An admission appeal is an opportunity to put forward your reasons for wanting a place at a full or oversubscribed school once you have already been refused that place. The appeal is heard by an independent panel and is not connected with either Leicester City Council or Leicester Local Authority (LA). The panel hear evidence from you and also from the LA about how they have applied the admissions policy in your case. The panel make its decision after hearing both sides. It is a legally binding decision.
The panel will firstly consider the way in which your application was dealt with, and will receive facts and figures about the maximum number of children allowed in the school and the effects of overcrowding. After this the panel will then consider any special circumstances that you wish to present to them. The parent’s case is balanced against the LA’s case, and the panel will decide whatever they think is fairest to all. However, in the case of appeals where infant class size regulations apply i.e. no child should be in an Infant Class with a pupil teacher ratio greater than 30:1, the panel is only permitted to allow an appeal on the following grounds:
a) the child would have been offered the place if the admission arrangements had been
properly implemented.
b) the child would have been offered a place if the admission arrangements had not been contrary to the mandatory provisions in the School Admissions Code.
c) the decision made by the LA is not one which a reasonable admissions authority would make in the circumstances of the case.
If the year group at the school you are applying for is full, the school admissions service will normally refuse entry at that school. Your child’s name will be added to the oversubscription list and a suggestion of an alternative school (that has space at that time) will be made. You must then decide what to do about your child’s education provision. Your options are:
i) apply for a place at the suggested alternative school or;
ii) make a new application for a different school or;
iii) make other arrangements for your child’s education or;
v) Keep your child at his/her present school or;
iv) appeal for your preferred school.
Please note that you cannot appeal for a school place unless you have applied and been refused a place. When your completed form is returned to Legal Services they will arrange the appeal hearing, this normally takes approximately 6 school weeks. A letter will then be sent out to you 10 school days before the appeal, inviting you to attend.
