Appeal: Have I be treated unfairly?

[MsPigle]

Hello everyone,

Please could you advise on the following.

I have kept some info general so as not to reveal confidential info about either me, my friend or the specific school, but I hope it is understandable as is.
Thank you so much in advance.

I applied to a school for an in-year transfer for Year 6 in September 2025.
My very close friend applied for her child to the same school and same year a few days before me.
I lodged an appeal in October 2025.
My friend lodged her appeal after me (by a few days I think.)
Both of us waived the 10 days notice.

Some background info:
-The official class capacity in all classes at the school is 26 pupils, but they currently have 27 and 28 in some classes.

-The school is one form entry all the way through.

-The class we were applying for had 26 pupils in it at the point we lodged our appeals.

-My friend has a second child who she also applied and appealed for at the same time. At the point she appealed that class (Year 3) also had 26 children on roll.

-None of our children have EHCPs or any SEN need. We both live the same distance away (we both live in a separate LEA to the one that the school we are applying for is in). Our children are all the ‘same’ essentially for the purposes of applying for and being given a place.

I was called by the appeals clerk on the Monday before the last day of school of the Christmas term (Weds) and asked to attend an appeals hearing online on the Weds. (E.g 1 working day’s notice.)
I said I couldn't do the Weds (it really was very extreme, exceptional circumstances) but said I could do the Thurs or Fri instead, or the first week of Jan.

I was called by the admissions officer at the school and she asked me if I knew why my friend’s mobile wasn’t working. I said yes, she’s abroad on an international holiday in a different time zone with mobile calls turned off. I alerted my friend via WhatsApp who then made contact with the school via email. Like me she also said she would prefer to do the hearing in the first week of January but in the end she agreed via email to do the appeals hearing online on the Weds from her holiday abroad.

Her appeal went ahead. No representative from the school attended the hearing. The schools statement that she received ahead of the hearing had no points of argument in it as to why they couldn’t offer her child a place.
There was no information included in the statement from the school beyond what they had already said when they turned down the in-year transfer - no space.

In the appeal hearing my friend was told at the start that both her children would be offered places, taking both classes to 27 children (so one child over the official capacity). She did not have to plead her case at all or get into any argument about the detriment to her children vs any detriment to the existing children in the school.

The Monday of the first week back in January I emailed the school asking for the date and time of my appeal hearing. At 5.30pm on Tuesday they confirmed the date/time for the appeal hearing as the Thursday (again only 1 working day’s notice.)
I’d logged off my work email so I didn’t see the school statement and the confirmation of hearing date/time until the Weds morning.

The school’s statement to me was extremely robust with a long list of very detailed bullet points as to why my child would not be offered a place.
This included fire regs capacity and square meterage capacity. Plus detriment to existing school and pupils in terms of curriculum delivery, EHCPs, SEN, the school being over PAN across the whole school.

It was clear to me on reading the statement that I was going into a very different hearing to my friend and that I would have to really plead my case, fight really hard and argue on every point.

During the hearing with regards to the timing of my friend’s hearing and my hearing I said the following:

‘Proper process has not been adhered to as I believe this hearing should have been heard as one of ‘multiple appeals’.

A panel hearing multiple appeals must not make decisions on any of those appeals until all the appeals have been heard.

In multiple appeals, the panel must not compare the individual cases when deciding whether an appellant’s case outweighs the prejudice to the school. However, where the panel finds there are more cases which outweigh prejudice than the school can admit, it must then compare the cases and uphold those with the strongest case for admission. Where a certain number of children could be admitted without causing prejudice, the panel must uphold the appeals of at least that number of children.

As my appeal was lodged first, the panel should have delayed making any decisions until they heard my case, or, even better, rearranged all the hearings.’

The chair of the panel then paused the hearing for 20 mins and put me and the school representative in separate waiting rooms.

We then resumed the hearing and the chair of the panel said that the two hearings were not multiple hearings and that it would have been unreasonable to delay my friend's appeal hearing, as that wouldn’t be fair or reasonable.

My appeal hearing was adjourned to the following week (this Thursday coming, three day’s time) as it had already gone on for over 2 hours, and I had also said that I wasn’t happy with the 1 day’s notice and wanted to request more information from the school about things like net capacity calculations but hadn’t had time.

I followed up via email as follows:

‘I still maintain that as I lodged my appeal before the other parent, my appeal should have been heard first.

As my appeal was lodged first, the panel should have delayed making a decision on the other case until they heard my case, or, even better, rearranged all the hearings.

