application had been processed properly. If the answer is that you would, you have an excellent case for appeal.

[EluphNaugeMeop]

Are you sure that it was the correct procedure that you submitted your application for a school in LEA#2 to an address in LEA#1? Did you have no responsibility to notify LEA#2 directly yourself? I don't know if this procedure is the same everywhere.

[FrustratedByAdmissions]

Thanks all. Yes I have evidence that I did everything I needed to within the correct time frames. They just didn't do what they were supposed to. The correct procedure is to apply through your own LEA, there was nothing else I could have done.

My child would have had a space if the application had gone in on time, as another child who is further away but has the same sibling priority did get their space (and they had to apply via the same LEA I did).

[prh47bridge]

I don't know if this procedure is the same everywhere

It is the same everywhere in England. You apply for the schools you want through your own LA. If you apply for a school in another LA it is your LA's responsibility to pass on your application. You do not have to notify the other LA at all.

FrustratedByAdmissions - In that case you should not have any problems winning your appeal. You should pressure your LA to get the mistake rectified without an appeal but don't rely on that. It is quite likely that they will insist on an appeal. At appeal, as well as making the case that a mistake has been made which deprived your child of a place, you should make a case as to why your child will be disadvantaged if they don't go to this school. This part of your case is unlikely to be necessary but is a precaution just in case there are other appellants who have been affected by mistakes and the appeal panel decides the school can't handle all of the children involved. In that situation the appeal panel has to compare the cases to decide which children to admit.

[FrustratedByAdmissions]

Thank you prh47bridge, I will make sure I put something about that in.