Secondary school change of area, possible appeal?

[InterestedInMoving]

Hi, I am moving out of area and I have found out that the area I am thinking of moving to has all schools in the area bar one with no space for kids. The one school with space is about 5 miles and has one space.

I may have to appeal, I have no idea how you would go about this as I managed to get first place on list where we are.

When you formally apply to the local authority for a place at your preferred school they will, presumably, reject your application and allocate the space at the school 5 miles away. The letter informing you of that will tell you of your right to appeal and how you start the appeal.

When you submit your appeal you should include your case in writing, including any documents you want the panel to see. You can submit further evidence up to a few days before the appeal but you should not try to ambush the local authority with new documentary evidence at the appeal - the most likely outcome if you do is that the appeal will be adjourned to a later date.

The appeal itself consists of two parts. In the first part the local authority makes the case for not admitting your child to the school. They will say that admitting your child causes prejudice to the school. You will receive their written submission before the appeal. Look at it closely for any weaknesses you can point out to the panel. For example, if other years already have as many children as your child's year will have if your child is admitted, you can point this out and suggest that this isn't causing problems for the school.

In the second part you explain why your child's education will be prejudiced if he/she is not admitted to this school. In most cases child care and transport problems do not make a successful appeal. You need to find things that your preferred school has which meet your child's needs and which are not offered by the allocated school. Look, for example, at after school clubs that match your child's interests/abilities. Try to avoid being negative about the allocated school. Instead, aim to be positive about the preferred school.

The panel will decide whether the prejudice to your child from not being admitted outweighs the prejudice to the school from being forced to take on an extra child.