The school appeals process
Contents
Your right to appeal a school
Who can appeal
Think carefully about making an appeal. Appeals are time-consuming, stressful for parents and expensive for schools.
If you have been refused a place at one or more of your preferred schools, you are entitled to appeal against that decision.
If you have not applied for a particular school or have not received a letter refusing admission, you are not entitled to appeal.
Applications for school places are refused where there is no place available for your child at your preferred school.
When you apply for a school place for your child, you can express a preference for a school or schools. But you do not have the right to a place at a particular school.
An independent appeal panel will hear your appeal.
You are responsible for:
- making your appeal
- explaining to the Appeal Panel why you want the school place
- providing written information in support of your appeal
There are important deadlines for making your appeal and submitting your evidence.
Read the GOV.UK guidance for parents and guardians on school admission appeals before you start your appeal.
The Department for Education advises parents that:
- some schools receive more applications than they have places available
- the appeals process can be burdensome for all involved, so admission authorities do not take lightly the decision to refuse a place
- in most cases your child will not have been offered a place because there were other children who more closely met the school’s oversubscription criteria
You can appeal for a lower preference school if you have been offered a higher preference school.
If your circumstances have changed and you now prefer a lower preference school, you should contact the school admissions team to explain your changed circumstances and find out whether you need to make a new application.
How many appeals are successful
Due to the very limited circumstances for a successful infant class appeal, only a small number succeed.
Most appeals fail because the schools are already full. They do not have the resources to admit extra children, without harming the existing pupils' education.
In the last 4 complete academic years the success rate for infant class size appeals was:
- 2024 to 2025: 33 infant class appeals were heard, of which 2 were successful
- 2023 to 2024: 37 infant class appeals were heard, of which none were successful
- 2022 to 2023: 34 infant class appeals were heard, of which 1 were successful
- 2021 to 2022: 82 infant class appeals were heard, of which 1 were successful
The following shows a list of all types of appeals, by individual school for the 2024 to 2025 academic year:
Reasons your appeal could be unsuccessful
Your appeal is likely to fail where you:
- are appealing for a place in reception, years 1 or 2. This is due to the Infant Class Size law that applies to these appeals.
- do not live in the school’s catchment area.
- do not have strong medical, social or educational reasons for your appeal which are supported by evidence.
- want the school place to make it easier for you to get to work, or to transport your children to school.
- live outside the county.
- have been allocated a place at another school at a reasonable distance from your home, even if it isn’t one of your preferred schools.
- have elected to home educate your child and have refused another school place, even if it is not one of your preferred schools.
Who is on the Panel
Appeal panels perform a judicial function and must be transparent, accessible, independent, impartial, and operate according to principles of natural justice.
Appeal panels are made up of 3 people.
The appeal panel is made up of a Chair member with at least one from the following category:
- lay person - someone without personal experience of managing a school or the provision of education in any school (except as a school governor or volunteer);
- non-lay person - someone who has experience in education, who is acquainted with educational conditions in the local authority area or who is a parent of children currently at school.
A Clerk is appointed who is independent of the school and the education function of the local authority. The clerk is present to ensure the appeal is conducted fairly. The Clerk does not have any say in the decision.
They are there to:
- explain the process and answer your questions at the hearing – they're an independent source of advice on admissions and appeals law
- make sure the relevant facts are presented and recorded
- provide assistance and information to all parties before and during the hearing
- take a written record of the proceedings.
Appeal panels decide whether to accept or reject your appeal, based on the evidence presented to them before and during the hearing.
The panel's decision is final.
If the panel’s decision is legally binding and if the panel accept your appeal, the school must offer your child a place. If it rejects your appeal, you can't appeal again.
The decision cannot be reversed. If you have concerns about the legality of the process for any reason, email [email protected], marked for the attention of the manager.
If the manager is unable to resolve your concerns regarding the legality of the appeal, then you have the right to contact the Department of Education to independently investigate.
A panel cannot:
- enter into a debate with either party on issues raised
- specify any conditions if it accepts your appeal
- hear complaints or objections on wider aspects of local admission policies and practice
- reassess the capacity of the school
- order the admission authority to change your position on the school's waiting list
- allocate a place at a school other than the one you appealed for
Last updated 04 March 2026