wallington girls appeal

[Blossom2000]

Hi, My daughter didn't get a place at Wallington girls so I want to appeal. Can somebody can recommend me a good lawyer or solicitor who won a appeal against Wallington? Is there a chance to win an appeal against Wallington girls at all? I will be very thankful if someone can provide me the information.

Why do you think you need a solicitor? What are your reasons for appealing?

Thank you so much for the response. Specially tiggytape for your information.My daughter has passed the entrance exam. Her score is slightly over than the cut off mark as she was distracted during the exam and was really upset. She is doing level 6 at SATs without having any tuition and the class teacher gave her the goal to reach 100% as she is doing 96% at the moment. As lots of parents going to make an appeal with the proof of academic ability as the ground for an appeal I personally think it is very important how you present the reasons for an over subscription appeal. That is why I am looking for an excellent lawyer,solicitor or an education adviser. Our problem is my daughters low score!

You should keep well away from lawyers, solicitors and most of those who offer to help with appeals in return for a fee. I have come across many cases where lawyers have antagonised the appeal panel by treating it as a court of law, making lots of technical points which have no bearing on the appeal and in once case asking the panel to award costs. Similarly those who offer to help in return for a fee are frequently of little or no help to the parents. I spent quite a lot of time last year helping a parent who was fortunate to get a second appeal after losing the first attempt due to some quite appalling advice. She had paid several hundred pounds for the privilege of having a winnable appeal turned into a hopeless case.

There are a number of experts who post here regularly. If you give details of your case you will get a lot of good advice.

If she passed then her low score isn't a problem! It's simply failed on over subscription criteria so as tiggytape says you just need to demonstrate why her need for this particular school outweighs the school's argument that they are full.

Out of interest, could it be argued that wallington is the school to meet her dd's needs because it is the only one she passed for and therefore her best shot at appeal or because it's the only one within reasonable travelling distance?

What reasons could be given that it must be a grammar over a comp? Is it that it would meet a child's academic needs better proven by the child's previous ability?

Thanks, Tiggytape.

Many thanks for everyone for the excellent tips. As tiggytape says it depends on how you make your case. As English is not my first language it is important to me to get some help to summarize all these valuable points. That is why I'm looking for a lawyer or a barrister.

Please stop looking for a lawyer (barristers are lawyers, by the way). Even though English is not your first language (doesn't show in your posts) a lawyer is unlikely to make the case better than you and may sabotage your case completely. Not intentionally, of course, but school admissions is not their expertise. There are no obscure legal points to be made. It is simply about the facts.

Hi Blossom2000, could you please advise on your appeal? was it successful? I am in the same situation this year and also thinking about apeal. Appreciate your advises/experience. Thank you

Na77 you might be wisest to PM (private message) Blossom2000 directly rather than posting here (the thread is a year old).