Secondary admission appeal help please

The Head has no influence on the outcome of the appeal. He (or any representative of the school) is not part of decision making, and wouldn't have been in the room when decisions were made.. So he might have been interested, but it would have been irrelevant to the outcome!

You need to show that the detriment to him of not attending outweighs the detriment to the school of taking another child into his year.

Academic arguments such as streaming, achievement of the school, discipline, behaviour, etc are generally not relevant. They are the same for all who attend the school, and as PanelChair says, the school will say it can cater for all and the panel are unlikely to disagree. All schools will say their pastoral care is good, and again a panel are unlikely to disagree.

The history argument could be brought up if you can show there is something specific and particular about this school's provision - every secondary will have a history department. What are the other provisions you mention - they may actually be relevant, for example if he excels at chess and they have a thriving chess club. Or a successful computing club, or something else he is shows promise in that he won't get otherwise.

The anxiety would not be taken into account unless there was a letter from a qualified professional stating the issues and that your son needs this school specifically, I'm afraid. Pretty much every appeal I hear for secondary cites anxiety and friendship groups as an issue, but panels need solid proof of need.

I’m surprised to hear of an appeal being won on the grounds of travel and staying with friends from primary school - I guess the panel took the view that the distance/time was beyond what could be considered reasonable. As PatriciaHolm says, “asset to the school” arguments don’t fly, because they don’t relate to what the child needs from the school and, besides, children who won’t be an “asset” have the same rights and the same chances at appeal.

I'm not sure how it all works but it was one of the things asked by the head, who was at the appeal 🤷‍♀️

The panel are completely independent of the school. I chair appeal panels and honestly, we don't care at all about whether the child's achievements will make the school look good!

Academic provision as in the history department and history club is a relevant argument in an appeal (although I would want to know more about what the preferred school offers here and why it’s so much better for your child than what’s on offer at the allocated school which, presumably, also has a history department).

Other aspects of academic provision - such as setting or streaming - carry no weight at appeal, because they’re aspects of the management and organisation of the school and it’s difficult to argue (and difficult for the panel to agree) that any child needs a school that’s run in a particular way. The school is likely to argue, and the panel is likely to agree, that it manages the range of abilities and ensures all pupils’ needs are met.

If you wish to argue on the grounds of your child’s well-being, you will (I think) need evidence from a paediatrician or other health care professional to confirm that your child has anxiety and that in their professional opinion they need a place at this school and will be disadvantaged if they don’t get one. Without that, the school is likely to argue, and the panel is likely to agree, that anxiety is not a rare condition and all schools are capable of providing appropriate pastoral support.

I’m sorry not to be more encouraging. I suggest you look for other features of the school which would suit your child and which aren’t available at the offered school. Look too for weaknesses in the school’s argument against admitting: are they already over PAN in other year groups, suggesting they could manage additional pupils?

This does look like you are doing well at describing why the appealing-for school is best, but it may not be strong enough. the history obsession + history club is very good. but oversubscribed schools do not have the capacity to admit every pupil who would thrive there and the other 120(?) pupils who have been awarded places will suffer an incremental harm with each additional pupil admitted over capacity, so it's more than just showing he will benefit because the harm done by not admitting needs to outweigh the harm done by admitting.

@admission and @prh47bridge and @panelchair are often willing to and advice.

there's always a lot of waiting-list movement between now and September. are you on the waiting list for every single school that would be better than the allocated school?

The detriment stuff will be the 'same' for all appeals to the school. Have they ever gone over PAN before, have there been safety incidents due to overcrowding etc.

History club
Strong pastoral provision if you can point to specifics
Behaviour policy and why specifically he needs it

Academics and streaming/setting unlikely to hold water.
Streaming - putting into same bands across subjects, setting, putting into groups for specific subjects / group of subjects.

Also you can appeal for schools 2 and 3 too.

I used lots of similar arguments but the ones quoted on the appeal win letter were that the allocated school was 3 bus rides away (preferred school was one) and all her friends were going to the preferred school. I do however feel that they were swayed by my argument that she was a very high achiever and would make their grades look good.

not want but why (autocorrect)

You need to address what the other pupils at rhe school you want should be put to the detriment of having an additional pupil in their class I believe.