Primary School Appeal

[Cloudyday91]

My daughter will be starting primary school in September in Reception class. We got rejected from our first choice and got given our second. The first school isn’t classed as our catchment but is two miles closer than our catchment.

We are appealing the decision as my daughter attends the nursery attached to choice one. I rang the first choice primary school today as we are on the waiting list. They were at full capacity in April but said people have since declined offers and all the spaces were given away to late applicants in that catchment instead of those on the waiting list.

This doesn’t seem right to me, I would have presumed the waiting list would have priority at this stage. Has anybody experienced similar? Im struggling with this as all of our friends will be attending choice one, so it’s a lifestyle curveball too.

Some years since I sat on appeals, but unless the rules have changed schools cannot reserve places for possible future applicants, but have to allocate places if they have vacancies

Wow that’s unusual. Can you paste the oversubscription criteria here?

If spaces were being held back for late applicants in a prior year, then that would seem to be grounds for those appeals to be won

Anyway, if that housing is now complete then applications for that estate may well have been on time and in order this year.

That all sounds very unusual. As far as I’m aware, a state school can’t hold back places like that. If they have spaces, and there are applicants waiting for a place then they must offer. They must be bound by The Admissions Code.

I do think the OP has misunderstood somewhere along the way about these appeals.

That is unlawful. If they are below their published admission number, they must offer places to anyone who applies. They cannot reserve places for late applications or for people moving into the area. If they are genuinely doing so, that should be an easy win at appeal for any parent wrongly denied a place.

However, as has been said up thread, the waiting list is ordered according to the admission criteria. If the school gives priority to people living on a particular estate, anyone moving into that estate will go ahead of others on the waiting list no matter when they apply.

I wonder if perhaps the school has not yet fully opened. So operating at a lower pupil number than its potential capacity, perhaps with combined classes or one form intake until it is fully resourced and the estate fully occupied. Presumably historically those who lived where op does have attended other schools.

It would be helpful if you paste the admissions policy for September 23, September 24 and September 25. Also check the Reception Published Admission Number (PAN) for each of these years.

As others have highlighted, the school cannot hold back mainstream places unless very limited circumstances apply such as service families with the necessary paperwork returning.Also, if a child was not deemed grammar, then they could be refused an academically selective place (N/ A in your case).

What often happens with newly established schools on residential developments is that they take fewer children in the first few years and often take from a wider catchment, then, as the development grows and pupil yield from the development increases, the admissions policy may need to be refined to prevent local children on the estate not gaining places, e.g. if sibling priority is not linked to catchment or proximity.

The Schools Written Statement:

The Published Admission Number (PAN) for Year R is 30. This is the intake number set by the admission authority for the year of entry i.e. Reception. The number reflects the accommodation available at the school, which has been calculated by a government formula now used by all education authorities in England.

The LA publishes the PAN for each school in its admission guidance, which is revised annually and available in the autumn term to parents who wish their children to start school the following September.

Our view and further reasoning:

It appears that the school has kept the PAN number at 30, when they have 60 spaces available. This should be reviewed annually by the council but it hasn’t been. Therefore once they surpass 30, they don’t have to offer to anybody outside of catchment as it’s not been updated. Therefore the council have told me, they have filled 30 spaces and are therefore oversubscribed.

They have had numerous spaces available and not offered them to the waiting list, and as I speak they still currently have availability but won’t offer a place.

They have mentioned that they are only offering over the PAN to children who live on the estate as an exception. Therefore they are saving spaces for children on the estate.

Just to add to the above, at the time of admissions they offered 34 spaces, out of 60 spaces available. We got rejected and put on the waiting list. In between April - July they have offered an additional 25 spaces.

What do you mean; 'they had 60 places available'?

Why do you think they should have 60 spaces available not 30?

They have two reception classes which are 30 in each class.

Is this new school between you and the allocated school, or in another direction? Priority admissions areas can be funny shapes.

Also... 25 children have moved into Catchment since April?

In between April - July they have offered an additional 25 spaces.

How do you know this? That seems incredibly unlikely?

It’s in between us and the allocated school, and yes that many in a few months as it’s a new build estate.

The statistics have been sent to us by the appeals panel, which was provided by the school.

So you have documentation that shows 25 places have been offered since national offers day to pupils not on the waiting list? So the cohort now stands at 59 children?

Yes so they now have one remaining space available.

Are all the new arrivals military? I can't understand where they all came from otherwise.

Is there proof that none of those children were on the waiting list though?

No there are all new catchment children, for context we had our appeal date scheduled two weeks ago and the panel cancelled with 5 minutes to spare on the day. We now have it scheduled for next week, in that two weeks alone they offered 3 spaces.

The school have given a breakdown and all offers say they were given to catchment children. Everyone mostly on the waiting list in our villages, haven’t been offered a space.

So the school always admits 60 children, but publishes a PAN of 30, and then fills up with late applicants from catchment - people who didn’t apply on time?

Yes, so they aren’t publishing a correct PAN, so that they can save spaces for late applicants in catchment. The PAN should be reviewed annually, but the council aren’t updating it either and it’s remained this number for years despite having two classes for a number of years. There seems to be something strange going on, but no doubt they will get away with it in some form of loophole.