In year application. Place offered then few days before due to start it was withdrawn

[Macca18]

We have moved house within same local authority.
Submitted in year school application for our twin boys who are in year 1 (they could be year 2). They are educated out of normal cohort due to being summer born and very premature. Current headteacher has been very supportive of this.

The school's we applied to were also aware of the situation and supportive of them remaining in their current year group.

Our application to the council very clearly stated we were applying for year 1.

On the last day of term before the Easter holidays we received the outcome letter offering them a place at one of our preferred schools. I called the new headteacher and we agreed a start date of 26th April so they could go back to their current school for a week to say goodbye to classmates and teachers. The headteacher suggested looking at videos and information on the website for new starters. She told us where to get uniform from.
Understandably the boys are anxious about changing schools but we've been practicing the walk to the new school, they've tried on the uniform, the videos on the website really helped and they were starting to feel a bit excited.

Today we got an email saying the offer is withdrawn because they made an error. They were allocated a place in year 2 and year 1 is full. They haven't been given a place in any of our preferred schools. They've been offered a Catholic school further away and we are not religious.

Does anyone have any advice about appealing and how to submit a formal complaint?

Oh heck, this is a bit of a mess isn't it.

One of the few reasons a place can be withdrawn is if the Admissions Authority make a mistake; however, precedent suggests they only have a few days in which to do this. Are the school or the LA the admissions authority? If the former, then I suspect they will argue that the error was picked up within one or two "working days" because of the Easter holidays (and I suspect the LA may blame this too), and say they are in the clear. You can try pushing back using this argument, however I expect it may fall on deaf ears.

How many children are in the class? If the class already has 30, then any appeal would be infant class size and you would need to persuade a panel that an error had been made that cost you a place or that the decision not to admit was so perverse a reasonable person would not have made it. You would need to persuade the panel that the time taken to rectify the error was unreasonable, and to not admit now would also be.

I agree with @PatriciaHolm. This is going to come down to whether 'a few days' means working days or calendar days.

Absolutely appeal and labour the point that you've been preparing and the HT also gave you an expectation of a place. I think if you had just had a letter from the LA giving the places, that would be one thing. But the fact that you've had conversations with the HT, telling you a start date and where to buy uniform makes it clear that you were given an expectation of a school place. I think it's too late for them to withdraw now, but it will come down to the appeal panel.

The LA deal with the admissions.
The school's PAN is 81 so that's 3 classes of 27.
I don't know how many are currently in each class. I assume not 30. Perhaps the classes are smaller than 30 due to the size of the classroom?

I called the new school on Monday to confirm arrangements with starting on 26th and was told by the office manager to speak to admissions because there had been an error. I wasn't told anymore information and I've been ringing admissions every day this week and was just told it is still being processed and then today (6pm) they emailed me saying the offer was withdrawn. Now I have to wait til the morning to call back and ask how to appeal.
Should I ask how many children are in the classes?

Ah now that does help you if it comes to appeal, because it won't be infant class size (which is when classes are at 30 per teacher in yr R, 1 or 2). It would be on balance of prejudice - that the prejudice to your children of not attending is greater than the prejudice to the school of taking another 2 pupils.

So yes, check how many pupils there are. I would also tell them you are going to appeal, as that will help to make the point that something has gone awry here.

The fact that the school seem to have known on monday there was an issue but you didn't get told until today is ridiculous too, and I would argue puts them on the wrong side of "a reasonable time".

That's really shoddy. Appeal for sure. They've had time to inform you and they didn't.

I agree with PatriciaHolm and Lougle. The delay since Monday (in my view) takes this over the line in taking an unreasonable amount of time to withdraw the offer. Good news, though, that this won’t be an ICS appeal.

Agree with others that it is now too late for them to withdraw the place.

The fact the LA deal with admissions doesn't mean they are the admissions authority. What type of school is this - community, VA, VC, academy or free school?

As PatriciaHolm says, this will not be an infant class size case so you can win on the balance of prejudice. You should therefore appeal on two grounds:

• the admission authority has taken too long to withdraw the offer. Previous cases dealt with by the LGO and judicial review suggest that an offer made in error can only be withdrawn within 3 days. Depending on when schools broke up for Easter in your area, they have taken 3-4 weeks.

• the disadvantage to your twins from not attending outweighs any problems the school will face through having to cope with two additional children

Thank you very much for your advice. I will appeal but I gather that process can take a couple of months.

On the school admissions code 2014 under Infant class size, one of the exceptions is:
"Children admitted, after initial allocation of places, because of a procedural error made by the admission authority or local authority in the original application".
Would this count in my appeal? They admitted them to year 2 (the wrong year group). The error is on their part for not reading our application properly.

The school is a community school.
They may argue that 27 is the max in a class because of the size of the room and logistically can't fit anymore in?

Op the bit you quoted from the code is to do with when there can be more than 30 per school teacher in an infant class. Doesn't sound like the admission of your twins would breach the 30 limit.

