Secondary school appeal - was admission policy applied wrong?

[mumofdragons]

Hi everyone,

I was hoping for some advice. My sons secondary school appeal is coming up next Monday. On the schools argument they said I applied for a community place but as part of my appeal I include faith documentation. I have ALWAYS applied on a faith basis and I have that on my supplementary form. It specifically says I am applying on a faith basis and I attached my DC baptism certificate.

DC is my eldest, I've never been through this so I don't know if I am correct. Could someone shed some light on this please!? I don't want to call the school and ask cos I don't want them to know that I know this information.

Thanks,

It sounds like either you ticked the wrong box, or your application got wrongly categorised after receipt. Do you have a copy of your original application showing clearly that you applied on a faith basis? (Attaching the baptism certificate wouldn't be relevant if you ticked the wrong box, or if the faith qualification is based on something other than baptism.)

Your DC's primary school might be able to advise; they're likely to know what's what for the local secondaries.

Thank you for your help, I have definitely applied on the faith basis. I double checked my supplementary form and it says that. So do you think they have got my application wrong?

I'm not really on good terms with the primary school so don't think it will be much help. The school refuses to acknowledge he was bullied and refused to put it in the supporting letter for the appeal.

Beyond baptism certificate were there any other faith based qualifying conditions - e.g confirmed attendance at church and did you supply those?

What did the LA placement letter say your dc were categorised as for admissions purposes and how were places allocated? Did they acknowledge receipt of your supplementary form?

No I supplied a letter from the priest when I submitted my appeal. On the form it asks to supply the baptism certificate as proof.

I think what lantharnum is asking is which box was ticked on the original application form (not the SIF)

If that was submitted correctly, then they are on the face of it wrong in asserting that you applied for a community place.

Would your DS have been offered a place had he correctly been categorized as a faith applicant? What faith categories were there, which do you think DS would have been correctly placed in, and did all applicants in that category receive offers? Being baptised may not be enough if there was an attendance requirement, or if certain denominations are prioritised ahead of others.

What happens to unsuccessful faith applicants? Are they then treated as community applicants?

Or have you only submitted it after the first allocations were made?

For our faith place I had to tick faith in the main application. I then reiterated on the SIF and had to explain which category I was under and provide dates supporting my church attendance and other activities along with those of dc that made us eligible as well as a form for the Vicar to complete stating how long and on what basis we had been involved at Church.

You need to look at the original application, not the supplemental form, to check that at that stage you did say you were applying for a fair place. It sounds like they think you ticked community place here.

Being baptised and attending was not enough, I had to state the extra voluntary work DC and I had undertaken for at least 3 years to be eligible, is there a chance your school has similar?

We only do 2 forms, one with the LA and then if the school require a SIF. I don't believe I done it wrong because DC was applied to all waiting list (community and faith) so I was confused as to why they said I applied for community then only in my appeal was the faith considered. On the SIF they said they require a baptism certificate or a letter from the priest.

It wasn't both it was either a baptism certificate or a letter from the priest. Dc was considered and put on the waiting list for faith and community since the they refused him a place. He didn't get in because the school is oversubscribed and has 2 feeder primary schools. It's a small school they only have 81 spaces 466 people applied. He is 19 on the waiting list.

You should have had some kind of information after the first allocation of places which stated which category you were considered as when they were allocating places. If it says you were in a faith category then nothing that you can do. If it says you were in a distance category or something similar then you need to track back and check what information was required to prove your faith category. You mention a birth certificate but was this just attached to the LA application or what. In most faith schools the onus is on the parent to get the extra information to the school as it is the school that check your faith credentials. If it was sent to the LA then they normally do not pass them on to the school as they would claim that the process of giving to the school was clear and was for the parent to arrange.
If you submitted the faith documentation correctly in the required time frame and they have not classed you as faith category then you might have a case that a mistake has been made but the panel will need categoric proof of the school / LA making a mistake which can only come from going to the appeal.

That's from my SIF form. I ticked it correctly, I applied for a faith place and they said I applied for community.

Yes, that's the SIF, but what was on the main form to the LA?

You don't have any box for community, you apply and put all the schools you want in a list of preferences. If the school require a SIF form usually church schools then you have to apply for it and then that's when you attached you baptism certificate etc.

So was your dc considered under faith criteria or community? Did he meet the faith criteria for priority, or are there x faith and y community places?

He was considered for both, the school has different waiting lists depending on your criteria. He is currently on both waiting lists faith and community. They said 'your application was for a community place but as part of your appeal submission you include faith documentation.

I applied for faith and sent documentation. Did they get it wrong?

Could you copy & paste from the admissions guidance (redacted place names if thats a worry)

This is the admissions policy

I just read it properly but if he didn't fit the faith criteria then how comes he's on the faith waiting list

It all depends what you ticked on the initial application form.

At the point of making the application you need to tick if you are applying for a faith place (or a sibling place/child of staff etc).

So what you put on the SIF should match that, it sounds like they are saying that only the SIF mentioned the faith place, the main application itself didn’t.

So you need to prove that your MAIN application did specify a faith place and they made a mistake

So.

1. Do you have the last distance offered for faith places? Are you inside or outside that?
2. Do you have the last distance offered for community places? Are you inside or outside of that?

If they should have considered you under faith, and you provided correct info, and you would have got in, then that would be a clear error and should win you an appeal.

But if there were too many faith applicants and you live too far out, they have correctly transferred you to the community list.

@Matchingcollarandcuffs
I have proof the LA form did not have a box to tick for community or faith. There admissions policy is some what confusing.

@TeenPlusCat thank you for clarifying!

Also, were the faith places oversubscribed and if so, what was the greatest distance offered for a faith place?

Do you live closer than that?

If not, then even if a mistake had been made, the mistake has not cost your DS a place he would have been offered had the criteria been correctly applied, so the appeal would not succeed.

A mistake having been made, which cost the DC in question a place at the school, is a reason for an appeal to be upheld, but certainly not the only reason it may be upheld - at appeals other than for refusals based on Infant Class Size legislation, the consideration is whether the greater prejudice is caused to the child in not attending that school, or to the school in having to admit another child when the year group is full.

There is always the possibility of just an error in the appeal paperwork, rather than the paperwork being accurate and reflecting a (possible) error in the consideration of the application. OP, when you get your turn to ask questions of the presenting officer, ask them to clarify under what what criterion your application was considered (if there is a group presentation at stage 1 of the appeal, wait until your personal stage 2 'slot' for this).