Online application for secondary school failed to submit

[NH78]

Hello

I am unbelievably stressed and any advice would be greatly received.

We completed and submitted our application form for DS secondary school on 28 October - three days before the deadline.

On 14 December I accidentally logged into the e-admissions website instead of DS school to check his dinner money account. Once logged in, to my absolute horror, I saw “application not submitted”. I could not believe it!

I immediately re-submitted the application and emailed the LA e-admission team and explained what had happened - their response was simply that the application is late and will not be looked at until after 1 March (National Offer Day) when all on time applications are processed.

I emailed the Headteacher at DS school, who emailed the head of admission’s and asked that under the circumstances our application could be considered as “late with good reason” but this was refused.

There are three decent schools near us and one bad one, which always has spaces left. As our application will not be looked at until after 1 March, it is inevitable he will be offered a place at the bad school.

I am distraught. I haven’t spoken to DS about this - he is going to be crushed!

We will obviously appeal but not sure on what grounds.

Has anyone been in this situation before?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Many thanks,

NH78

I am afraid the fact that the alternative schools are a bit shit…. Won’t be grounds

I guess, if your preferred school is your nearest, that your DS would be near the top of any waiting list after places are allocated.

I don’t know how much movement there is in your area, but hopefully things would work out there for you if you’ve no luck with appeals.

OP. Personally I would listen to prh47bridge who is a very helpful experienced poster on appeals on this board, over and above anyone else who tells you whether you can or can't appeal.

Oh God… I had complete heebie-jeebies reading this. I’m so sorry OP - everything crossed it works out. I submitted DD’s application in September, but when I tried a couple of months later to log back into the website to double check that I hadn’t done the same as you, it wasn’t possible to check. There was just a generic message saying the closing date had passed. So, even though I knew I’d done it, there’s been a mild terror at the back of my mind that I didn’t know for sure it had all gone through. When I read your post and all the replies saying “didn’t you get a confirmation email” I had a total panic and trawled through my email. It’s there, and it’s all fine (and I must have seen it at the time but forgot), but I just wanted to say I totally relate, and send unMumsnetty hugs your way.

@Gigglechop you are talking a load of old cobblers. And the fact you are arguing against prh is embarrassing.

Absolutely everyone knows the OP can’t appeal on the grounds she didn’t submit on time or that the other schools are ‘a bit shit’ but she isn’t saying that she is going to do that. You are just stating the obvious and saying ’I’m afraid’.

Ok Op

Please do report back re how you get on with your appeal !

@prh47bridge helped with me with my primary appeal (much harder to win than secondary) and it was successful.

Once you understand the system and how to make an appeal it becomes a lot easier and there is plenty of help on here.

Of course, there are also posters who don't know what they are talking about too. I'm afraid.

I agree that you will have a really good chance of getting in on the waiting list as you live so close.

I think some people are getting a bit confused between the application process and the appeals process.

@NH78 clearly can't appeal on the grounds that she submitted her application successfully and the council didn't receive it, because she has no proof that it is the case. She can, however, appeal that she tried to submit her application, that it didn't submit properly and that she didn't know. The council have confirmed that she has logged in at key dates.

Secondly, she can appeal on any grounds she likes. I sat through an appeal once which entirely focused on the Government's 'green travel' principles and how we should accept the appeal so that the child could go to a closer school. The appeal failed, but we listened to every word.

Thirdly, a single ground of appeal may not succeed on it's own, but in conjunction with other grounds, it can tip the balance of prejudice.

@NH78 you need to look at all the schools your DS is likely to be allocated. Compare them with the school you'd prefer. Note every single strength of your preferred school and why it would be better for your DS.

Do not write negative things about the school you are likely to be allocated. You're appealing for your preferred school, not against your allocated school.

They said they checked the online system and it shows the OP was on the system that day, but it doesn’t say that they could see she did in fact submit the application. They’re not admitting liability. There’s no dispute the OP was online on that day. The dispute is whether the OP submitted or not. Perhaps this would show in the OPs browser history?
The OP would also have to be able to prove that they did start their application before the reminders were sent out - again her browser history would show this. Just saying - “I started the application in September, and I pressed the submit button on time” wouldn’t do anything unless there was actual proof.

