Junior appeals - hearing not until sept - any steps to take?

[IMetABoyCrazyForTea]

We are making an appeal for a Y3 school place, we applied for the place at the earliest date possible, then when declined returned our appeal form within 2 working days. We had been advised the appeal would be held this term, so that if successful our child could start at the beginning of September.

I just phoned the appeals team, and was told that our form hasn't been processed yet, and as all the July hearing dates are full our appeal hearing won't be until September at the very earliest.

Are there any steps I can take now? Is there any onus on the LEA to hear the appeal this term? I had hoped our child could start at the new school in September at the start of term. They are currently in a different school, so not missing from education.

Technically, in-year appeals are supposed to be heard within 30 school days of being lodged.

However, there really isn't any comeback if they aren't, and organising appeals right now is harder than ever - not all panelists are happy with attending over phone/video, and as panelists are volunteers, admissions authorities are stuck in terms of how much they can do.

So realistically, there really isn't anything you can do unfortunately, other than persist in pushing for a date as early in the new term as possible.