Reception appeals in England: some general tips

[PanelChair]

There was an excellent thread on this a few years ago, but I can’t locate it, so this is an attempt to replicate it, in the hope that it helps. There’s already some good advice on the “accept the place even if you hate it” thread.

1. If you’re surprised by the allocation, check whether there might have been a mistake - have they overlooked a sibling link, got the home-school distance wrong or otherwise put you in the wrong oversubscription category?
2. Tools like Google maps can be useful for getting a sense of the home-school distance, but the school/LEA will have used a package which measures from a data point on the school to a data point on your address, so you can’t substitute your own measurement but can ask the school/LEA to double-check.
3. If you intend to appeal, check the published admission number (PAN) for the school. If it is 15, 30 or a multiple of 30, the Infant Class Size rules will apply and the scope for winning an appeal is very limited - summarised loosely, you would have to show that the admissions criteria were unlawful, were wrongly applied or the decision to refuse a place was unreasonable in the legal sense (which is a much stricter test than your not liking the decision).
4. If the ICS rules don’t apply, you have more scope for arguing for your child to be admitted. You would have to satisfy the panel that the prejudice (detriment) to your child if they don’t get a place outweighs any prejudice to the school in having to accommodate an extra pupil.
5. Read the school admissions code and the admissions appeal code (both available online) so that you know what the appeal panel is looking for and can or cannot do.
6. Two of the arguments most often used at reception appeals are that the child already attends the nursery and/or wants to stay with their friends from nursery. Be mindful that neither of these arguments is likely to be enough to win an ICS appeal.
7. Any arguments around social or medical need will need to be supported by evidence from medical professionals confirming that, in their professional opinion, the child needs a place at this school and will be disadvantaged if they’re not admitted.
8. Likewise, arguments about the convenience of the journey to school rarely carry weight.
9. Join the waiting list of any other school you’d be willing to accept.
10. Be mindful too that, if you refuse the place you’ve been offered, the LEA is under no obligation to make a second offer. If you don’t get to the top of the waiting list or don’t make alternative provision (independent school or home education) your child may therefore have no school to go to in September.

There's probably more but that’s all I can think of for now.

Also, please remember that you are appealing the decision to refuse you entry to a school. Base your case on why your child needs to attend this school, not on why you don't want the school you have been offered.

Be aware that the appeal process can feel quite sterile, but please don't take it personally. The presenting officer is required to present a case as to why they can't admit any other child or children. They are not saying they don't want to take your child in particular.

A small point, but bear in mind that right now Admissions teams are being augmented with other staff just to cope with the volume of calls. You might end up talking to someone who is not expert in the area.

So after any and every conversation with the school or LA, write an email confirming you understanding of the conversation you have just had with (named person) at (time/date). You might need a record of events later.

Might have been me, I think - i try to post this most years, I was away on Monday so didn't manage it - but here we go, a lot of overlap with your post, but given the nonsense still being spouted on some threads it probably bears repeating...

I thought it might be useful to do a quick summary post, primarily on what to do if you aren't happy, as I know it may come up a lot today....(FWIW, I sit on Appeals Panels, and also a Chair of Governors. There are several other very experienced panelists and admissions experts around too.) Hopefully this will be helpful.

What to do if you get a school you don't want?

1. Accept it. This is does not signal to the LA that you are happy, it just locks in a "last resort" option. It has NO impact on waiting lists - you get no preferential treatment on lists or at appeal if you turn the place down, nor are you negatively impacted if you have accepted a place.
If you turn it down, the LA no longer has an obligation to find you a place, so you will be dependent on waiting lists/appeals. If they don't come through, you could find yourself with no place in September. So ONLY turn it down if homeschool (or private) is definitely an option......

2.Get yourself onto Waiting lists for schools you do want. In some areas you are automatically put on lists for schools higher in your preferences that you don't get into, in some cases you need to ask, so check - your LA website, email, or login portal will probably tell you what to do. You can also add yourself to lists for schools you didn't apply for (some LAs limit the amount of lists you can be on though.)
You can also ask the LA if there are any other local schools with places that you might prefer.

3. Check there has been no mistake. If you are genuinely surprised and you think a mistake might have been made - wrong distance used, sibling link ignored etc - it's worth checking. Your decision letter/portal is likely to have the criteria you were assessed under for each school and, for example, the distance used in the case of distance criteria, so check all is well. If it doesn't, check with the LA. But be patient, lots of people will be calling/emailing today/tomorrow!.

4. Think about appeals. You can appeal for any school you applied for and didn't get into.
However, note that appeals for many/most reception years are ICS; Infant Class Size, which are exceptionally hard to win as the law caps classes at 30 in years R,1,2 unless there are exceptional circumstances (basically if the admissions authority made an error that cost you a place, or the decision not to admit is so unreasonable (in a specific legal sense) that no sensible person would have made it. Very few ICS appeals are granted).

