If you go to appeal..

[spiderpig8]

.. do the panel know what preference you gave the school on the original common admissions form?

They may do but they should not take the ranking into consideration unless it is directly relevant to the appeal.

As a panel member we would know what preferences were expressed as we always receive the original admission request form. If we do not receive this form we will not be able to confirm whether the original application was handled correctly by the admission authority, which is a key part of the process for any panel. It is especially in your interest that this is happens at reception year appeals where so many of the appeals will be infant class size regs cases when only a mistake by the admisison authority will win you the appeal.
It does not make any difference to any of our deliberations which preference the school was, in fact there is actually nothing in law stopping you appealing for a school that you did not even put down as an original preference.
What a panel is not allowed to know is where the appealant stands on the waiting list as this would be considered to potentially influence any decision the panel may make. For instance if you knew that the appealant was first on the waiting list there might be potential to think well they will get a place anyway with time, so we might as well admit now or conversely not admit.