This would not have caused detriment to the other child as the hearings could still have both been heard within the 30 day limit.

I still maintain that as it appears there is only one place in the class and both appeals were lodged at a very similar point in time, these two appeals should have been heard at the same time, and the same school statement should have been given to both appellants.’

What do you all think?

No sorry - I lodged my appeal before my friend, that is the matter under discussion here. As per my posts above there are many people on the waiting list who have applied for the class and not appealed. You have to appeal to get a hearing and have a chance of being offered a place. It doesn't matter who applied first, it's about who appealed first. A successful appeal could be made by the last person who applied.

As per my reply above: the school knew we were friends because I contacted them about visiting the school and my friend and I were going to go together and drive in the same car etc. The school knew this.

Having read your posts; the point you are making about multiple appeals relates to multiple appeals happening on the same day. This has nothing to do with the day you applied or the day you appealed. Since you waived your right to 10 working days’ notice they tried to fit you in. Had they not offered you the Wednesday that you were unable to attend I’d think something untoward was going on. My understanding is that if you’d both had appeals on the same day, the school would likely have let the appeal panel decide who they’d let in. It’s not unheard of schools being ‘happy’ to accept over their PAN and usually this would be by not turning up to the appeal and sending in paltry paperwork so the panel can’t justify prejudice to the school- so you’re not wrong in thinking that. It’s also likely that the number school is happy with is 27 (not 28) and thus are defending their position more robustly now that they have hit 27.
If you’ve got specific points you want to ‘argue’ against- ie you think the school could cope with 28; because they have previously; levels of SEN in the year group are similar to previously etc etc. You’re more likely to be successful than if you argue that there’s been some sort of procedural errors. Most children granted a place following an error is to do with someone further from the school being allocated before someone on the waiting list etc. Happy to look over your paperwork and make some suggestions if you want to DM.

Thanks. I haven't actually submitted anything in writing after receiving the schools statement. I just gave my response to their points verbally. Should I be submitting my response in writing?

@DillyDallyingAllDay I agree with much of your post, however the appeals code does say that schools with multiple appeals for the same year group should take "reasonable" steps to make sure they are heard together.

There is obviously a question mark over what can be considered reasonable.

It maybe intentional that they didnt contest or because last week before xmas the person wasnt in work to prepare. However sounds like the dats would be there for school generally.

we did a secondary appeal and its a farce. I had strong reasons and a sen kid. Unsuccessful. Yet somehow in a different appeal set later some other kid did get a place. And because the waitlist is mobile another kid moved to the area closer and immediately got a place…
i wanted to make a complaint as the school were saying stuff that wasnt correct to their own website. And i was bullied a bit re why wasnt dc going to a sen school and why we didnt pick a different school.

When you initially submitted your appeal, did you put forward your 'case'? That is normally the written information/evidence the appeal panel have before the day- in the event you aren't able to make it or you chose to have them decide based on the written submissions. Some LA's will allow you to add further evidence/info after your initial submission but it depends. I've not actually witnessed an 'ajourned' schools appeal so I'm not sure whether you'd now be in a position to add anything extra. What were the grounds of your appeal?

Yes, exactly. It would have been a lot 'safer' for the school to just do the later date, especially considering they went through considerable lengths to get in touch with OPs friend. They probably view it from the perspective that both parties were offered the same date (at the same time). It is tough one, but don't think places can be recided. OP could take it up with the relevent ombudsman depending on whether the school is LA controlled or an academy

@MsPigle do you know if you have the same panel as your friend had? If so, that might help you because the fact that the school didn't defend the previous case may have raised a few eyebrows. Each case is meant to be viewed independently, but panel members are only human.

Do make sure you come across as calmly assertive, rather than belligerent - getting their back up won't help.

Thank you. Yes my friend had exactly the same panel. The only difference was that a school representative attended mine.

I see what you're saying. If it was really first come, first served for one single place that doesn't seem fair.

I agree if it's clear you and friend are competing for a single place then they should hear you both, then decide between you. Not just put up no resistance to the first and then deny the second as they are now definitely full.

But I guess if it was you who got heard first you wouldn't be complaining it was unfair on your friend?

@BillieWiper is that last question fair? If I were in the OP's friend's shoes I would feel relieved but uncomfortable. It will inevitably create awkwardness in their friendship, even if the OP is magnanimous about the outcome.

However, none of that is relevant at this stage because the final outcome isn't yet known. The OP has come here for support and advice rather than judgement.

Fingers crossed that the friendship will survive. The friend has done nothing wrong.

I don't know, I was interested I guess. I wasn't trying to be nasty. People do see things differently when it works out in their favour.

