Appeals

When an appeal is for a Buckinghamshire Local Authority (LA) school (ie Community and Voluntary Controlled school), the Admission Authority is the County Council.  For Academies, Foundation and Voluntary-Aided (VA) schools, the Admission Authority is the Governing Body of that school.

Appeals for most Buckinghamshire schools are arranged by the Appeals Team, in Legal and Democratic Services of Buckinghamshire County Council. Some appeals are arranged by the Oxford Diocese and some by the school themselves. Your allocation information will tell you which is relevant for your school. The Appeals Team will arrange for an Independent Appeal Panel (IAP) to consider your appeal. Both the Appeals Team and the IAP are independent of the Admission Authorities.

You may request an appeal to be heard if your child has:

• Been refused grammar school testing
• Not been offered a place at your preferred primary, upper or grammar school

The IAP will be made up of 3 people:

• One member who is eligible to be a Lay Member; that is someone without personal experience in the management or provision of education in any school (excluding experience as a school governor, or in any other voluntary capacity) and
• One member who is eligible to be a non-lay member; that is someone with experience in education, are acquainted with educational conditions in the area of the authority or who is a parent of a registered school pupil.
• The third panel member will be from either of the above two categories.

The different types of appeals are:

Appeal to test 

When the Admissions Authority decides to refuse testing, (whether it is the school itself or the Local Authority), you may appeal against this decision.  In this appeal, the IAP has the power to decide whether or not your child should be tested.

For further information, please see our Guide for Parents Appeals To Test 2013 booklet.

Appeal for your preferred school (Admission Appeal)

If it was not possible to offer your child a place at your preferred primary, upper or grammar school, you may ask for an appeal to be heard by an IAP. 

The IAP has the power to decide that your child should be offered a place at your preferred school (despite it being full). The Admission Authority for that school must comply with the IAP's decision. 

During a primary or secondary appeal, the IAP must consider whether the individual circumstances of your case outweigh any 'prejudice' to the school, which might be caused by admitting any further child or children.

Please note that some Voluntary-Aided schools, as well as some Academies, manage their own appeals and you will need to contact them direct for an appeal information pack. If the school you wish to appeal for is in another area, you should contact the council in whose area the school is located for information about their appeal process.

Details of the secondary schools who administer their own appeals with the contact details for neighbouring councils. (PDF)

Primary appeals

Details of the primary schools who administer their own appeals with the contact details for neighbouring councils. (DOC)

These are appeals for entrance into primary schools in years 4, 5 and 6 and also for entrance into Reception, year 1 and year 2 where the appeal is not governed by Infant Class Size Legislation (see below).

See Guide to Buckinghamshire Schools Admission Appeals booklet (PDF) for more information on these appeals.

Infant Class Size appeal (ICS)

The majority of appeals for admission into Reception, Year 1 or Year 2 at an infant or combined school will be heard as 'Infant Class Size Appeals'.

Statutory limited on class sizes mean that, apart from some very limited exceptions, infant classes of 5, 6 and 7 year olds may not contain more than 30 pupils with a single teacher.

Where the published admission number of a school allows for classes of 30 pupils, then the Admission Authority will have refused admission on the grounds that to admit one more child would breach the infant class size limit.

Although you have a legal right to appeal under this criteria, there are very limited circumstances in which an IAP can direct a child to be admitted to a school.

The IAP can uphold an appeal on "class size prejudice" grounds only if they are satisfied that one of the following very limited ground applies:

• the admission of additional children would not breach the infant class size limit or;
• your child would have been offered a place if the admission arrangements had complied with the mandatory requirements in the School Admissions code and the School Standards & Framework Act 1998 ("SSFA") and/or
• the decision to refuse admission was not one which a reasonable admission authority would have made in the circumstances of the case*

(*The courts have defined an unreasonable decision in this context as being one which is "perverse in the light of the admission arrangements".  The word 'perverse' has a stronger meaning in its legal sense.  It means "beyond the range of responses open to a reasonable decision maker".)

As the grounds for upholding an appeal of this type are very limited, the percentage success rate is minimal.  In considering whether you wish to appeal in such circumstances, you must be aware that your personal reasons for wanting the school, however strongly you feel, cannot be taken into account, unless any of the above circumstances apply.

