Secondary school appeals

[OUB1974]

I thought it would be handy to start a thread for anyone planning to appeal and hopefully get some advice.

My son got our 3rd choice. He passed his 11+ with flying colours but was 2 pts off an exceptionally high entry score. Our local alternative is heavily oversubscribed.

We are being quite pragmatic about it and understand it quite probably won't succeed, but we want to give him a chance. There's also a possibility of a place in the 2nd round at the grammar.

Does anyone have advice on writing an effective appeal. He did really well on the 11+ with no tutoring, so I think he'd do well at the grammar as it's a popular school with a very wide catchment from areas with no grammars, so there's a lot of tutoring for the test, and I think that the fact he almost got there without any help is really positive.

Some general appeal information.

There are two routes for an appeal to succeed.

1. If you can prove an error in the admissions process - either the admissions criteria are unlawful/unfair in some way, or they were applied incorrectly. You also need to show that your child would have got a place without this error.

This route is rarer as most authorities don’t make errors. But it happens.

2. If you can show that your child has reasons why they need this particular school, which are strong enough to outweigh the downsides to the school of taking an extra pupil (bearing in mind the school will be already full according to its admissions number or PAN).

This route involves a) the school explaining the problems an extra child would cause. Pressure on classroom space, teacher time, facilities, lunch queue etc. And b) you explaining what this school offers that other schools don’t and why it is so important for your child to attend here. The panel then balances the two.

Appeals are therefore somewhat easier to win if the school has bigger premises and hasn’t been packed to the rafters already - but most popular schools have been.

Please note that arguments about the appeal school being more academic, the behaviour there being better, the journey being easier, friends going there will not generally carry much if any weight.

There may be circumstances in which some of these do carry weight but it would need to be something quite unusual - eg your child needs a short journey due to their mobility issues (and there is no other school with space that is equally or nearly as close).

Arguments that do carry weight are things like, my child has a hearing deficit and this school is the only one with modern buildings that are better acoustically . Or, my child is a gifted competitive swimmer and this school is the only one with a pool and regular swimming available. Even these wouldn’t necessarily win but would carry weight.

It is helpful to have investigated other options available (ie any other schools with space) as the panel will often ask whether you have done this and why these are not suitable.

The majority of appeals are unsuccessful.

What chance of appeal for a child from a tiny primary (10 in year) and this child is the only one allocated not only to a different school but in a different town to all the other children, and the child has been through family trauma stretching over several years? She'll have no support from her peers who've supported her through tough times.
Not me but a friend.

Missing the pass mark for admission is not grounds for a successful appeal unless there were extenuating circumstances and you can clearly demonstrate this impacted his performance on the day and he has greater potential. Not tutoring won’t fly. Have you spoke to his current head?

I don't think OP's child didn't pass the 11+ - he just didn't get an "exceptionally high" entry score. I think it's more that a lot of children passed and the grammar schools are oversubscribed in his area.

It helps if everyone contemplating an appeal starts their own thread. Each appeal turns on its own facts, so one thread discussing several potential appeals soon gets messy as the discussions become tangled and points get lost.

ICouldHaveChecked - It is worth checking whether there’s been any error in the allocation. If there hasn’t, and the parent wants to appeal, much will depend on the strength of the school’s case for not offering a place. It will strengthen the parent’s case if there’s medical evidence of the child needing ongoing support following the family trauma, because generalised arguments about the child wanting to be with friends from primary school carry no weight. Also bear in mind that, even if they do get a place, the child may not be in the same class as the friends from primary school and may not see them during the school day.

This isn't your thread; I suggest you'd get a better responses if you (or your friend) started you own tread.

😀

Friendship issues don't win appeals unless there is evidence from medical professionals or similar that the child has a stronger need than normal to remain with their friends. Given that there is family trauma, it may be possible to win this case but the medical evidence will be vital. It is also worth checking that there hasn't been a mistake since this child has been allocated a different school from others at their primary.

I successfully won an appeal on the grounds of religion. We are Christian and dd was in a c of e primary but not offered a religious secondary. We got letters from our church priest and school explaining that religion was important.

