S*** I have our appeal date..

I would go smart.

I spoke for an hour at ours.

I had loads of stats inc vacancies in other year groups, as school said an extra admission would be too much for whole school assemblies etc. The County Council gave me lots of audit info. I was lucky enough to find an official adjudication from a few years earlier which stayed the school could comfortably go over its PAN by a certain number.

Also, anything on offer from your preferred school that your allocated school doesn’t provide.

Giles I will try and PM you.

You don't need to take the originals of your evidence but there is no harm in doing so.

Finding out if the school has been over PAN before is helpful. If they have it suggests that they can go over PAN again without too many problems.

As well as working out what you want to say, think about what questions you want to ask the admission authority's representative. That is your chance to highlight any weaknesses in their case.

And, when working out what you are going to say, remember that, as well as presenting your case, you are likely to be asked to give a short summing up statement at the end of the hearing. Keep it brief. Use it to highlight the strongest points of your case and the weakest points of the admission authority's case.

Good luck.

Giles we were on the allocation day thread together. Our appeal has happened and we won :) Good luck with yours.
I wore jeans, a shirt and my black interview jacket. Our stage 2 was on the same day as stage 1.
I went in ready to answer questions with a few notes about things that I hadn't included in my statement but I hoped to get across. I did burst into tears at one point and it isn't unusual. Otherwise I tried not to ramble and be calm. I explained why the allocated school was a poor fit and my child too. We had 20 minutes so it was important to focus.

Being on the same day is neither good nor bad. Don't stress about the order in which appeals are heard. The panel will take notes during the hearings and will refer to them to ensure they are fair to all appellants.

You won't blow this the second you walk through the door. Appeal panels are used to parents being nervous and sometimes getting emotional. Just try to relax as far as you can (not easy, I know) and make sure you have everything you need with you to help you get your case across. Don't rely on memory. Personally I recommend having cards with bullet points you can refer to, but some people prefer to write exactly what they intend to say. But don't read out your written submission. The panel will have already read it. They don't need you to read it to them.

You won't be judged on what you wear. The panel and the clerk are likely to be reasonably smart - suits or similar. But no-one will mind if you turn up in jeans and t-shirt and it won't affect the outcome of the hearing.