School admissions appeals forms: a step-by-step guide

The most important thing to happen out of this process is that your child has a school to go to at the start of the autumn term. So, accept a place that you have been given, and make sure you’re on the waiting list of your preferred school even if this is the decision you’re appealing. This may not happen automatically, so it’s best to check that your child’s name is on the right waiting lists yourself.

Remember that your child can be on waiting lists for more than one school – even schools that you haven’t applied for. You can also submit more than one appeal to different schools.

The appeals form is provided by the local authority, and should either be submitted to the local authority (for schools they run) or to the school itself (if they are not run by the local authority).

Filling in the appeals form is your opportunity to make a strong initial case – you don’t need to give a great deal of detail at this stage, but you can outline the main grounds for the appeal. Unless you believe there is a legal problem with the admissions rules, or that there has been a mistake in applying them, you’ll probably be appealing on the basis that there is an overwhelming reason why your child should attend this particular school. Remember that you can also bring supporters to your appeals panel hearing, such as a lawyer, child psychologist or friend.

The Advisory Centre for Education (ACE) suggests that you separate your appeal case into three sections:

• A description of your child and why they would be well-suited to this school – Are they very shy? Have they been bullied in the past? Do they have a special educational need (SEN)? Are their friends at this school? Do they need a place where they can make a fresh start?
• Why your child needs to go to this school in particular – Is it a single-sex school that would help your child to feel less self-conscious? Do they specialise in working with your child’s SEN? Do they excel in an academic area that your child has a real aptitude for (languages, music, maths, etc.)?
• Why it would be detrimental for your child to go to the school that they have been offered – Do not say negative things about the school’s performance here or at any point in the appeals process, but rather focus on social and practical aspects such as distance from home (if your child is wary of using public transport), academic requirements (only lets students take one language GCSE when your child would do more) or general size (too intimidating for a child who is very shy).

Include any relevant supporting documentation such as the school prospectus, a map of the school’s layout, the most recent Ofsted report, or a letter from your GP or child psychologist supporting the reasons that you have written about in your letter.

You should have confirmation of the receipt of your form within a week after you’ve sent it in, and then be notified when your appeals panel hearing is going to take place..

For more information about the secondary schools admission appeals process, read our step-by-step guide on appeals panel hearings.