I’ve also worked in schools and can tell you that unless the LA made a mistake or it’s on religious grounds then it’s very unlikely your appeal will be successful. If you could successfully appeal because the school is a better school, their friends are going there, it’s easier for you etc then all the good schools would have ridiculous numbers of pupils and all the less desirable schools would be half empty.

It’s very sad when they don’t get what you/they hoped but it’s worth trying to accept it and look on the bright side.

A win on religious grounds is unusual, but it sometimes happens. If there is no mistake, an appeal can only succeed if the parents show that the disadvantage to their child from not being admitted outweighs any problems the school will face from having to cope with an additional child. This can be, for example, subjects or extra-curricular activities offered by the appeal school that are missing from the allocated school.

Things that generally won't win appeals include:

• Transport issues. Unless the pupil is physically unable to get to the allocated school, this is viewed as a problem for the parents.
• Childcare issues. This is also viewed as a problem for the parents.
• Wanting to keep the child with their friends. Friendship groups are very fluid at this age. Your child may have been best friends with someone at primary school, but there is no guarantee that will continue at secondary. Friendship issues only make a winning case if there is good evidence from medical professionals or similar that this child has a particular need to stay with their friends.
• Wanting a better school. The appeal panel won't be interested in Ofsted reports or any other arguments that the appeal school is better than the allocated school.
• Your child being an asset to the school. The appeal panel don't care how wonderful your child is.
• How well your child fits the oversubscription criteria. Unless you are arguing that a mistake has been made, the panel won't care.

Around 20% of secondary school appeals are successful, so wins are more common than some posters seem to think.

Thank you, it's good to hear everyone's replies. We are putting in the appeals, but equally, know they're unlikely to succeed. He is only 12th on the wait list for one, which is encouraging.

In terms of the 11+, he'd have got in easily with his mark every year for the last 10 years! I mentioned the coaching more because I think it makes me feel comfortable that he would fit in academically there and it would suit his ability as I know most do have some sort of extra lessons and he was almost there even without.

His current school are supporting us, which is good, but I think we're all quite relaxed either way. Thank you for the advice to everyone who's commented and please feel free to comment on my thread for support if you're going through this too.

I friend of mine won an appeal for a grammar school based on the fact that her son had passed the 11+ with flying colours and was exceptionally bright. He is 25 now so it was quite a long time ago.

We successfully won an appeal two years ago. Happy to advise from personal perspective! Understand the process, understand the criteria. Understand how to undermine - with facts - the school's inevitable argument that the detriment to them taking an extra child is bigger than the detriment to your child. My husband asked a killer question during the appeal hearing which we think was instrumental in winning, because he really was able to undermine that argument.

"Around 20% of secondary school appeals are successful, so wins are more common than some posters seem to think."

That 20% is not evenly spread across all schools or even all local authorities. It is probably easier to win an appeal against a school that doesn't get many appeals and doesn't have a robust case for being full than it is to win against against a school that routinely gets many dozens of appeals. In this case the preferred school is a grammar school, so it is more likely to be in the latter category.

I haven't seen any appeal stats specifically for grammar schools, but its possible to download stats from here and sort by local authority: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/admission-appeals-in-england/2025

For secondaries the 2024-5 success rate ranged from 95.1% in Sunderland (where there were 47 appeals) to 0% in Reading (where there were 100 appeal). I would suggest that @OUB1974 should look up her home LA to help gauge her chances.

Thank you for this. I've checked my local authority and it seems that between 35-45% of appeals are successful, which I'm hoping is a good sign. I think we're being quite realistic that the chances aren't high, but it's worth trying I think. His place on the waiting list is good too and stands us in good so we'll see how it goes over the next month or so.

It seems to me, that you are possibly referring to a certain school in Lincolnshire that me and my wife are appealing for our son also.

The exceptionally high entry score this year being 242 compared to previous years.

My son didn't get any of his 3 preferred choices, and now we find ourselves navigating the minefield of the appeal process. Wishing you the best of luck!

One thing with the school I believe we are both referring to, is the fact that admission point three was down to pass mark and the child's home being within a 30 mile radius of the school. From people's past experience, is there anyway of challenging this? because it seems that more and more children are travelling to said school that are from London, therefore being significantly out of the so called catchment area. I didn't know if there is anyway of finding out this information at all, or would that be classed as being too sensitive in terms of information.

