Late application for Primary School - appeals advice needed!

[Music1979]

I'm hoping for some advice on a slightly specific and embarrassing situation.

I've worked as a teacher for 15 years and am Vice-Chair of Governors at my local primary school which my son attends (Yr 2). You would think I would be very aware of the need to apply for primary school on-time... In the madness of this year I completely forgot to apply for a place for my daughter who should be joining reception this September. It is heavily overly subscribed. My son was given a place as we live close to the school and we meet this criteria and the sibling criteria too for my daughter. I realised in a complete panic and submitted a late application at the beginning of February.
I think I understand how it works. We won't go into the first round and will have the best chance through the waiting list route but my question is about whether it is worth launching an appeal once we don't get offered a place?

This year has been awful for so many and so I'm no exception. As a teacher it has been a year of panic, change, juggling homeschooling with teaching online and all that has brought. I didn't receive a single reminder in the ways I normally would and I am wondering if this would be grounds for an appeal?

Our council took down the posters on bus stops to make way for the covid posters. I haven't been allowed inside my daughters nursery for a year - they would normally have reminder leaflets in the entrance. I have avoided play centres, health centres, libraries etc. as advised. There have been no normal newsletters from nursery, just hundreds of emails about bubbles closing, staff getting sick etc. My daughter is at a private nursery because we needed the flexibility in hours once the pandemic hit as both my husband and I are teachers. I genuinely believe in a year without the pandemic I would have remembered and she would have got into the school. The thing is that everyone else is also in the same boat and many in much worse and managed to get their application in on time.

My question is....are these grounds for an appeal? It doesn't seem to fit into any of the 3 criteria clearly - I'm thinking about the argument that the exceptional circumstances this year led to the application being late (even though millions of other parents managed to get it together). I would be so grateful for your any advice.

I doubt it, given the same issues would apply to everyone. If the class is full there are very limited reasons to go above Infant Class size.

I doubt it too. Did you get an email about applications?

If you live close by and she has a sibling already there then I imagine she would be at the top of the waiting list though.

As an appeal panelist- no, I'm afraid not. Assuming there are 30 in the class (per qualified teacher) and the appeal is ICS, I'm afraid not. There is nothing in your argument that suggests the admissions criteria were unlawful, or incorrectly applied, or that the decision not to award a place was unreasonable (which is a very very high bar to reach).

TBH, without meaning to appear rude, even if the appeal was not ICS I don't think you have an argument either - in reality, thousands of people manage to apply this and every year without any sort of official communication or reminder. Not every child goes to nursery, and plenty of LAs don't put up posters, etc. It has been a weird year, yes, but I really don't see this as grounds for appeal. Especially as you already have a child in the school, so have done the process once already.

As a sibling, she must be super high on the waiting list though, so fingers crossed that comes through for you quickly.

'No' is the answer to your question. Sorry to be so blunt, but as you admit, this year's circumstances have been exceptional for everyone. You will be fairly high on the waiting list, because of the sibling connection, and you don't lose anything by appealing, but your chances of winning are very unlikely.

Those circumstances aren’t just applicable to you though. Everyone else has been in the same pandemic.

Original poster I am empathetic but importantly more realistic. I wish you luck but on the face of it based on your information provided - you appear not to have any unique or unforeseen exceptional circumstances. Indeed as you have a background and history in school education - you would likely be more knowledgeable than most other parents with no previous experience or connections to schooling. The pandemic is widespread globally and you are not in an non impacted locality. You may succeed in the second round or following years as families and pupils relocate etc and so move between schools. Once again good luck and sorry to hear of your predicament but I would imagine that you may not be necessarily the other family facing this scenario.

Sadly no. Not a chance. I'd prepare her for the allocated school with enthusiasm and hope that a place comes up on the waiting list.

Your best chance is through the waiting list as you must be high up the list on the basis of having a sibling already in the school and being near the school.
In terms of an appeal, the first question to answer is whether this will be an infant class size case - are there 30 in the year group? If by chance it is not an infant class size case then you have a slightly better chance of getting a place at appeal but it is realistically still a fairly remote possibility. Your idea for the basis of an appeal is I am afraid a non-starter. However having said that you never quite know what might happen at appeal, so I would always say appeal but just be realistic that your chance of success is very low.
The most pressing requirement for you is to make sure that you are on the waiting list as soon as it is possible to be on the waiting list and that you are being treated as having a sibling already in the school. Whether or not any places will come up to be filled from the waiting list all depends on the number of pupils in the year group and also how much movement there is generally. For some oversubscribed schools that will be none but hopefully you will be lucky and there will be some movement.

Thank you all very much for your sound advice. That all makes sense. I will just keep my fingers crossed for a waiting list place. I've never posted on Mumsnet before - pretty amazing to have such quick responses from you all and with such good advice. Thanks again.

I believe waiting lists move quickly at Reception due to people taking up private school places and causing a domino effect of lists moving across schools in a given area. Good luck!

No grounds to appeal. However, the fact that you live very close and have sibling priority should give you a very good chance of being top of the waiting list. It's highly likely that a place will become available before September (even our popular, tiny, oversubscribed school with a PAN of 15 had 1 or 2 pupils drop out before September most years due to moving away, summer-born children deferring etc).