How appeals decisions are made

If a school decides not to offer your child a place, you can appeal against that decision.

Where there is a limit of 30 children to a teacher

There is a limit of thirty children to a teacher in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classes.

If taking on another child means that the school would have to take extra steps which could cause problems, this is called class size prejudice.

If your child is refused a place because of this class size prejudice the appeal panel may only change that decision if:

  • The admission arrangements were not properly put into place and your child would have been offered a place if they were.
  • If the decision to refuse your child a place was not a reasonable one.

Where there is not a limit of 30 children to a teacher

This includes:

  • All secondary school places
  • Primary school places other than in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2
  • Primary school places in those classes where class size limit doesn’t apply because the classes arranged to keep the numbers under 30 children to a teacher.

These appeals take two steps:

Step 1:

The appeal panel looks at whether the admission arrangements for the school were used properly when deciding if your child should get a place.

If they were not, and your child would have been given a place if they had been, the panel should allow your appeal.

Step 2:

The panel looks at your reasons for choosing that school. If they decide that the school could not cope with taking on more children, they should refuse the appeal.

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