Secondary school appeal HELP!!

[afemrobe]

Hi everyone! We have our appeal hearing next week and would like some help to clarify reasons as to why the total number of first preferences for a high school could have decreased?
On 1st March we were notified we didnt get a place with backing numbers referencing that 147 children had the school as their first preference, however in the evidence pack provided by the authority they have only referenced 136 and i am struggling with the logic as to how that can be? Surely your first preference you submitted doesnt change regardless of whether you accept a place elsewhere? I dont trust their numbers now! Please help! Thanks!

You need to ask the school that question. It could be that the 147 figure was a typo, or that it includes children with an EHCP naming the school, or there may be some other reason.

Could 136 be the number who were offered it , but 147 include the first preferences not offered?

Alternatively have some changed their mind, gone private etc?

Thank you, i do intend on asking the question as their PAN is only 116 so there is a big difference between 20 and 31 potential extras.

I dont think so as their PAN number is 116? Baffling my mind!

I'm not sure what you are hoping to get out of this but, in itself, this won't help you. The number of people naming the school as first preference isn't an issue. If you are arguing that there has been a mistake and your child should have been admitted, evidence of the school getting things wrong may help. However, for most appeals it isn't relevant.

How are you planning to use the information? The number of first preferences isn’t likely to be relevant to your appeal?

There could have been no one who put the school as their first choice, but 136 failed to qualify for their first choice and were therefore given the school you want because they qualified for it - so how does this help your case?

Some of those 147 children met the criteria to be offered a place less well than a child who had the school second on their list, and didn't qualify for their first school?

If I live right next door to the school, and put 5 totally unrealistic choices, then the school you want, and you live a mile away, I will get the place.

@prh47bridge i am just curious as to how it can change from 147 to 136 as surely your first preference doesnt change from the authoritys records following application.

You need to be clear what the figures are. They could be

• total number of applicants who put that school as first preference (who may or may not have been offered a place, or who may have been offered a place and declined it because they were going private
• number of those offered places who had put the school first choice
• number of those accepting places who had put the school first choice.

That could give three different figures, so check carefully to see which figure they are giving you in each case.

@titchy well that is obviously not the case. Not looking for it to help our appeal i am just curious as to how it could happen!

I've just seen that PAN is 116, which rules out the last two options unless they've agreed to take an extra class this year - which you would probably know about.

It's possible that they do take the ones who have declined a state school place (or moved area since applications) out of the equation, though.

Thanks @lanthanum First document says, 147 applications received as first preference. Second document says “There were 136 1st preferences received for places.” They only have space for 116

It is possible that originally there were 147 first preferences but that 11 withdrew by - for example - moving house or accepting a private school place. This leaves 136

@afemrobe the lower number may be on-time applications (received by the original deadline, and allocated on National Offer Day), whereas the higher number may include late applications (which are added into the process after National Offer Day).

It really doesn't matter because it won't help you in any way.

I too am unsure what you’re hoping to get from this. Places are allocated according to how well the applicants fulfil the admissions criteria, not where they placed the school in their preferences. Preferences become relevant only when a child fulfils the criteria for two or more schools; they will receive their offer from the highest of those preferences.

Realistically, the most likely scenario is a mistake! I've had several occurrences where data from last year was inadvertently left in a school's case. A case document will often be recycled year on year, with the numbers updated.

All you can do is ask, but it's not relevant anyway. A number of those who got the school are likely to not have been first prefs, and a number of first prefs won't have got the school. It's all irrelevant as long as your application was dealt with correctly.