Secondary school appeal

As prh47bridge says, you are aiming to show why your child will be disadvantaged if they don’t get a place at the preferred school. You don’t need to do a full compare and contrast exercise, but highlight points like (say) they play the harp and this is the only school with a full orchestra.

If you think there has been a mistake in the allocations (rather than you being squeezed out by people in higher admissions categories) you should double-check with the LEA. Did they place you in the right admissions category? Was the home-school distance correctly measured, etc?

There is no requirement for councils to publish an "allocation profile" or similar. However, the letter telling you that you didn't get a place should set out why. As a previous poster says, it will be because other applicants were higher in the admission priorities than you. You should check that they have put your daughter in the correct admission category and that the home to school distance looks right.

You are appealing for the school you want, so the emphasis should be on the things it offers that are missing from the allocated school and that are particularly relevant to your daughter. Saying the allocated school doesn't have certain extra-curricular activities is fine but be careful you don't come across as negative about the allocated school.

The council should have published an 'allocation profile' which tells.you which schools went to which criteria. E.g. lives in catchment to a distance of 3.6 miles....
From this you can work out why you were unsuccessful.

Yes list all the reasons school A is more suitable.

More important than appeal (as most are not successful) - make sure you are on the waitlist for the school.

She won't have got first choice because it was oversubscribed by people in a higher category - eg they have siblings, live closer etc.
just focus on what this school offers for your child. Do you have more points than extra curricular activities?