But there wasn't a place to be offered, otherwise there would have been no need for an appeal, at least not for the first person to apply for it (if no waiting / CI list) or for the person ranked at the top against the school's oversubscription criteria (if two people applied at the same time, or the place didn't come up until there were already applications in).

It does sound very much as if the school thought that a little extra income (een though lagged) would be nice, and fitting a 27th pupil in wasn't too onerous. So for the first appeal held, it put forward little or nothing of a case, assuming that it wouldn't take much of a case from that parent to overcome it

The OP's statement In the appeal hearing my friend was told at the start that both her children would be offered places, taking both classes to 27 children (so one child over the official capacity). She did not have to plead her case at all or get into any argument about the detriment to her children vs any detriment to the existing children in the school indicates that the panel 's decision at Stage 1, Has the school made its case?, was ,No, it hasn't. And therefore, the appeal must be upheld and the school is informed that the child (children, in this case) must be admitted. There is no need, therefore, for the parent's case to be examined.

However, the panel having duly upheld that appeal, the school didn't want to risk going further over PAN for some reason (are the classrooms only 35m² or something?) and so now put up the usual (or even an enhanced) 'Why it would be totally impossible to admit a single other pupil into that year group' case.

Yeah, I see what you mean.

I think any consideration of the school gaining any extra funding might be a bit of a red herring when looking at reasons for going above PAN

School budgets run from April to March instead of the school year - yes this was always a pain.

If this is a mainstream LEA primary the funding is allocated by the LEA based on October school census data and not adjusted for any usual in year movement (or was up until Dec 24)

As the query is about a Y6 child for Jan/Feb entry the school will not receive any funding for any of the children (other than the current Y3 when they move up to Y4 and then not before April 27) and the two Y6's will have funding allocated at their secondary after the October 26 census.

Hi again @unitmeasure and @DillyDallyingAllDay So the appeals panel have emailed me ahead of the hearing tomorrow and said ‘For clarity, your appeal was categorised as (and is being heard as) a 'single in-year appeal', and not heard as part of a Multiple appeal.’
Can I argue that it should have been heard as a Multiple Appeal? Otherwise I can’t make any argument about section 2.2 of the appeals code. I still just feel it’s extremely unfair and unreasonable not to have applied the same criteria to both of us vis a vis one of us getting no argument from the school.

You can certainly make that point at the hearing, and say that you feel correct procedure has not been followed. That may help your appeal, but it shouldn't be your only argument - you will also need to present a robust appeal case.

If you lose the appeal, and still believe the process was unfair at that point, then there is a process for lodging a complaint - see page 26 of the Appeals Code.

I agree. I think you could make the point that it should have been made clear to you that it would be heard as a single appeal if you were unable to make the initial date and what that could mean. Then you would have been in a better position to decide.

I think this is an appeal for a primary school place, in which case this thread is under the wrong topic. However, that isn't important.

I share the concern of others that you were contacted by the school when they were unable to contact your friend. However, that doesn't help your appeal.

I disagree with the chair of your appeal when they said this was not a multiple appeal. It is not a grouped appeal, but the rules are that it is a multiple appeal when a number of appeals have been received by the same school. It seems to me that there may have been a breach of paragraph 2.21 of the Appeals Code. This required the school to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the same panel heard both cases. If there were different panels, the question is whether the school did indeed take all reasonable steps. If both appeals were heard by the same panel you are correct that they should not have made a decision on your friend's appeal until yours had been heard.

I do not agree with you regarding the effect of the school failing to offer any evidence in your friend's appeal. Appeals do not set precedents, so the idea that, if your friend had won on a particular point, you could have advanced the same point to win your case is, I'm afraid, wrong.

Looking at questions from one of your later posts:

Do you think at the point that the school were contacting me and my friend and asking us to attend an appeals hearing on the same day (the Weds) they had a duty to be more transparent with both of us and tell us that effectively there was only one place in the class as they were willing to go to 27 but not 28?

No, I don't. However, the fact that they asked you both to attend a hearing on the same day shows they were correctly dealing with this as multiple appeals, which strengthens your argument that they have breached paragraph 2.21.

With regards to me saying I couldn’t do the hearing on the Weds but could make the Thursday and Friday and the first week in Jan, would there have been some reasons that were more valid than others for me saying no to the Weds?

The reason does not matter.

Are there rules about how far in advance the appeals panel have to give you the school's statement? Is this separate to the 10 days notice or the same?

