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Original poster

Anyone have experience with the efa for maladministration

36 replies

Boygirl5 · 04/07/2013 22:47

Hi everyone, I'm new on here, so here goes.....
I had an appeal hearing on 17th June. First the school rep gave his case, I had no questions. Then it was my turn, I had prepared a script to read from which I asked could I read from. I offered the clerk a copy and he accepted. When I had finished the panel said they had no questions and neither did the school rep.
Panel asked school rep to sum up and he declined they then asked me if I wanted to sum up I said yes I had some notes. The chair then asked if I had copies of that too i said yes. So he asked me to just leave my notes as they would read themselves as they had nearly 60 appeals to hear!

I rang the efa later that day as I wasn't happy that I hadn't been asked questions, allowed to sum up, nor had they made reference to any of the many letters of support.
The efa advised that I should wait until I receive the outcome of the appeal before putting a complaint in.
I found out on Friday 28th June that my appeal had been unsuccessful, I have sent an email of complaint to the efa the same day 28th June.

I believe this constitutes maladministration. Does anyone have any thoughts on this or experience on how likely I am to be granted another appeal or indeed how long these things take.

Many thanks in advance for any advice/support

OP posts:
FormaLurka · 06/07/2013 17:04

I obviously got the appeals panel confused with the EFA. But even if the EFA decides that the appeal was incorrectly handled, the best that the OP can expect is another hearing. If that is the outcome then all the OP gets is a 2nd attempt to present a weak case.

tiggytape · 06/07/2013 16:35

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NotFluffy · 06/07/2013 13:22

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prh47bridge · 06/07/2013 12:55

The EFA hasn't done anything in this case yet. The OP is complaining about the appeal panel (nothing to do with the EFA). They should always give the appellant a proper hearing. However weak the case, preventing the OP from summing up is poor practise, as is arranging so many cases for the same day that the panel ends up rushing through them.

The EFA don't look at the strength of the case. They look at whether or not the appeal was administered correctly and, if not, whether the OP was sufficiently disadvantaged to justify a fresh appeal.

FormaLurka · 06/07/2013 11:27

I have no experience of the EFA or admissions but IMHO you seem to have a weak case and the EFA probably fast forwarded your appeal because of that.

I mean, I don't see how letters from your cousin, priest or football manager is relevant. I have known people who successfully appealed because a school has specialist SEN provisions but pastoral care? Hmm

prh47bridge · 06/07/2013 10:40

I don't have any experience with the EFA either. They are supposed to work to the same standard as the LGO and I understand there were a lot of discussions between the two bodies to try and achieve this. I have seen some suggestions that the EFA is less likely to rule in favour of parents but I don't know if that is true. The only way to be sure would be to give an identical set of cases to both the EFA and the LGO and see if the outcomes were similar.

This is one area where I think change is needed. If the EFA and the LGO are not consistent we will end up in a situation where there is one set of rules for academies and another for everyone else. Personally I would prefer to see the LGO handle all complaints about admission appeals.

tiggytape · 06/07/2013 09:35

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Original poster
Boygirl5 · 05/07/2013 23:42

Thanks tiggytape, I agree with you. If I do manage to get another appeal I will be making it much more focused and for just one twin. I think applying for two places probably never helped much either.

The letters from friend is actually my cousin, we share childcare her child got a place whilst mine did not.

The doctor explained he was suffering from depression. The school I was appealing to prides itself on its pastoral care, which is why I wanted it.

Thanks, I'm just hoping I get another appeal now. Do you have any experience with the efa? Or maladministration issues? Thanks

OP posts:
tiggytape · 05/07/2013 10:46

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Original poster
Boygirl5 · 05/07/2013 10:17

Hi my letters of support were from, Dr, hypnotherapist, private tutor, current year head, priest, football manager, friends and family.

The letter says a brief outline if matters considered, 5 bullet points, the rest of the three page letter details the schools over subscription part and says the schools case outweighed my own.

Thanks

OP posts:
tiggytape · 05/07/2013 08:54

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