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Original poster

Secondary school appeals

51 replies

OUB1974 · 03/03/2026 08:20

I thought it would be handy to start a thread for anyone planning to appeal and hopefully get some advice.

My son got our 3rd choice. He passed his 11+ with flying colours but was 2 pts off an exceptionally high entry score. Our local alternative is heavily oversubscribed.

We are being quite pragmatic about it and understand it quite probably won't succeed, but we want to give him a chance. There's also a possibility of a place in the 2nd round at the grammar.

Does anyone have advice on writing an effective appeal. He did really well on the 11+ with no tutoring, so I think he'd do well at the grammar as it's a popular school with a very wide catchment from areas with no grammars, so there's a lot of tutoring for the test, and I think that the fact he almost got there without any help is really positive.

OP posts:
minipie · 03/03/2026 09:17

Some general appeal information.

There are two routes for an appeal to succeed.

  1. If you can prove an error in the admissions process - either the admissions criteria are unlawful/unfair in some way, or they were applied incorrectly. You also need to show that your child would have got a place without this error.

This route is rarer as most authorities don’t make errors. But it happens.

  1. If you can show that your child has reasons why they need this particular school, which are strong enough to outweigh the downsides to the school of taking an extra pupil (bearing in mind the school will be already full according to its admissions number or PAN).

This route involves a) the school explaining the problems an extra child would cause. Pressure on classroom space, teacher time, facilities, lunch queue etc. And b) you explaining what this school offers that other schools don’t and why it is so important for your child to attend here. The panel then balances the two.

Appeals are therefore somewhat easier to win if the school has bigger premises and hasn’t been packed to the rafters already - but most popular schools have been.

Please note that arguments about the appeal school being more academic, the behaviour there being better, the journey being easier, friends going there will not generally carry much if any weight.

There may be circumstances in which some of these do carry weight but it would need to be something quite unusual - eg your child needs a short journey due to their mobility issues (and there is no other school with space that is equally or nearly as close).

Arguments that do carry weight are things like, my child has a hearing deficit and this school is the only one with modern buildings that are better acoustically . Or, my child is a gifted competitive swimmer and this school is the only one with a pool and regular swimming available. Even these wouldn’t necessarily win but would carry weight.

It is helpful to have investigated other options available (ie any other schools with space) as the panel will often ask whether you have done this and why these are not suitable.

The majority of appeals are unsuccessful.