Short notice cancellation of appeal hearing. Transition days imminent.Any advice?

[auntiebasil]

DSis has just found out that the appeal hearing for DNephew has been cancelled due to a panel member's availability.
They are down for attending transition week at the school they don't want to attend in early July. If they don't get a new date for the appeal next week (and the outcome by the end of the week) they will have to go to the transition events at a school they might not be going to. Any advice?

Apologies if not clear- it's a secondary school appeal. DNephew is moving from primary to secondary.

Chalk it up to experience, he still might be going to that school so go along, get involved and if the appeal is won he hasn't lost anything.

You don't have to attend any transition activities it's not compulsory but I would have thought it would be benefit just in case they don't win the appeal.

That's what I thought. Might be skewed experience but at least its experience.
Can't believe they've ballsed up the appeal process so badly.

Realistically, only about 30% of secondary appeals are won I think, so it's a good idea to go to transition rather than miss it.

And cancellations happen. Panelists are volunteers and if someone is ill, say, they aren't always easy to replace at short notice. Ideally someone would step in, but sometimes there just isn't anyone who can.

It's exactly as PatriciaHolm says.

The likelihood is that the appeal will fail, simply because most do, so it would be wise to attend the transition day. I have sometimes had to drop out of appeal hearings because I've been seriously ill. It's unfortunate, and I hated doing it, but I wouldn't have been able to give the appeal my full attention. It certainly wasn't a balls up, mine or anybody else's.

Don't they have a timescale by which they have to do this?

Obviously it's not the panel members fault for being ill or whatever. Emergencies happen and, quite rightly, they should deal with it. Surprised that there's no "reserve".

Panel members are volunteers and often in short supply because peak appeal season is holiday season too. In my LEA, there generally isn’t a reserve - it’s a big ask to expect an unpaid volunteer to clear their diary for a week just in case they might be needed.

Yes, there are timescales set out in the code (or, at least, there were. I haven’t gone back to check that they’re still in the revised code).

Bit of a silly way to do something so important. At least I have warning for when it's our turn in a couple of years.

Yes, the timescales are still in the Code.

Bit of a silly way to do something so important

Given the importance of an independent appeal panel, the only realistic option is to use volunteers. If you use paid staff they will not be seen as independent. And the timing is governed by the admissions process. Moving secondary appeals away from the holiday season would involve changing the dates on the whole process so that parents had to apply for secondary places during the summer holidays.

Just took a look at the Code. The appeal must be heard within 40 school days of the closing date for submissions. If we take primary school days, the cut off is next Tuesday. If we take secondary school days, the cut off day has long passed. Assuming it's primary school days, what happens if it is not sorted by next Tuesday (assuming sis can get time off work, etc).

Nothing will happen. If you refer the matter to the LGO they might give the LA a slap on the wrist but that is all.

Ta for the input.

Exactly, prh. The appeal secretariat will be aware of the timescale but if they simply cannot get people together within that timescale, there’s nothing more to be done there.

OP - most LEAs have a rolling recruitment exercise to get more panel members. Why not apply? I’m also curious about why you’re sure that you’ll be appealing for a school place in two years’ time, but here and now is probably not the place for that conversation.

I'm not planning to appeal but it might come to that. Interested to see that it's more of a chore they have to go through rather than anything else.

It’s certainly not a chore. It’s a process that’s governed by the admissions code and appeals code. Panel members are community volunteers, in order to give independence and separation from the local authority. They receive mandatory training and seek to balance the interests of the child appealing and the children already at the school. So, not a chore.

Absolutely. The person who has to present the case to refuse admission may regard it as a chore when they are going into their hundredth appeal hearing that year presenting essentially the same case. But if the panel members view it as a chore it is time they stopped being panel members!

Glad to hear that panel members don't view it as a chore.
But confused about the Code. If you break the Code and don't have a hearing in the time set by the Code, isn't the process flawed for the applicants and the school.

The vast majority of appeals are heard within the deadlines. However, it isn't a huge deal if the timetable is missed. It would matter if an appellant is less likely to win their appeal due to the delay but that is very rarely (if ever) the case.

Appeals go on throughout the year due to people applying outside the normal admissions round or appealing late, so appeals in the main admissions round being heard late doesn't really affect the school.

Missing the timetable is certainly not ideal and shouldn't happen. But in reality it does happen sometimes.

My sis is going to struggle to get time off work for the rescheduled appeal, whenever that is. This isn't an adhoc appeal, it's the normal appeal process for the normal round of secondary school applications appeals. It may be routine to some people but not for her.

I understand all of that. As I say, the vast majority of appeals happen within the timescale. But I'm afraid a small number are late every year. It is not great, especially if the rearranged appeal is difficult for your sister. No-one thinks this is ideal. But it is difficult to see any alternative.

My concern is obviously for her but if I can pull back out from that , it's not really fair to the school to be made vulnerable to more legal aggro if it's not done properly. If the Code isn't followed on timing, then there's a problem with this appeal. I don't know if she wants to challenge any refusal but this is giving her ammunition for another stage. Which shouldn't be there. And I really don't think that is in anyone's interest, certainly not DNephew's.

The alternative would be to have the appeals e.g. a fortnight earlier - gives a bit more wiggle room on time, if the Code has to be broken, which looks likely here. And/or have a substitute system in place for the board.

No, it doesn't give ammunition for another stage. The LGO will not award a further hearing, still less order that your nephew is admitted, just because the hearing was late. The only other route to challenging the decision of the appeal panel is through judicial review. Again, the hearing being late won't be remotely enough to justify changing the outcome.