Hi,
I would like to find out if I have a valid reason to appeal if my DS is not allocated a place at a secondary school when we move up north in July. I know that we can only apply for a place once we are residents in the new area. I would really appreciate some feedback from the knowledgeable people on here such as @prh47bridge @admission & @panelmember about whether or not I am going about it in the right way.
We plan on moving into an area where the closest and only secondary would be School X, which is rated Outstanding and no surprise is oversubscribed.
I contacted the LA for the area we are moving to and asked what school DS would be allocated if no place is available at School X and was told it would be School Y, which is rated Inadequate and undersubscribed. There have been yearly monitoring reports from Ofsted since this inspection and it appears to be making improvements. However, since it was made an academy in 2017 there have been no such reports to check on its progress. School Y is also in a different area to where we would be moving to and I was informed by the adviser in the council admissions team that they would try to offer a place that was within a walking distance of 3 miles.
I asked about the appeals process and was told that I could appeal on the basis that DS is new to the area, therefore being unfamiliar with transport routes and the area he would be better off at a school which is closest to him.
I understand that I should not focus on why he should not go to School Y, but rather why he should go to School X, so I have put together some points such as things School X offers, which DS would benefit from. However, I have noticed that in relation to transport, I have found School Y is off a main road which is deemed a Red Route. Is this something I can mention as a concern in an appeal? My son will be starting Year 7 in September, has never travelled on his own before and has relocated from an area, which is 200 miles away. Although the council admissions adviser has mentioned I could appeal on the basis of being new to the area, what is the feeling amongst appeal panels with regards to this reason?
If my points are reasonable for an appeal, could I mention that going to a school which is closest to home, would allow DS to take part in extra-curricular activities and still have time to do homework? If he is having to spend more time travelling, this could have an impact on the activities he can do after school as he would then have less time to spend on homework.
Another point I would really appreciate someone to explain to me is how the PAN works. I know it's the Published Admission Number and admission authorities allocate places up to this number. Upon reading the Secondary Education booklet for the LA in question, I have noticed that two of the schools (neither School X nor Y) have admitted above their PAN. I thought this was due to appeals being won, but for one of the schools, none of the appeals were upheld, while the other school did uphold some appeals, but the figure does not match the number of places allocated above the PAN.
I know there are many experts on here and have been following all the posts about appealing places so would really appreciate your feedback on whether the points I have raised are valid to appeal on.
Thank you for taking the time to read this:-)
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Secondary education
Appeals advice after relocating
21 replies
TheWiff34 · 12/03/2019 10:30
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