Faith school appeal

[Journey2freedom]

This isn't for me, my dc got their first preference. We're really happy, no issues.

I have a friend whose granddaughter is baptized Anglican but attends a Catholic primary school. They also attend a Catholic church weekly but for purposes of school application, it was less than 2 years up until the 1st September 2023 (for Sept 2024 admissions). They want the child to go to an outstanding Church of England academy. They put the school as their first preference and have found out today they did not get offered a place. They have been offered a place in the local Catholic high school instead.

They want to appeal for a place.

Here is a link to the admission policy for the church of England school:

https://ripleystthomas.com/app/uploads/2023/03/ADMISSIONS-POLICY-and-Supplementary-Form-2024-25-September-2024-intake-.pdf

What evidence do they need? What should they say or do, what do they need to argue to appeal for a place ?

Sorry for asking so many questions, I don't know anything about the appeals process ect.

I know an appeal needs to be lodged within 20 days, and that the hearings are in May.

Ok, so they didn’t qualify under the faith criteria? Or at least, other children scored more points and qualified more highly. Or do they believe there was a mistake in how the points were allocated to them?

They firstly need to find out what points they were given and how many points was the cut off for a place. If they believe this is incorrect, they can raise this at appeal. However if this has been applied correctly, they will need to build a case as to why their child really needs this school.

No idea what their thinking is, they just want the school that is the first preference

You need to find out what their thinking is.

Firstly, they need to check for mistakes: what admissions criteria they were placed in (ie is their point total correct) and whether the home/school distance looks right.

But for secondary, you can also appeal on "balance of prejudice" ie the detriment to the child by not attending the school outweighs the detriment to the school and its other pupils by being over numbers.

What does this school offer that would be of special benefit to the prospective pupil? Faith character is not an appeal-winning issue, so they need to look beyond that. And remember that they are appealing for the school they want, not against the one currently offered

Ok, so assume church attendance is largely irrelevant at this point. If they don’t think a mistake was made (and from what you’ve said, it doesn’t really look like it), then they will be appealing on the basis that the disadvantage to their DD in not going to the school is worse than the disadvantage to the school in having to take and fit in an extra child.

They need to look at the reasons for why this school, and why their DD. For example, she is a keen sports player and the preferred school has teams which the allocated school doesn’t. Or she plays an instrument and the preferred school has an orchestra, which allocated school doesn’t.

Things like maintaining existing friendship, travel, or faith alone are very rarely strong enough grounds to win an appeal (unless the school’s case is very weak, but that’s not to be relied on).

Thank you for all your response and help.

How do they find out about what points they were allocated?

If it isn’t stated in the offer letter, they would need to contact the LA and ask.

But from what you have said, would they have any points? Is the Catholic Church one of the schools listed, and was it attended outside of school?

I think Catholic Church is included as part of churches together in England?

It is likely to say in the full letter (not always in the on-the-day email)

So as they won't have any points for being in the feeder primary or for sibling link, it'll be the church-going points (sliding scale)

The school (or local authority) will also publish allocations data, stating how many applicants per category, and at which category (points score) the school was full and, as they would have used the distance tie-breaker, the furthest distance offered in that category

If they don't publish it, then parents will need to enquire of school or LA, who are required to supply information that will assist parents in preparing an appeal.

Yes, I'm pretty sure they are.

Weekly attendance for less than 2 years would give either 25 points (1-2 years) or 10 points (under a year)

It appears that the Diocese of Lancaster is within Churches Together, but they need to be sure that their church is part of it.

So assuming it is and all info is correct, they would fall into the Weekly/Fortnightly for 1-2years category, so 25 points?

Therefore, they would be behind

• those with over 2 yrs attendance
• those in the same category at a feeder and/or with a sibling
• monthly/over 2 yr attendees at a feeder
• monthly/6 months - 1yr attendees with a sibling and at a feeder
• anyone who also got 25 points and who lives closer to the school (monthly 1-2 yrs at a feeder, monthly 2yrs with a sibling etc.)

We can see that in the last round, all places were allocated in the faith criteria (ignoring staff/LAC). They really need to consider whether they feel a mistake has been made, or whether they’ve just been unlucky.

Minimum number of points is 30

Sorry, I’m not sure what you mean?

For the September 2024 intake, the school said the minimum points needed to be offered a place was 30

30 is the maximum points, not the minimum. The admissions policy states that last year the last place offered went to 20 points with a tie-break distance cut off of 3.6 miles.

It sounds from your OP (assuming that info is correct) that the child should have 25 points (weekly attendance 1-2 years at a church which is a member of Churches together in England), which would have got them a place last year.

They should know how many points they were submitting as the SIF clearly states in big bold capitals "PLEASE COMPLETE THIS SECTION TOGETHER WITH YOUR VICAR/PRIEST......." and then shows the table with the possible attendance categories. The parent has to sign this section along with the priest. So the parents must have known how many points were being submitted (and presumably they knew what last years cut off was).

However, the cut off might be in a different points category this year (25 points with a cut off of 4.5 miles, and child lives 6 miles away for example). So as others have said, first thing to do is to carefully check what points were submitted on the SIF and what the cut off is for this year, as this may be some kind of admissions error and may just need to query it and not need to appeal at all.

It doesn't say that, they don't know in advance of the applications what they will be offering, it says 30 is the maximum points anyone can get for church attendance.
On the page after the one you've copied it says 20 points, cut off distance 3.6 miles was what was offered last year

The school were phoned and they said the minimum was 30...

If the minimum this year was 30, that means that 270 children were either LAC, children of staff, or attended worship weekly for 2 years.

Your friend's child would not have had 30 points, so has been rightly denied a place under the criteria.

That means that they need to submit a prejudice appeal. They need to decide what is important to them about attending their first choice school, and why it is important that they get given a place. Then the panel can decide if their case is so strong that the disadvantage to the school of taking another child is outweighed. However, they will also be competing with other appellants who feel that they have a strong case, so the stronger their case, the better.

If the minimum this year was 30, that means that 270 children were either LAC, children of staff, or attended worship weekly for 2 years.

Or had lower attendance points, but gained additional points for being at a feeder school (10) and/or having a sibling there (5).

This is very helpful to hear - we'll be applying to that school in two years time for my youngest (my DD has just got into Grammar and is very happy with that news today. Our youngest DD fancies Ripley). I did suspect that the cut off was going to be 25 or 30 this time. - it's in such huge demand.

I hope your friends can appeal successfully.

I know the school. It is highly likely that there were alot of children with higher points. Friends and relatives in the area all attend church weekly for 3 plus years and attend feeder schools to get in. Alot will also have siblings. I would thinknits likely to be bad luck. Its a high birth rate year here

Hi, my daughter is wanting a place here and has 40points. However, we moved from a different authority so couldn’t apply to this one. We would have got the place if we had moved in time before the closing date. Do you think we may have a good chance at appeal? Thanks.

@Rachel234561 you would need to appeal based on why your child needs to be at that particular school. Meeting the faith criteria well (getting 40 points) won't be enough. Can you get added to the waiting list now?