It is not clear what you mean.

1.If you mean "I don't think the oversubscription criteria are fair and I want to challenge them" then no, you can't do that via the appeals process unless the admissions policy contains an obvious breach of the national Admissions Code. This is unlikely. Grammar School admissions policies come under a lot of scrutiny and most have been challenged via the Schools Adjudicator at some point, so they tend to be compliant. You can search for your school name online to find past challenges: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-of-the-schools-adjudicator

2.Alternatively, if you mean "I don't think the oversubscription criteria are being correctly applied because I know some children outside of the 30 mile catchment who got places" then that is completely different. It is likely that they qualified for a higher priority non-catchment criterion, such as SEND, looked after children, or pupil premium (if its the school I think it is, then 20 places are reserved for pupil premium students, with no distance restriction). This could easily account for your observations. Nevertheless, if you appeal, then the school will probably provide the numbers of students meeting each criterion in their appeal statement, and you can ask questions about the numbers.

If you meant something else, please elaborate.

Yes, it seems we're referring to the same one. I dislike the criteria as several cities and towns are covered in the 30 miles, but as @eternalsprings says, it's no reason to challenge. We know of someone who got a lower mark, but assume they meet one of the other criteria that allows them a place if they pass. It's tough on local kids but unfortunately nothing to be done about it.

We're hoping for a waiting list place, but will focus the appeal on what the school can offer my son that no other school can. It's a long shot but worth a go.

We got our 3rd choice. I hadn't realised before this, but our closest (non grammer) doesn't directly go on distance, whereas other schools in town but further away do. So we didnt get our local school because they dont go on distance, but we very nearly missed out on even our 3rd choice because they do go on distance (he was almost the furthest child admitted).

Good luck 🙂

Please could you share the question asked with me thanks

Just posted this on the other schools appeal thread.

We won on “exceptional circumstances”. DC had been overseas for a good chunk of primary and needed to be in the faith based environment of our preferred school. We supplied documentation to prove were were overseas for work, his school reports which were all positive and supporting letters from DCs God parents. It was very intense and involved.

We came close to winning our appeal for a grammar. We were able to prove that the exam access arrangements that were in place for my DD were applied in a way that disadvantaged her and she was unable to finish her second paper. The panel agreed that we were right. Unfortunately we were unable to prove that had she finished the paper she should’ve scored high enough (she needed 7 marks more after age std) to reach or surpass the last score offered. Due to her diagnosis being done in y5, she had never had the right exam access arrangements at school to be able to demonstrate a high enough score in a formal setting. The hey wanted 3 years of consistent high scores demonstrated. Hence we lost the appeal but it showed us what works.

if you have a really solid argument and proof to support, you can construct your case well and win

How did you get on with your appeal OUB1974?

We unfortunately didn't get a place for our son.
Apparently there were 39 cases heard of boys who qualified with only one place given!

I'm sorry to hear that, us too. I can't believe they only allowed one, that's so annoying. I don't think I would mind so much if 5 or 6 other boys had beaten us to it.

I wish they'd change their criteria, it's so unfair on local boys. They claim to be a local school but really they're a regional school centred on our town with a catchment covering several cities and towns. When a kid can score in the top 7% in non verbal reasoning without being trained and only lives half a mile away there's something wrong somewhere! Hope you got a half-way decent alternative. Unfortunately we fell foul of the zoning criteria of the other school that you probably know about so we have another appeal ahead of us...

I'm sorry to hear you were unsuccessful too. We, like yourselves, have to dust ourselves off and go again with another appeal for the same school you are appealing. I hate the fact the boys remain in limbo! All there friends are happy with the schools they're going too, discussing their next stages of their lives and getting excited, whilst our boys still don't know where they'll be heading.

I totally agree with you about the admissions criteria! I really don't understand the size of net they allow, especially considering their are boys in this town who are more than capable of filling the spaces. The pupil premium category is what annoyed me the most. How can someone in another category, be judged to be better suited than my son when they scored lower in the test? It genuinely baffles me. We are only a mile away from the school as well.

I wish you all the best with your second appeal. Fingers crossed we both get a positive outcome second time around!