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Original poster

Urgent appeal: Faith criteria incorrectly applied

88 replies

aquarimum · 01/03/2024 08:06

Hi,
A school we are on the waitlist for has incorrectly applied the faith criteria- it changed this year to prioritise baptism over siblings, but siblings have gotten in ahead of baptised eldest children. How do we challenge this?
Can provide links if necessary
thanks!

OP posts:
SheilaFentiman · 02/03/2024 10:15

fruity81 · 02/03/2024 10:06

you got your third choice op

what were the grounds for not being offered the second choice school?

I must have missed op saying the allocated school was her third choice.

But it’s not relevant anyway - if the published criteria were applied wrongly, she has good grounds for appeal (unless the school just corrects the error).

fruity81 · 02/03/2024 10:06

you got your third choice op

what were the grounds for not being offered the second choice school?

fruity81 · 02/03/2024 10:02

i’m willing on the families who have got a place on grounds of sibling!!

fruity81 · 02/03/2024 09:50

surely you’re one of a few in this situation at this school?

MrsBennetsPoorNerves · 02/03/2024 09:47

Personally, I can't get past the ridiculousness of the idea that state schools might prioritise some children simply for having been baptised. Utterly wrong imo, and discriminatory.

But since that's the system, I think it's reasonable for the OP to challenge the school if she believes that the published criteria haven't been applied. Hopefully they have just missed counting her dc amongst the baptised cohort and it will be put right soon.

If someone has fucked up the admissions process for the whole cohort, I wonder what they would do. They can't exactly withdraw offers that have already been made, can they? Perhaps they would have to find a way of accommodating everyone?

fiorentina · 02/03/2024 09:39

I’m absolutely not saying it’s right, I would feel aggrieved but it’s a tricky dilemma.

whiteboardking · 02/03/2024 09:30

@fiorentina but what else is @aquarimum supposed to do?!?! Miss out on a school she should rightly have been given?

fiorentina · 02/03/2024 09:25

If these are friends of yours who you feel don’t meet the criteria and you ‘report them’ that will be the end of your friendship. I’ve seen this happen when an offer of a place was withdrawn.

Original poster
aquarimum · 02/03/2024 07:20

Thanks all. I’ve read the admissions arrangements and yes, the school do the rankings and provide the list to the LA.

OP posts:
prh47bridge · 02/03/2024 00:37

whiteboardking · 02/03/2024 00:17

@prh47bridge I was assuming it was a school that still used LA to do it's admissions

The LA always co-ordinates admissions for all schools, but it only sets the admission criteria and sorts the applications into priority order for community and VC schools.

whiteboardking · 02/03/2024 00:17

@prh47bridge I was assuming it was a school that still used LA to do it's admissions

prh47bridge · 02/03/2024 00:08

whiteboardking · 01/03/2024 20:50

Gosh it sounds like school has changed its criteria but the LA computer systems etc not updated to reflect it.

I suspect this is a VA school, in which case this is on the school. A VA school sets its own admission criteria and is responsible for putting the applications in rank order using the criteria.

whiteboardking · 01/03/2024 20:50

Gosh it sounds like school has changed its criteria but the LA computer systems etc not updated to reflect it.

Original poster
aquarimum · 01/03/2024 19:19

Absolutely sure arrangements apply to this year. It’s very clear on both the school and LA website what year the admissions arrangements apply to - and the school is changing them again for 2025.

Yes we had to do a SIF. Several families are freely stating that they have been admitted when they are lower in the criteria than other families who haven’t been admitted.

OP posts:
LadyLapsang · 01/03/2024 18:21

Were you required to submit a supplementary information form as part of the application? It sounds like the minister knows the family and the children attend Church as you mention you were all discussing the matter. Possibly there is more to this than you are aware.

MarchingFrogs · 01/03/2024 18:06

LadyLapsang · 01/03/2024 17:59

Hi OP, are you absolutely sure the new admissions policy applies for 24/25? Timings are such that schools have just been consulting on policies for 25/26.

And in fact, should now have made their determined admissions policy fir 2025/26 public.

LadyLapsang · 01/03/2024 17:59

Hi OP, are you absolutely sure the new admissions policy applies for 24/25? Timings are such that schools have just been consulting on policies for 25/26.

prh47bridge · 01/03/2024 16:46

aquarimum · 01/03/2024 16:21

Also - can we ask the school to prove they have applied their criteria fairly? Who checks?

The school is responsible for making sure they do things correctly and, if necessary, for proving to the appeal panel that they got it right. No-one else checks. For the moment, you have information that suggests they have applied the wrong criteria. It is up to the school to check and see if they have indeed got it wrong.

Original poster
aquarimum · 01/03/2024 16:21

Also - can we ask the school to prove they have applied their criteria fairly? Who checks?

OP posts:
Original poster
aquarimum · 01/03/2024 16:03

Thanks all. We’ve sent mail to both the school and LA.

OP posts:
PatriciaHolm · 01/03/2024 14:48

I believe it is a grey area, but there is some precedence that school offers can’t be rescinded after about 3 days or so (hopefully someone will correct me if I’m wrong).

There was an LGO ruling on this 10+ years ago which said 3 days, but that was under a previous admissions code and AFAIK it hasn't been tested under this one, so many LAs will disregard it, though the new code doesn't suggest it should be in any way different.

EduCated · 01/03/2024 13:20

To add - that’s only for withdrawing offers of wrongly admitted children (if there are any). They could (should?) go over PAN to admit any children who were missed due to an error, unless it is a number so big as to truly be unmanageable.

EduCated · 01/03/2024 13:18

aquarimum · 01/03/2024 13:14

Is there any statutory guidance as to how long they have to fix this? We’ve only got the rest of today and then we are into a weekend

I believe it is a grey area, but there is some precedence that school offers can’t be rescinded after about 3 days or so (hopefully someone will correct me if I’m wrong).

Don’t get swept up in how big an issue this may (or may not) be - focus on your application and your DC, and make sure you contact them as soon as possible.

Original poster
aquarimum · 01/03/2024 13:14

Is there any statutory guidance as to how long they have to fix this? We’ve only got the rest of today and then we are into a weekend

OP posts:
Lougle · 01/03/2024 12:09

You definitely need to go back to the admissions authority. They have a very limited time to get this right before the places of the wrongly admitted children are secured.

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