If community school, the LA is the admissions authority and it will be harder to argue the working day thing.

They may argue that 27 is the max, space-wise but that's almost by the by. The fact this would not be an infant class size appeal means, essentially, a much higher chance of success at appeal because they look at different evidence and your case doesn't need to be as 'strong'. Does that make sense?

Given this by all means appeal but I would also write to LA saying look, we are appealing and it seems likely we will be successful because it isn't an ICS appeal (if it definitely is not - check), the balance of prejudice favours our children... So can we just all save ourselves a load of hassle?! That's obviously simplifying things but hopefully you get my drift!

As the previous poster says, with 27 in a class this is not an infant class size case so ignore that part of the Admissions Code.

They will undoubtedly argue that they can't fit any more in but that won't be a problem if the appeal panel accepts that the offer should not have been withdrawn.

I called admissions this morning.
They wouldn't tell me how many children are in the year, just that they are full. I asked if full meant they had reached 30 children per class or if they were just full for their PAN. She wouldn't tell me.
My twins are second and third on the waiting list.
She said we can appeal, and I also asked how I submit a formal complaint based on how the application was handled so I will be doing both.

If they've refused a place, they are required by law to tell you on what grounds!

Right to appeal
2.24 When an admission authority informs a parent of a decision to refuse their child a place at a school for which they have applied, it must include the reason why admission was refused; information about the right to appeal; the deadline for lodging an appeal and the contact details for making an appeal.

Parents must be informed that, if they wish to appeal, they must set out their grounds for appeal in writing. Admission authorities must not limit the grounds on which appeals can be made.

That's from the Code.

This is a mess but it is all of the school and LA's making, so you should have a strong case to take to appeal. It is fairly obvious what has happened, either the LA or the school have used the date of birth to decide which year group the twins were in, without reading your information that they were in year1, not year2. Being honest that is possibly more likely to be the school rather than the LA who have made the mistake.
Without seeming to be too negative on the LA, admission that a mistake has been made and rectifying that is not always top of the LA's list of ways of dealing with such a case (which do not happen that often). The LA tend to want the situation to go to appeal, so that the appeal panel is given the job of telling the LA and the school what they must do.
You need to keep the pressure on the school and the LA to resolve what is an acknowledged mistake between them, which you and your twins are suffering from. I would start by getting in the appeal - you literally only need to say on the form, the LA / School have acknowledged a mistake has been made and withdrawing the places is not acceptable. Further information to follow. Then you should write a formal letter of complaint more or less saying the same thing.
I would also be asking the school to confirm current numbers in reception, year 1 and year 2 in connection with your appeal giving them 5 school days to respond. Just so they realise that you are not going away over this.

I have written my appeal statement. I wondered if anyone who has experience with appeals might be able to read it and comment?

More than happy to cast my eyes over what you have written, if you send it to me on PM

I'm also happy to take a look.

I'd be happy to look, but you're in good hands with @admission and @prh47bridge, to be honest.

Thank you everyone. I have sent it to @admission and @prh47bridge

I might be tempted to call their bluff and accept the offered places for Y2. Then it’s the school’s problem.

We submitted our appeal 3 weeks ago, using their online form.
Just wondering how long we can expect to wait before we hear when our appeal will be?
Are they likely to notify us by email or post?
this is so stressful waiting!

Normally, appeals for in-year applications should be heard within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged. However, that requirement has been relaxed due to the pandemic and replaced by a requirement to hear appeals as soon as reasonably practicable.

We were told it would likely be June for an In Year Appeal just after Easter. (DD was fortunately offered a place a few days later as a child had left).

Hope you get a date soon.

We have received a date for the in-year appeal - 24th June. the paperwork has the councils argument for refusal - the fact that the school is full. Their PAN is 81 (3 classes of 27). The infant school is a very old victorian building with small classrooms, therefore 27 is the max they can have. The corriders are small. the playground is small, and the school is on a narrow cul-de-sac with no turning facilities (we would not be driving anyway). They are saying that admission of an additional child would prejudice the provision of efficient education and the efficient use of resources.

when I spoke to the headteacher when the place was withdrawn she encouraged me to submit an appeal becuase the classes are below 30. however the paperwork says 'the leadership team and govenors do not want to admit above PAN'.

feeling very disheartened now, like we haven't got a chance of winning.

any advice about what to say in the appeal?

That sounds like the council has made a pretty standard case. In the hearing, ask them how many accidents they have had directly attributed to overcrowding. The answer is almost certainly none. If you want more suggestions, post their case or here or PM it to me.

Don't get disheartened. Your case is clear. Places were offered and accepted. They made a mistake, but precedents suggest that they had 3 days from offering the place to rectify their error. They took far longer than that. They didn't even notify you as soon as they realised their mistake. The offer should therefore stand. You certainly have a chance of winning.