Fair access protocol

[Mayhemmumma]

Does anyone know the process for this?

I hadn't appreciated my child applies for this. I don't know anything about it- what is the process if I apply in year?

My child is unhappy at school (I feel her school is dreadful) and wants to move but is very well behaved, good attendance and very able academically - about to start year 8.

We are on a waiting list for preferred school and have been throughout year 7, the school have sent through the application form as it's going into a new school year and I've noticed this.

In my area, access to the Fair Access Protocol only applies in very specific circumstances which result in your child being in the area without a school place such as moving due to domestic violence, being fostered etc. Simply being unhappy at school does not qualify.

I know that - she ticks a box

But what happens there after?

If she has a school place currently she is very unlikely to qualify.

Ok so she meets the criteria but as she is currently in a school it doesn't help?

I wouldn't have thought so but it may be different in different areas. In mine it is only if you are resident in the area without a school place, you are then referred to a monthly panel by admissions and a decision is made about allocating a place for the child - parents have no say in which school is allocated.

If she has a school place she doesn't meet the criteria Who has told you she does? Have you applied to the new school? Been rejected? Then you can appeal.

The criteria is long - it asks if children fall into these categories

•	children either subject to a Child in NeedPlan or a Child Protection Plan or having had a Child in Need Plan or a Child Protection Plan within 12 months at the point of being referred to the Protocol;
•	children living in a refuge or in other Relevant Accommodation at the point of being referred to the Protocol;
•	children from the criminal justice system;
•	children in alternative provision who need to be reintegrated into mainstream education or who have been permanently excluded but are deemed suitable for mainstream education;
•	children with special educational needs(but without an Education, Health and Care plan), disabilities or medical conditions;
•	children who are carers;
•	children who are homeless;
•	children in formal kinship carearrangements;
•	children of, or who are, Gypsies, Roma, Travellers, refugees, and asylum seekers;
•	children who have been refused a school place on the grounds of their challenging behaviour
•	children for whom a place has not been sought due to exceptional circumstances;
•	children who have been out of education for four or more weeks where it can be demonstrated that there are no places available at any school within a reasonable distance of their home. This does not include circumstances where a suitable place has been offered to a child and this has not been accepted; and
•	previously looked after children for whom the Local Authority has been unable to promptly secure a school place.

FAP applies when no schools have places. Your child has a place.

Ok it reads as if only the last four criteria are where there is no school place.

It's just giving you examples of children who because of their circumstances might find it difficult to find a school place.

If your child has a school place, the local authority don't need to move her. If a place comes up at her prefer school, she may be offered it. I'm guessing they want to know whether to keep her on the list or not.

That list is given as reasons why a child might not have applied using the normal admissions cycles. The FAP guidance says at the start that it exists to ensure the most vulnerable children always have a place... so because your dd has a place already the FAP cannot be used.

If you remove her from school and her place gets given to another child and no schools have places then you might be able to use the FAP but it doesn't guarantee you get the school you want.

Thanks that's helpful.

Grasping at straws but will it give her any priority on the waiting list or is that separate?

Did you appeal the decision not to offer your DD a place when you were turned down for year 7?

You can appeal once per academic year, so as soon as you are told officially that there is still no place for your DD once the year group moves up to year 8.

In the meantime, are there any other schools which would be more acceptable to you than the one tour DD is at currently? You can apply for as many as ypu like and each refusal triggers the right to appeal against that decision.

FAP gives a child a place. Its separate to waiting list.
An appeal can also give a child a place.
The waiting list is by entrance criteria.

My dd was given a place at our catchment primary school when we moved to the UK from another country and the LEA couldn't find her a school place anywhere else.

Do they hold a waiting list? I don't think it's compulsory adhere year 7. If there is she will be on it (assuming you've applied?) in strict admission criteria, so if they prioritise children with the characteristic she has (and it might be some generic 'social or medical need') then she will be high up. But if they don't have such a category she will just be ranked according to criteria, so probably distance. Note adopted, looked after or previously looked after children get priority if she is one.

But it's not clear if you've applied and been rejected and then appealed.

Do they hold a waiting list? I don't think it's compulsory adhere year 7. If there is she will be on it

Not necessarily, some schools require you to tell them that you want to be on the waiting list every month or half term r whatever. It's quite annoying.

^Fair Access Protocols may only be used to place the following groups of
vulnerable and/or hard to place children, where they are having difficulty in
securing a school place in-year, and it can be demonstrated that reasonable
measures have been taken to secure a place through the usual in-year
admission procedures80:^

^^This should go before the list you posted of types of pupils eligible for the FAP.

Waiting lists are kept in the order of the school’s oversubscription criteria.

Your best bet is an appeal and if you can afford it, use an appeal expert. I do appeals panels and they can make extremely odd decisions sometimes so it's always worth a shot (I'm usually representing the school so I shouldn't say that cause it's really annoying when parents lob hopeless appeals at you... But every now and again one unexpected one wins). You need as much evidence as possible.

Failing that can you move to get higher up the list??

If I've understood it right the FAP guidelines mean that your child can stay on the waiting list for her preferred school. If a space comes up in the right year group if it will be offered to your child if:

1. there are no children on the waiting list for that year group in that school who do not currently have a school place
2. There are not other children on the waiting list who meet the normal school admissions criteria better than your daughter

To clarify
For year 7 last September she didn't get a space at this school, I appealed and it was rejected.
She has been on waiting list since and every half term they check I still want to be on the waiting list.
Now that it will be a new year group (8) in September if I want to remain on the waiting list I have to complete a school form (not the usual local authority application)
Filing out the form and it asks if she falls into any of the categories below and so I wondered if this would have any bearing on her application.

Ah, okay - I think it may be a generic form for mid-year applications, then. That is both for those moving into the area for whom there may not be a school place, to whom the 'FAP' element may be relevant, and for those just wanting to change schools within the area, to whom it won't be.

Please don't waste good money on an 'appeals expert' to represent you at appeal. There are several folk on here who will be able to give good advice on the possible strength of your appeal, things you may not have considered etc, or alternatively, over on the the elevenplusexams forum (although the appeals section there is mainly geared towards appeals for selective schools - the 'oversubscription' element is still relevant, though). Remember that you are appealing for a school place that you want, not against the one that you have - but obviously your DD's circumstances at latter may be a significant driver for seeking out the former, and decent IAP members will acknowledge this. If this school (and any others) was originally a higher preference than the one you got, think back to why you placed it / them in their relative positions in the first place - but do try to check up as to whether those things still apply ('Because it's the only school in the area that offers MFL X andt his is important to us because...' falls a bit flat if the school lost its X teacher half way through what would have been your DD's first term, and has now decided to scrap the teaching of that language altogether, for example).

You can appeal again for the new academic year.
Ask for help on MN on how to best word your appeal by writing a new thread with appeal in the title and giving details as to what there is about the preferred school that you want. 'Unhappy' won't be good enough, though social&emotional issues may help if provable (and also if linked to something specific in the background).
Extra curricular may help, as subjects offered for GCSE.
If you tag with an @ prh47bridge and PatriciaHolm they may be able to help.

If a space came up in the right year group and there was more than one child on the waiting list for that year group, the child who meets more of the FAP criteria is likely to be offered a place first. However if no place comes up in that year group, then a child could meet all the FAP criteria and still not be offered a place.