There used to be a deadline in the Appeals Code but it now simply states that it must be sent to you a "reasonable time" before the date of the hearing (paragraph 2.10). I think you have an argument that the clerk did not comply with this requirement, undermining your ability to prepare for the hearing.

Your next step should be to refer this to the LGO or the ESFA (depending on the type of school) on the grounds that the school appears to have breached the Appeals Code. This may lead to you being awarded a fresh hearing with a different panel. However, be aware that this will not undo the fact that your friend's child has been given a place, so you are now asking them to go two over PAN, nor will it prevent the school submitting the same case as they did for your recent hearing. However, as you already know the school's case and they are unlikely to change it, it gives you more time to prepare and, if you want, ask myself and/or the other experts on here for their advice.

However, be aware that this will not undo the fact that your friend's child has been given a place, so you are now asking them to go two over PAN, nor will it prevent the school submitting the same case as they did for your recent hearing.

In LGO rulings in favour of complaints re appeals, the instruction is often that the appeal should be held afresh, with a different panel and clerk, and that the appellant's case should be heard as if the school's position is as it would have been, if heard correctly - so in this case as if the school was at PAN, not already one over, if the two appeals should have been heard at the same time?

no good deed goes unpunished springs to mind. I’ve also learnt the hard way when it comes to anything involving your children don’t say or do anything that will give them an advantage, when it is something that matters to you.

I know this is from you and your child’s point of view but the impact of admitting a year 6 child at this time is hard on the school. Your child will count towards their SAts results and may require extra attention at a time when they are gearing up for SATs with their current children. The sibling in year 3 makes your friend more appealing because they’ve got another child lower down the school. I know this isn’t your problem or right necessarily but just offering a different point of view.

One would hope so. However, I'm not sure the ESFA follows the same rules for academies, even though it is supposed to do so. If there a rehearing is ordered without any such instruction, I would tell the panel what had happened and ask them to consider the case as if there had not been any successful appeals (or, indeed, any other admissions in the interim).

How did it go?

Thanks for asking. It was truly horrendous! I didn't receive the follow-up information I'd requested until 24 hours before the adjourned hearing. I again was extremely busy at work/life and didn't have time to prepare. I went to visit the school as I felt that may count in my favour (in the first hearing the panel kept asking if I'd visited the school) so that deleted a day due to distance/travel. I felt very, very underprepared - the opposite of how I'd felt at the first hearing (when I'd stayed up until 4am to prep), so I feel like I really acquitted my case very badly. The chair would not let me say anything at all about the procedural aspect in terms of the potential unfairness I've discussed above. The chair started the hearing by saying that discussion of the procedural aspect wouldn't be allowed into the room and had been dealt with, case closed, and basically shouted me down and wouldn't let me get a word in or speak about it at all, so I just had to drop it. The rest of the hearing itself was like being on the witness stand - the chair was very attacking and really grilled and cross-examined me. As I suspected, the extra week gave the school time to find additional pushback (a child whose EHCP had 'just' been granted which meant an extra body in the evacuation corridor of a 121, a child who was an occasional wheelchair user, plus another EHCP in the pipeline and therefore another 121 potentially in that evacuation corridor.) As soon as I got the statement from the school in Jan I knew it was a no, and I don't think anything I could have said or done would have changed that. (This Thurs is the 5 working day deadline for them to notify me of the outcome, so I won't know officially until then, but I feel 99% certain now that it's a no.) So I just put myself through 4 hours of hideousness effectively, which I am still traumatised about. (Replaying the whole thing on a loop and kicking myself for various things I should have said but didn’t, and other things I shouldn’t have said but did!) I won't take things any further because I support and believe in the ethos of the school, and going to the ombudsman isn't going to result in a place for my child, it's just going to cause workload, negativity and problems for the school. (And be a negative energy and time drain on me, with no positive outcome.) To top it off I am pretty certain my friend is not going to take up the places at the school (I don't feel any animosity due to this - it's her right to do this and do what is best for her children, the issue has all been with how the school and appeals panel dealt with our cases differently and I believe unfairly), but as you can only appeal once a year, that won't free up a place for me as they are at PAN in the class, so I'll have to wait until July to rejoin the waiting list and re-appeal for Year 7 (the school is all-through). The strength of my case is very circumstantial and will have weakened by then so no point in doing it, plus they don't have a drop off at Year 7, they have an uptick if anything, so likely to get harder, not easier from this point onwards. So all in all - licking my wounds here and feeling very sorry for myself! But appreciating and feeling grateful for all the support and time everyone has given on this thread - it made me feel supported and like I wasn't doing it alone, thank you.