Sorry to hear that happened. Best of luck with him getting in 🤞

I remember booking a vaccination online and being convinced I'd booked it but it hadn't gone through when I got there. I'd screenshotted the booking details and they let me have it anyway, but I can see how thus would happen.

Can you check your browser history OP for the dates in question and hope it says something helpful like "Submit Application" or "Success" rather than just a generic "X Council Schools Portal"? At the very least if you can show that you started your application on 15 Sept and save that history down now, that might help you later if you have to appeal.

Kent can say what they like. That is not an exhaustive list of grounds on which appeals can be won. Their appeal panels will ignore this and follow the Admission Appeals Code.

I didn't say that. However, the disadvantage to the pupil from not being admitted outweighing problems the school will face is enshrined in the Admission Appeals Code as one of the ways an appeal can be won. Most appeals for secondary schools are won on this basis.

If there is proof in the browser history that will help, but remember that appeals are not a court of law. The appeal panel doesn't require proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The LA has confirmed that the OP accessed the system on the date she said she submitted the application. That confirms she isn't making the whole thing up. It doesn't confirm she tried to submit the application, but it does suggest that she at least thought she had.

And I hope that, after the Horizon debacle, appeal panels should be aware that bare assertions from the LA that their systems are fine should not be relied upon. If there are other parents in the LA that have had the same experience as OP and they appeal, the panel should be alive to the possibility that there might be something wrong with the LA's computer system.

I agree with going back over your history to get proof that you did the form and was a genuine mistake. A friend of mine did the same thing as you. She forgot to check for a email confirmation and it was never submitted. Her daughter ended up having to take a place at the school which is not desirable and a way out of the area as all the other places are given out first.

Sure but literally the only thing the OP says about the school her son will likely get is that it is “bad”.

And that is not going to cut it

How far back does all your browsing history go?!!

@Gigglechop prh47bridge is extremely knowledgeable about school admissions and appeals, and has helped many MNetters to win their appeals. You appeal for the school you want, not against the one you have anyway.

Google keeps history for 90 days. If the OP used Chrome and hasn't cleared her history manually, 28/10/22 is only 74 days ago, so she may find it.

What Gigglechop has posted is the grounds under which an infant class size appeal can be won - those, and only those, for ICS.

But this isn't ICS. So they are irrelevant.

At secondary, a panel would of course still look to be sure that the admissions arrangements had been complied with, and no mistake had been made that cost the child a place. Which is where the doubt around what has actually happened here, and what the Council can see from their systems, is relevant for discussion.

But overall, grounds can be much more general - from the Appeals Code;

"3.8 The panel must balance the prejudice to the school against the appellant’s case for the child to be admitted to the school. It must take into account the appellant’s reasons for expressing a preference for the school, including what that school can offer the child that the allocated or other schools cannot. If the panel considers that the appellant’s case outweighs the prejudice to the school, it must uphold the appeal."

At present, OP hasn't formulated those arguments because this has only just happened. I suspect in time, and with help, she can find reasons that the preferred school suits her sons needs. The issue will be whether a panel thinks those reasons outweigh the prejudice to the school in taking another pupil.

I have an email from e-admissions on 15 September - “Thank you for registering to use the eAdmissions website”.

I also have a text message from them dated 12 October - “You have successfully signed up to receive eAdmissions text messages”.

I did not receive a reminder email or text message on 28 October, even though my application had in fact already been started.

Wonder if the above would help an appeal in any way?

Yes, it would. It doesn't prove you had actually entered any of your application, but it shows you were aware of the need to apply and had started the process. I would say that certainly raises questions as to why you didn't receive a reminder. They may have a good explanation for it, but I would argue that, on their current explanation (everyone who had started their application received a reminder), this shows that you should have received one.

I think it's reasonable to assume that OP will not appeal on the basis of another school being "bad". And that she will actually come up with some reasons that might have some weight. She preferred the school in the first place - she must have some reason for thinking it was "good".

How close to the school are you