Please note: a decision by the Admission Authority to refuse admission to your child, which subsequently makes it impossible for you to transport all your family to school on time or even impossible for you to continue working, is very unlikely to be confirmed as an unreasonable decision.  The courts have confirmed this position.

To illustrate the minimal success rate of these ICS appeals, of all the Infant Class Size appeals heard last year, only 3 out of every 100 were successful.  Parents are often distressed that their personal reasons were not considered due to the very limited criteria therefore, please think carefully before submitting an appeal of this type.

Please see our Guide for Parents, 'Appeals affected by Infant Class Size Legislation' and a recent fact sheet published by the Local Government Ombudsman, for further information on these appeals.

Secondary school appeals

For entrance into Academic Year 2013-14

( i ) Grammar schools (non qualified)

If your child has sat the 11+ selection tests and did not achieve the qualifying score for a Buckinghamshire Grammar School, you can request a selection review.

The selection review procedure is administered by the Admissions & Transport Team of the LA, on behalf of Grammar Schools.  Information on this process will be made available by the Admissions & Transport Team who can be contacted on admissions@buckscc.gov.uk or 01296 383250.

If you are unsuccessful in a selection review and you still wish to pursue your preferred grammar school, you have the right to appeal before an IAP. You may also appeal before an IAP if you did not take part in the selection review procedure.

See Guide to Buckinghamshire Schools Admission Appeals booklet for information on these appeals.

You are also advised to read a copy of the School Admission Appeals Code prior to attending your appeal.

( ii ) Grammar schools (qualified) and upper schools

If you have not been allocated your preferred school and it is either a Buckinghamshire Grammar School (and your child has qualified by way of 11+ selection tests or through the selection review process), or it is a Buckinghamshire Upper School, you may submit an appeal for that school.

See Guide to Buckinghamshire Schools Admission Appeals booklet for information on these appeals.

You are able to appeal against each decision refusing you a place at a school and therefore you are entitled to lodge more than one appeal if you wish. A separate appeal form should be submitted for each school you wish to appeal for.

For entrance into Academic year 2012-13

( i ) Grammar Schools (non qualified)

Selection appeals

If your child has not achieved the qualifying score for admission to a Buckinghamshire grammar school for immediate entrance into the current Academic Year 2012-13, and you can demonstrate and provide evidence as to why you believe your child is suitable for a grammar school, you may ask for a selection appeal. 

The IAP has the power to decide that your child is suitable for a grammar school. The IAP will do this by reading and/or listening to your evidence as to why your child did not achieve the qualifying score in the selection tests. The IAP will want to see sufficient and convincing academic evidence of your child's ability and understand why your child did not perform as expected in the tests

For further information on these appeals, please contact the Admission & Transport Team for an appeal form and Guide for Parents (2012) booklet.

( ii ) Grammar schools (qualified) and upper schools

If you have not been allocated your preferred school and this is either a Buckinghamshire Grammar School (and your child has qualified by way of selection tests or through the selection appeal process) or it is a Buckinghamshire Upper School, you may submit an appeal for that school.

See our 2012 Guide for Parents Transfer appeal booklet (PDF) for information on appeals of this type.

Please note: The deadline by which any appeal must be lodged is 20 school days from the date you received notification that your application was unsuccessful (the notification date is the date on the letter advising you that a place was not available at your preferred school). 

Statistics

The table below provides appeal statistics for the academic year 2012/2013 as of 31/08/2012.

Please see our Timetable for Appeals 2013.

For more information call the Appeals Team on 01296 383384 or email appeals@buckscc.gov.uk

If you have a query about the admissions procedure, email admissions@buckscc.gov.uk or telephone 01296 383250

Independent Appeal Panel volunteers needed

IAP members are specially trained volunteers with an interest in education within community of  Buckinghamshire. 

IAP members are trained regularly on the law and its procedures in relation to education appeals.

If you are interested in becoming an IAP member please contact us on 01296 383384. 

We have a pool of approximately 100 members and are always keen to hear from new people.  Panel members receive 'out-of-pocket' expenses and applications are particularly welcome from ethnic minority groups.