School Admission Appeal?-please help?

[Ridhi011]

Hello everyone..i am new on here so please be gentle with me!lol..has anyone received their school admission letter last week in Leicester City?..primary to secondary school?..i had mine for my daughter age 11 and she is on wtg list for her 1st choice but received a place for 2nd choice..she is upset as all her friends are going to the 1st chice school..this is due to catchment area and we are on the border but sadly 0.5km closer to 2nd choice school..anyone else going through this or have any experience? The only ground for appeal i have is “friendship issues”..i could do with some help as seriously contemplating an appeal?..thank you all in advance.

Sorry to hear you haven't got your chosen school.
You obviously have the right to appeal however your reasons don't sound compelling enough unless there are other reasons?
Are you on the waiting list? There can be much movement from children going private or moving.
Please be positive with your child regarding the school you have as if she does end up going she will need your support. Also remember that many children go to secondary and make a whole lot of new friends even when they move up with primary peers.
I appreciate-its difficult. We have this every year and then come September when children don't turn up we offer from the waiting list but they don't then want the place as they love the allocated school. Hope your dd is ok.

I'm afraid friendship issues are very unlikely win an appeal unless you have evidence that your daughter has a greater need than other children to stay with her friends. To build a case you need to look for things that the 1st choice school offers which are missing from the 2nd choice school and are particularly relevant to your daughter. For example, if she is musically talented and the 1st choice school has lots of extracurricular musical activities, that should be part of your case. You are aiming to show that your daughter will be disadvantaged if she doesn't go to your 1st choice school and that this outweighs any problems the school will face through having to cope with an additional pupil.

My son was the only one from his primary school that went to his secondary last year. He has been absolutely fine and made lots of new friends. Try not to worry as I'm sure she will thrive whatever school she goes to

Apologies for the delay but im very grateful for all those who have commented..why cant parents just swap their respective higher preferances as i now know several parents/children who preferred our 2nd choice but received a place for our 1st choice!lol anyway if anyone knows a legal beagle/expert who can draft me up an appeal i feel i should give it a shot?..anyone here from Leicester who can help,please PM me thank you .

You don't need a legal eagle you write the appeal yourself.

the reason you can't just swap places is because it would be illiegal and not in accordance with the published admission criteria - please don't mention this in your appeal !

I would strongly recommend against a legal eagle. In my experience they tend to reduce your chances of winning your appeal. You will get plenty of help from the experts on Mumsnet.