What to expect at a secondary school appeal panel hearing?

[Mummyspider27]

I have many a question!! I would love to know…

1. Do the panel read and review the evidence before the hearing, or is the first time they read it when you’re in there?
2. When do the meetings normally take place (what month)?
3. How long do the meetings last?
4. Are they online or in person?
5. What is the usual time scale for hearing the outcome?
6. Is there ever the situation where the evidence is so strong and compelling that a decision is made without a panel meeting with the parent?

I have read all the information and policies on the relevant council website, but it would be nice to hear people’s actual experiences.

Thanks so much xx

In answer to your questions:

1. Yes the panel will read and review all evidence, the schools and yours in advance of the hearing and will prepare questions for both. They also have a briefing before the hearing takes place to discuss what they’ve picked up in the evidence as a group.
2. For secondary school transfer appeals, they will be held between April-June. For primary schools transfer appeals June and July. For in-year appeals, they should be heard with 30 school days of the appeal being submitted.
3. It depends…if it’s just you appealing and you are not part of a multi group hearing…stage 1 the school case can last for about an hour and stage 2 your case will be about 30 minutes. Multi group hearings will have stage 1 and then the panel will hear every parents appeals one by one afterwards will could last several days.
4. It depends on the LA, some are in person and some are online.
5. The usual outcome is 5-7 working days. You won’t get a decision during the hearing, you will receive the decision by letter. If you are part of a multi appeal, you won’t get the decision until after the last appeal has been heard.
6. Not usually, instead a space may become available and if your child is 1st on the waiting list they will get a space. If you child is 10th on the waiting list for example…you will need to follow the appeal process.

Hope that helps

Thank you so much this is so helpful.

How will I know if I am part of a multi group hearing? Will I present in front of other parents? Will the school be present for my appeal? Will I be present for the hour when the school presents? thanks x

It’s hard to know if you will be part of a multi group without more information. If your appeal relates to a year 7 space for your child then yes, quite possibly it will be a multi appeal. All parents will be invited to the school case, this will be about an hour and parents will invited to ask the school questions (not relating to your case).

Your appeal will be away from other parents, everything you say will be confidential and you will be given the opportunity to say everything you want to say.

It is recommended that you attend the school case and your case but if it is a multi appeal this may be on separate days (you will be notified of the dates). However, if you are unable to attend both you should prioritise your own case so the panel can get all the information possible to make the best decision for your child.

Yes, a year 7 place and I already know of others appealing for that school so I assume that means a multi group hearing. Do they try and schedule all of them together for that school over a few days or could they have the first one in April and the last in June? Xx

For a group appeal, they'd usually try to schedule all the individual cases (provided applications and appeals were all "in time" in the same week (fortnight if there's loads)

Appeals for a particular school will be held over a number days, usually consecutively depending on how many appeals will be received. For example, stage 1 may happen on a Monday, then appeals to follow afterwards then appeals on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and decision making on Friday. But again this depends on how many appeals the school have received so difficult to say. It will also depend on the availability of the Headteacher, Presenting Officer and the Panel.

Therefore, I would expect an appeal to be held over a week at some point between April and June in the summer term so you can know the outcome of your appeal before the end of school term.

Perfect, and would they tell you at the appeal “we are hearing appeals for this school until X date, so you should hear the outcome by X?” X

Before the end of the school term in July? So they would miss the transition days in early July? Xx

Yes, they should let you know when you can expect to hear, and it should be within a week of the last hearing in that group. Most LAs try to hear and decide secondary appeals before the transition days if at all possible

Again, every effort is made so appeals will be heard and decided as soon as they can in order for children to attend transition days. But every LA is different so I can’t guarantee this will be the case for you, but I hope it is

Generally, the panel chair will say 'Thank you for the information you've supplied. We have read it carefully. Is there anything you'd like to say in addition to the information you've already given us?' At that point, you can rehash everything you've already written (not recommended) or you can give a summary that highlights your strongest reasons for appeal, etc. What you shouldn't do is give new information that hasn't been submitted. If you have new information, you need to request that it is allowed to be submitted, which may mean that the hearing has to be adjourned so the panel can read it and the LA can respond to it.

You will have the opportunity to ask questions about the LA's case. For example, if they say they have too many pupils so the corridors are unsafe, you might say 'the data shows that years 8 and 10 have 5 pupils less than other years... Doesn't that bring the number of students below the number you'd normally have?' Your questions don't need to be very formal - plain English is fine.

In answer to 6, it's not really how it works. You can opt for a paper hearing (not generally recommended), but if you haven't, the panel must give you the opportunity to speak, and must give the admitting authority to respond to your case, so even if the appeal case is really compelling prior to the hearing, they should go through with the appeal meeting.

Thanks so much.

Would they ever tell you in the appeal if it has been successful? And is this done before transition days in early July? Xx

No, you won’t be told at the appeal hearing if your appeal has been successful. The panel will need to hear all the appeal cases and then carefully decide which cases are the strongest to uphold based on the evidence they’ve received and what is said at the hearing. You will receive a decision 5-7 working days after the last appeal has been heard.hopefully this will be in time for transition days

No. The panel has to deliberate and the clerk has to take minutes of the deliberations. It's a serious matter and the Local Government Ombudsman can ask to see the records of the hearing and deliberations if the decision is called into question. Similarly, the letter that comes out to you after appeal can be scrutinised for the detail of how the decision has been explained to you.