Appealing school admissions

[coffeeandcake91]

Hope everyone's well.

I'm going through a bit of a nightmare right now will school admissions.

I moved to a new area and applied for place for my 6 year old who would be in Year 2.

Unfortunately, the council could not find him a school place at any of our choices and his case went before a fare access panel who decided on a school almost half an hour away on foot.

I have appealed for a specific school which is 6 minutes away.

I just want to know the likelihood of us getting a school nearer. Or does anyone have any advice or gone through the appeals process?

Are you on the waiting list for the closer school? Infant class size appeals don’t often work but if you’re that close hopefully a place will come up at the closer school eventually. In the meantime half an hour isn’t the end of the world

I don't think there's grounds if you can walk in that time. Not in our council anyway.
If you're on the waiting list, places do come up usually.

We are on a waiting list for 2 of the schools, but I've been told by the service manager at the council that there's already a class of 31 and 2 classes of 30. And that if push comes to shove they could have accommodated him so I don't know why he's gone back on that. They've already breached the infant class size.

In regards to the walking, he's already got an issue with his joints and ankles which he's under children's hospital physio department. He needs breaks even if we walk that amount so I can't see it happening daily.

The fact they've already got 31 in a class is irrelevant. One of those children will be excepted, so won't count towards the limit. They are, therefore, not in breach of the class size limit. Admitting your son, however, would take them over.

Winning an infant class size case is very difficult. You have to show that a mistake has been made or the admission authority has acted unreasonably. That is highly unlikely for an in-year application. And in general, for a child of this age, a journey of up to 45 minutes each way is considered reasonable.

Having said that, if you have supplied the LA will a letter from your son's GP or consultant setting out his issues and stating that, in their opinion, your son needs a school less than a certain distance away and the allocated school is more than that distance, you may have an argument that they have acted unreasonably.

If you haven't supplied the LA with such a letter, you could do so now and ask them to reconsider. If they refuse to do so, you may then have an argument that they have acted unreasonably.

It’s as prh47bridge describes. There is very limited scope for winning an infant class size appeal, but an argument about your child’s ability to walk long distances (and therefore the reasonableness of the decision) might have some chance of succeeding, if it’s backed up by a health care professional’s opinion.

@prh47bridge
What do you mean by "excepted?" Sorry I still new to this.

Some children are "excepted" and don't count - twins/triplets where last child was number 30, the other siblings also get accepted, an EHCP child or looked after child (foster/adopted), I think also included, if placed after normal admissions or those where admission error was made.

As @Takeachance18 says, some children don't count towards the class size limit. They are referred to as excepted children. If you win an appeal, your child will be an excepted child. The full list of excepted children is:

• children admitted outside the normal admissions round with an EHCP
• looked after or previously looked after children admitted outside the normal admissions round
• children admitted after the initial allocation of places because there has been a mistake and they should have been admitted
• children admitted following an appeal
• children moving into the area outside the admissions round where there is no other school within a reasonable distance
• children of UK service personnel admitted outside the normal admissions round
• children whose sibling from a multiple birth was admitted as a non-excepted pupil
• children with SEN who are normally taught in an SEN unit or at a special school who attend some classes at the mainstream school

One of the children in the class of 31 will fall into one of these categories.

30 minutes walk (up to 2 miles in fact) is considered fine for under 8's. If your dc has a medical condition you may be able to get transport arranged, this is more likely than a nearer school