Not got any of the preferred secondary School

[Debasis78]

Hi,
My son didn't get any school from the preferred applied 5 schools. He could not meet the oversubscribed distance criteria for 2 of the preferred schools (missed by 0.2 miles) and other 3 schools in lottery. He got a school which is 3 miles away from my place.Can I appeal on the ground of medical conditions, which described below. Can anyone help on guiding me to write the appeal so that I can succeed.

1. My son has motion sickness, for which he vomits during any travel by bus or train.
2. Recently during visit to my home country, I visited doctor. Doctor advised him not to travel longer distance by bus or train. If he travels by bus or train, good Heath will be impacted. I have also the prescription of the doctor. Can I use this and show as a evidence. Can I mention that if I get a preferred school, which is only 0.6 miles, he can go by walk. Please advise.

Please guide me how to proceed with the appeal. Thanks in advance for your help.

I do feel for you but think you are shooting your self in the foot . Travelled to my home country suggests he can travel 3 miles.

Yes if he can travel from one country to another then I can’t see 6 miles a day being a problem.
Do you never go anywhere by car or bus or train? Ever?

Sorry you didn't get good news on offer day.
Were all 5 schools you applied for in walking distance? If some were a similar distance to the allocated school but were more 'desirable' schools, the appeals panel may not buy it.

I had to travel to my home country as one of my family member died. This was an exceptional case. One or two days can be managed, but everyday if he vomits,who will take care of him

Yes all the 5 schools are in walking distance

Yes we sometimes travel by bus, case or train, but it is occasionally and we are with my son. So we take care of him. But when he will go to school by bus, he has to go alone

My sympathies to your son; travel sickness can be horrible, but would 3 miles include much time on transport? Train is usually better than bus for most. Does the prescription he received not help?

No his health condition not improved much. There is only bus service to reach the school and 10 mins walk

It takes 1 hr journey to reach the school

Can he walk or cycle ?

Walk 3 miles: how it is possible. And also cycling is not possible

Could he cycle the 3 miles?
There is no way my son will be cycling, as it involves a duel carriageway and very narrow road. Any chance your roads are safer?

I dont think the prescription will be enough. You need a letter from the GP, not just a prescription.

Sorry, didnt see your message about no to cycling.

I got a letter from pediatrician from my home country. Will it help.

Walk 3 miles: how it is possible. And also cycling is not possible

Are the roads dangerous? Are there no footpaths?

So he can travel by bus, car or train?
I don’t think you have a case really.
Does he vomit every single time he travels?
Guess he will have to walk if he can’t cycle either.

Google map shows it takes 1 hr 10 mins to walk 3.1 miles

He frequently vomits once he is in bus. Doctor advised not to travel now till his health condition stabilizes. But now it is impossible to travel by bus

Is there a safe walking route? Footpaths and safe road crossings?
And I think 70 minutes to walk 3 miles is excessively slow unless he has mobility issues. Do a trial walk to see how he gets on.

The walking time isnt very much longer than the bus time - 70 v 60 mins.

Can you look at alternative ways to reduce the motion sickness? Restricting your whole life to walking distance is pretty restricting.

Unfortunately, up to 3 miles is considered walking distance. Is it under 3 miles or over 3 miles?

Can he not take travel pills/wear a travel band?
I would assume you would need a diagnosis and recommendation from a UK doctor. What is your home country?

I don’t think you will have much of a case. Plenty of people get travel sick. This would open the flood gates for more people to appeal.

Google maps is notorious for overestimating walking time, although I wouldn't be happy with my son having to walk 50 minutes each way either. I don't know whether your appeal would be likely to be successful, but no harm in trying I suppose.
In the meantime, in case he will have to attend this school, I would be looking at journey options that includes mostly walking but hopping on and off buses a couple of times to speed up the journey time - walk the trafficy parts, jump on the bus for parts of the journey where the most distance gets covered. It would be very unusual to vomit within a few minutes of getting on the bus - it tends to build up.

You need your doctor to name the school he must attend and the medical reasons for this. That is if there is a medical criterion but this should have been included in your original application if it is that serious and a medical criterion exists. He would be expected to walk 3 miles anyway.