Secondary school appeal: should I mention admissions errors/football need or focus on SEND case?

[Putneyparent]

Hi everyone,
I’m appealing for a place at a faith school.
As I’ve mentioned in another post, our main case is based on my DC’s SEND needs and what the appeal school can offer compared to the allocated school. I have supporting evidence for this, although I’m aware SEND alone isn’t a guaranteed win at appeal.

My question is really about whether to include some additional points or leave them out.

When we were told my DC didn’t get a place, the school said DC had met the first oversubscription criteria (they were of the faith, baptised etc). However, it looked like they hadn’t applied the feeder school criteria. There was no mention of this criteria on their letter.

I queried this with the school and they replied saying there was a mistake/typo on the letter. They said that if challenged they could show the correct criteria had been applied. The initial letter also appeared to showed they had admitted fewer boys than their total intake, but again they said this was a typo and could be evidenced if needed.

My concern is that if my DC was not considered in the feeder category, he may have been disadvantaged, as that is a smaller pool than the wider “faith boys” category.

So my question is: should I raise these possible errors at the hearing, even though the school has already explained them (but not actually shown me proof of how my DC was categorised)? Or should I leave this out completely and just focus on the SEND evidence to avoid confusing the panel or weakening my case?

I’m also unsure about whether to mention a sports point. My son is part of a development programme for an established national football team, and they train just around the corner from the appeal school. Not only would being in a school with a strong interest and participation in football help his progress, It would make attendance much easier than from the allocated school. Again, I’m not sure if this is relevant or something the panel will just not give weight to.

I’d really appreciate any expert advice on what to include and what to leave out so I don’t muddy the waters.
Thank you.

I am not an expert, but am in the thick of it working through 3 school appeals.

I've been told the panel will consider;

• Whether the admission arrangements were correctly applied
• Whether the prejudice to the child of not being admitted outweighs any prejudice to the school

So SEND and football fall under the second point, but if you can challenge the admission process that is key to building out a holistic case.

With football - I am in the same position, son plays for an academy, etc. I think it is useful if you can provide difference between the football facilities or provision. For example, school a has a 3g all weather pitch with floodlights, allocated school does not. That shows a clear disadvantage for your child.

On your first point, The school should disclose how your child was categorised, or under what oversubscription criteria he was considered.

You can request this, and definitely should ahead of hearing.

Make sure you submit everything before the additional evidence deadline.

• What are the actual oversubscription criteria?

(e.g. 1: LAC / PLAC of the school's faith 2: Of the named faith, attending a named feeder school 3: Others of the named faith 4: All other LAC / PLAC 5: All others attending a named feeder school 6: Other faiths with faith leader confirmation 7: Anyone else)

• Which is the highest criterion you believe your DS should be ranked under?

• Where did the cut-off fall on National Offer Day?

Thank you @OutofIdeas86 Gosh 3 appeals, that's a lot, good luck with everything.

Yes, you should raise the errors. You should also ask the school for the evidence they say will show that there was no mistake. It may be that they will produce the evidence or the school's written case will show that there was no error, in which case you don't need to pursue this point in the hearing. However, if an error has been made which cost your child a place, that is by far the strongest case so you should definitely include it as long as there is a possibility that there was a mistake.

You should also definitely include the sports point. It adds to your main argument, giving more weight to your case. By all means concentrate on the SEND aspect, but every additional point helps.