Appeal process
Appeal arrangements
You have the right under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 ( as amended by the Education Act 2002 ) to appeal to an independent appeal panel if your child has not been allocated a place at your preferred school ( s ). There is no right of appeal in respect of applications for nursery schools or classes .
Appeals in respect of Community schools in the London Borough of Ealing
You will receive a letter advising whether a place is to be offered at the school of your preference . If you decide to appeal , please contact the School Admissions Service for an appeal form . You should return the completed form by the date stated on it . An independent appeals panel , advised by an independent clerk , hears all appeals . Staff in the Committee Section , 5th Floor ( NE3 ) Perceval House , 14-16 Uxbridge Road , Ealing W5 2HL will write to advise you of the date and time of the hearing and where it will be held . You can phone them on 020 8825 8292 . You will be invited to attend the appeal and we strongly advise you to do so . If you have any questions regarding appeals please contact the Committee Section and not School Admissions . Parents should only appeal if they are able to take up the place immediately , as places will not be held open for a future admission date .
Guidance for Parents
Independent advice on how to appeal can be sought from
• ACE offer free advice via telephone : 03000115 142 Mon – Wed 10am to 1pm Term time only .
• Coram , Children ’ s Legal Centre provide free advice on the appeals process : www . childresnlegalcentre , com telephone 08088 020 008 Mon - Fri 8am to 8pm .
Parents wishing to ascertain how likely it is that their appeal will be upheld can look at the statistics on pages 10 and 11 .
Appeals in respect of Community schools in other boroughs
Please contact the relevant Local Authority . The telephone numbers of neighbouring authorities are listed on page 62 .
How to appeal for a place at an Academy , Voluntary-Aided or Foundation school
You will need to contact the school ( s ) for details of their arrangements and an appeal form as these schools manage their own appeals .
Powers of Appeal Panels
Appeals for Infant classes - Reception , Year 1 and Year 2 ( class size 30 ) Section 1 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 limits the size of an infant class ( i . e . a class in which the majority of children will reach the age of 5 , 6 or 7 during the school year ) to 30 pupils with a single teacher . Admission authorities have a legal duty to comply with this requirement . Appeal panels can only uphold infant class size appeals where :
a ) The panel finds that the admission of additional children would not breach the infant class size limit b ) The panel decides that the decision to refuse your child a place at your preferred school was not one which a reasonable authority would have made in the circumstances of your case . For the decision to be ‘ unreasonable ’ it must be completely ‘ illogical ’, perverse ’ or ‘ beyond the range of responses open to a reasonable decision maker ’ c ) Your child was clearly refused a place in error or as a result of admission arrangements which were contrary to the mandatory provisions in the School Admissions Code and the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 . Your child would have been offered a place if the arrangements had complied or had been correctly and impartially applied .
Appeals for Infant classes - Reception , Year 1 and Year 2 ( non class size 30 ), and all other Year groups Appeals other than those against decisions made on the grounds of class size prejudice ( the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 as amended by the Education Act 2002 , limits infant classes to 30 pupils ) must follow a two stage process . Where class size prejudice does not apply , it also remains the case that normal prejudice may . Although it is a matter for the appeal panel , and depending on the facts of each case , it is open to appeal panels to so find when it applies the two stage balancing process common to all appeals where class size prejudice does not apply .
First Stage : establishing the facts , at which the panel considers whether the school ’ s published admission arrangements :
a ) comply with the mandatory requirements of the School Admissions Code and Part 3 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 . b ) were correctly applied in the individual ’ s case , and decides whether “ prejudice ” to the efficient provision of education would arise were the child to be admitted .
Following the first stage if the appeal panel is not satisfied that there would be prejudice if the child were admitted to the school , where there is only a single appeal for the school the panel should allow the appeal . For multiple appeals for the same school , the appeal panel can only uphold the appeals if they decide that all the children who are the subject of the appeals could be admitted without prejudice to the school . If prejudice is proven for either a single or multiple appeals , the panel must move onto the second stage .
Second Stage : balancing the arguments : at which the panel exercises its discretion , balancing the degree of ‘ prejudice ’ caused to the school by the admission of an extra child against the prejudice caused to the child by not being admitted to their preferred school . The panel will consider both arguments and evidence in support of each before arriving at their decision .
Decision of the Appeal Panel
The decisions of admission appeal panels are binding on admission authorities and parents and can only be overturned by the courts .
Complaints to the Local Government Ombudsman
The Local Government Ombudsman can investigate written complaints about maladministration on the part of a panel that considered an appeal relating to a community , voluntary aided or foundation school . Complaints relating to academy appeals should be made to the Young Persons Learning Agency ( YPLA ). This is not a further right of appeal and must relate to issues such as the panel ’ s failure to follow correct procedures or act independently and fairly .
Judicial Review
Judicial review may be available where an independent appeal panel is wrong on a point of law . Any application for Judicial Review must be made within 3 months of receipt of a decision . Parents might wish to seek legal advice before pursuing this option .
58 Starting Primary School 2022