Non ICS appeals are different and I won't go into depth here as each appeal is different, but essentially you need to show that the detriment to the school of taking another pupil is less than the detriment to your child of getting a place. Note, it is not the case, for non-ICS appeals that you can only appeal on the grounds of something in the admissions criteria! You can appeal on a wide variety of grounds to show detriment. If you decide to do this, post and ask for help! A number of us here are happy to do so.

If you are happy - great! Accept it, if you need to (some LAs will auto accept for you.) And be patient - most schools are a bit busy right now...

Any questions, do ask. Sometimes it's easier for someone not emotionally involved to figure out the answer or find a detail.

I agree especially with meditrina’s point about confirming everything the LEA has told you. Check too that you’re speaking to someone in the admissions team, not a well-meaning but misinformed person on the switchboard.

Every year, I think I’ve been pontificating on MN about appeals for far too long and will retire gracefully, to leave the other posters with knowledge of appeals to it (as there seem to be more of us now). But then I see some of the nonsense being spouted and think “here we go again” …

This is my first time posting, ever, so hoping I get it right. I'd like some advice is possible please?
We've not been given 1st choice for our daughter. We haven't been given a reason but were loosely told over the phone that it must be due to being over subscribed. We live relatively close and didn't foresee this problem 😔
Our reasons for appeal are:
All of our daughters friends (almost the whole nursery cohort and her 'from birth' close friends are attending our first choice. I appreciate this in and of itself wouldn't suffice (as fundamentally important it is to her well-being) However...
I am disabled. With a medical condition that is unpredictable and relapsing. We have very limited family support to help with pick ups and drop offs. And my husband works not locally and long hours. All of my support network mums will have their child attending our first choice school. They offered to help with pick ups and drop offs for when I'm unable to.
The school we've been offered is much further away and die to my condition, and access difficulties, will make it even more problematic getting my daughter there.
Our 1st choice school is a faith school, and we are a faith family, having both of our children baptised, and our marriage ceremony at the local church. Our children regularly attend there also.
Collectively does this give us a good grounds for appeal? I'm beside myself that my daughter will become even more isolated through no fault of her own. Her well-being and access to her education will undoubted be effected. I'd really appreciate your input please

@mumtoabeautifultrio The important thing is to establish whether this is an Infant Class Size appeal (how many spaces did the school have for Reception? Is it a multiple of 30?). If so, then you would need to evidence a mistake in order to have any success at appeal.

You need to ask the LA why you were rejected - which category of the admissions criteria were you considered under, and what was the last category admitted (and to what distance, if distance is used).

You say your first choice is a faith school. Does it prioritise faith in the oversubscription criteria? If so, did you meet the criteria for the category, and did they admit all children in that category? It is one area to look at as to whether there could have been a mistake. Also do a basic sense check on the distance they used for you - does it look about right?

If it is not ICS, then you need to show that the negative impact on your daughter not attending the school outweighs the impact on the school having to take an additional child. Other posters will be better able to comment on this, however friendships are not a compelling reason (to an appeals panel) - many children will be swapping, they are young and friendships are very changeable, and there Will been children starting who may not have been to nursery at all. Faith is also not compelling - it’s a parental preference, not a need. Travel logistics also don’t typically hold sway.

That said, a prejudice appeal (as opposed to an ICS appeal) is about weighing up the strengths of the cases against each other, so if the school’s case is weak, less compelling arguments may be enough to tip the balance.

Thanks for your reply (which I can't see so will have to try to remember)
From our understanding they're oversubscribed. We will ask for the relevant details from the LA about why my daughter hasn't been offered a place, but no, faith isn't on the criteria list.
Within the oversubscribed appeal process, is there scope to argue re the Equalities Act / Human Rights Act etc, or would this not even be considered?

How so? Appeals and criteria have to follow regulations set out in the Schools Admissions Code, and have to be lawful. Do you think that they are not?

You need to understand whether the appeal is ICS - what is the PAN of the school? Do they teach in classes of 30 per teacher in reception, year 1 or 2?

One angle that won't help win an appeal but might make a difference to your place on the waiting list is if the school has an exceptional medical/social need. Medical applies only to the needs of the prospective pupil, but social can (not must) include medical need of primary caregiver. Difficulties with the school run are not usually a factor, but can be if it is illness/disability related (and you have medical evidence to back this up, which shows for example that you can only reach one school)

If you did not apply under that criterion (if they have it, not all schools do) then it won't win an appeal because the admissions authority would not have known to consider you in that category. But if you make the case now, and they agree, then you will be re-prioritised on the waiting list and might even go to the top of it, which puts you in a much better position.

if the school does not have that category, then this will not work. Because although it's a criterion schools can have, it is not one they must have, so it would not be a breach of the Code if they do not.

Re the numbers indicating that Infant Class Size legislation may be relevant, an intake of 45 or 75 (the latter less common, probably) will also almost certainly indicate an arrangement such as 22 + 23 / 3x25 in Reception, but then 3 / 5 classes of 30 covering years 1 and 2. Appeals for these schools will also be heard as ICS because of 'future prejudice' - i.e. allowing R to go to e.g. 23 + 23 where PAN is 45, although not breaching the '30' rule in R, will mean that there is no way that it cannot be breached in Yr/ yr2.