To appeal or not? Applying from abroad

[Basketoftoys]

I would be grateful for any advice. My husband works in the public sector (not crown service or military) he is expected to get experience abroad so he was essentially given a year sabbatical to work abroad to enhance experience for a year and then returns to his job in the UK (he does quite a niche job so abroad training required) My 4 yo is starting school in September.

We still have our work contracts in the UK and still have our house in the UK.

Due to the council requiring proof of address (which we provided) we told them we were overseas but had documentation showing we still had our home in the borough (not rented out) and our work contracts with our return date in time for September school start date.

Our application was accepted but they changed our application to our overseas address not our uk home address as I had used initially which I didn’t realise till offer day- so of course our distance from the schools was many many many miles away!!!! Thankfully we did get a primary school place about 15mins walk as it was undersubscribed which I know we are very lucky about, however we didn’t get our first choice even closer primary school which if they had used our home address (uk) we would have got.

Looking at the uk government website which is posted below it seems unclear but feasible they should have used our home (uk) address. I don’t know whether I should or not appeal/ have grounds to?

I am grateful to have a nearby school place- but obviously would have preferred my first choice.

Any tips or similar previous experiences?

Admission authorities could ask prospective movers or returners where they will be living (see paragraph 2.5 of the school admissions code). This might include whether parents:

• own or rent a property in the area to which they intend to return or move
• are UK crown servants or are in the UK military and are returning or moving to the area
• live in temporary hotel or other accommodation in the UK
• have provided other compelling evidence that they are returning or moving to the area

Subject to the special provisions that apply to UK military families and crown servants as set out in paragraph 2.21 of the school admissions code, school admission authorities and local authorities can decide what evidence they require from parents to show that they intend returning or moving to the area, but this might include:

• a mortgage or rental agreement for a property in the area
• deeds for a property in the area
• a letter from an employer showing a transfer date to the area
• registration with a local GP

Admission authorities must consider all in-year applications and should not refuse an application simply because a parent or child currently lives in another country. If a parent is unable to provide evidence of a return to the area (before the new school year for applications made during the normal admissions round or for late applications, or by the start of the next term for in-year applications), admission authorities could apply a catchment area policy or distance tie-break, if they have such admission criteria, using the parents’ place of residence at the point the application is made. If this is in another country, it might give the child a lower priority for admission if the admission authority operates a catchment area or if the child is tied for the final place available with other applicants.

The issue you have is that all of the above is couched as "could"/"can"/"might". It does not compel an admissions authority to do these things; it is perfectly legal for them to have used your overseas address. They have met their legal obligations by assessing your application from that address and offering you a place.

If the appeal would be ICS, then there are only very limited grounds on which it can be won, and this would not be one of them - the LA haven't made a mistake which cost you a place.

If the appeal would not be ICS, then you could appeal on the grounds of detriment, but the above would not be relevant.

I would make sure you are on the waiting list for your preferred school, and double check what they need in terms of changing your address on that to your UK address.

Really useful many thanks - appealing doesn’t sound appropriate.

I am very happy to have been offered a place, and happy with that place, but was just expecting another school as wasn’t expecting the address used to be my overseas one- but I do understand from the council point of view- what if we didn’t return!

We are on the waiting list and will wait and see.

Thanks so much!

Could you and your child return home earlier than your DH to bump yourself up the waiting list? Your place on the waiting list can go down as well as up, so if someone moves into the area and is resident they could leapfrog you.

We applied from overseas for our DD who started reception this year. I was in contact with the LA at the time as I could only register a UK address when applying but we supplied work contracts, email confirming our shipping, travel bookings and lease agreements ( for us leaving our overseas address and our tenants moving out), they based our application on our UK address based on all this information. I found having an open conversation with the admissions team really helped. I’m not sure if it’s a reason to appeal but I would certainly give it a go, same with the waiting list, get your DCs name down. We got our oldest into the school we wanted on the waiting list before even securing the new address. We were in the uk just not the area.

We also won on appeal for our older DCs while still living overseas last year. They were rejected on class sizes but were in KS2 so there was flexibility in getting them in. We did our appeal via telephone while still living overseas.

good luck