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Original poster

How do you appeal primary school place

55 replies

babakeri · 17/04/2023 01:24

Hello, we got offered a school that was not even on out list of 6 school choices.Please can anyone advise how to appeal or how joing waiting list? I am clueless but I want to do something about it.

OP posts:
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Temporaryname158 · 17/04/2023 01:34

Ring the council tomorrow. They will have a schools phone line (prepare for it to be busy) but I had to put mine on a waiting list online it couldn’t be done over the phone. The appeal was also online via your account

Original poster
babakeri · 17/04/2023 01:41

Is it better to appeal or join waiting list?

OP posts:
RoseslnTheHospital · 17/04/2023 02:28

It's not an either or. You should make sure you're on the waiting list for all of your 6 preference schools, and you can also start the process of appealing alongside that. But you should be aware that you are appealing for a particular school that you think your child should have been allocated, rather than appealing against the one that you were offered, if that makes sense.

RoseslnTheHospital · 17/04/2023 02:30

On your offer email it should make it clear how you join the waiting lists for your preference schools. In some areas you are automatically placed onto waiting lists, but in others you may need to specifically request it. Best to check the information from your specific local authority.

MrsRickAstley · 17/04/2023 02:39

I wouldn't bother appealing. You won't win an ICS appeal.

Waiting list is way to go.

MotherOfGreyhounds · 17/04/2023 04:40

There is very little point in appealing, unless you suspect that the LA has applied the admission criteria incorrectly somehow.

PuttingDownRoots · 17/04/2023 04:52

Do you know why your applications weren't successful?

Unless you think it was a mistake (like you didn't get the school next door but somewhere a mile away did) appeal is unlikely to be successful.

However waiting lists can move a lot.

Sunnysunbun · 17/04/2023 04:53

Join a waiting list. I've never known an appeal to work.

rose69 · 17/04/2023 05:08

Also accept the place you have been given even if you join the waiting lists as you may ens up with nowhere.

90yomakeuproom · 17/04/2023 06:39

How has this happened? Really rare to not even be offered one of the top 3. Did you apply out of area?

Iizzyb · 17/04/2023 06:41

Ring all the schools you didn't get & put your child's name on their waiting list

GoodChat · 17/04/2023 06:43

The offer email will give you all the information you need.

SoCunningYouCanStickATailOnItAndCallItAFox · 17/04/2023 06:43

Are you sure you fully submitted your application at the time? (It's quite easy to fill in the form and not hit 'submit') just wondering because it's very rare to not get any of your 6!

Sirzy · 17/04/2023 06:44

For an appeal you would need to be able to show a mistake had been made in the allocation of schools.

make sure you accept the place you have been offered because if you turn down the place the LA don’t have to find an alternative

BendingSpoons · 17/04/2023 06:50

Read your offer email and any info on your LA website. Sometimes you are automatically added to waiting lists and sometimes you have to request it. Also you can ask to go on the waiting list of other schools you didn't apply for.

CatOnTheChair · 17/04/2023 06:56

Read the e-mail, and follow its instructions.

Talk to people who live near you (without older siblings) and see where they are going -ie has a mistake been made. That us your best chance of appeal - a mistake.
Otherwise its waiting lists - but also consider schools that didn't make your top 6 that might be preferable to what you've been offered.

PatChaunceysFruitCake · 17/04/2023 07:01

What a nightmare OP. I feel for you.

The council should publish a list of lowest admissions criteria and furthest distance allocated. That will allow you to see why you didn't get a place and consider whether a mistake could have been made.

This information goes on the council website at 9am where I live.

WoWsers16 · 17/04/2023 07:13

Absolutely awful OP so sorry to hear!

But to not get all 6 sounds crazy- did you apply to your local schools?

usernother · 17/04/2023 08:07

All the information will be on the council website. Just go to school admissions page. As others have said, it's very hard to win an appeal in KS1 unless the LA has made a mistake. You can send an email to the admissions team querying that you weren't offered any of your choices and they will check it for you.

prh47bridge · 17/04/2023 08:09

A few people have said you can only appeal if a mistake is made. For most primary schools that is true, but it is not universal. There is a primary school near me that has 25 in each class throughout infants, so infant class size rules do not apply and it is possible to win by showing that the disadvantage to the child from not being admitted outweighs any problems the school will face from having to admit another child.

However, most appeals for primary schools are infant class size appeals, which means you should only win if a mistake has been made which has cost your child a place. There is nothing to stop anyone appealing without evidence of a mistake, and you may strike it lucky. Occasionally something will come out during the hearing that makes it apparent that there has been a mistake. But, if it is an infant class size case and you don't have any evidence of a mistake, you need to be realistic about your chances.

As others have said, the offer letter will tell you everything you need to know about appealing. In most councils, you will automatically be on the waiting lists for your preferred schools, but it doesn't do any harm to check. You can go on the waiting list and appeal. An appeal makes no difference to your position on the waiting list.

arethereanyleftatall · 17/04/2023 08:15

It will depend entirely on why you didn't get the schools you wanted. For example was it a mistake, then appeal, or was it because you didn't meet the selection criteria, then waiting list.
Did you do something like leave out the school next door, but go for 6 further away, and get the school next door? For my area certainly, people think they get a choice, and will ask on Facebook which are the best schools and pointlessly go and view them all to choose. But they'll get the one they're allocated depending on house location as they're all oversubscribed.

pinkorchid1 · 17/04/2023 08:21

It's very hard to win an appeal unless you can prove they should have offered your child a place based on their parameters. If your child has SEN then you might be a bit more likely to win if you can prove your preferred school is the best for their circumstances.
I would advise using a school appeal company to get you ready. Costs a bit of money but they know what they are doing.

usernother · 17/04/2023 08:25

pinkorchid1 · 17/04/2023 08:21

It's very hard to win an appeal unless you can prove they should have offered your child a place based on their parameters. If your child has SEN then you might be a bit more likely to win if you can prove your preferred school is the best for their circumstances.
I would advise using a school appeal company to get you ready. Costs a bit of money but they know what they are doing.

I wouldn't advise a school appeal company. Waste of money. They don't do anything that you can't do yourself. All the information you need is ready available. Look at the school admissions code on gov.uk and also read the info provided by your LA

Wnikat · 17/04/2023 08:37

This happened to me. I got first choice by the waiting list system by the start of the September term so don’t panic, just make sure you’re on the waiting lists

Plumbear2 · 17/04/2023 10:02

This is very unusual. Did you put any school done that you had a realistic chance of getting in? Closest school etc. You should always put you closest school done even if you don't like it.