Starting secondary school

You have the right to appeal for any school named on your application that hasn't been able to offer your child a place.

You will need to complete an appeal request form (this will be available after offer day) and return it to the school you're appealing for, addressed to the 'Clerk to the Independent Appeal Panel'.

The deadline for submitting an appeal is 23 March 2018.

Remember:

• Medway Council isn't involved in the appeal process for any secondary school or academy.
• You can only appeal for schools named on your application.
• You can appeal for more than one school at the same time.
• You must complete a separate request form for each school you're appealing for. 
• Each school won't know you have appealed for another school unless you tell them. The appeals for each school are completely independent of each other.

After you submit your appeal

After you submit your appeal, the school will set up a hearing and let you know the date and time. They must give you at least 10 school days' notice.

You should be given a deadline to submit any further evidence you wish to provide.

Your child's current school may also provide evidence (e.g. letter from the headteacher) to support your case, but aren't obligated to. You will need to discuss this with them.

Any evidence submitted after the deadline may not be considered at the hearing.

The hearing

Your appeal will be heard by an independent panel who have no connection to the school.

The panel will decide on whether or not to uphold your appeal and grant your child a place.

You will be invited to the hearing to explain why you think your child should be given a place and the school will be invited to explain why a place can't be offered.

There will be a clerk present, who makes sure correct procedure is followed throughout and keeps a full record of proceedings.

You have the right to bring a friend or family member to the hearing to support or represent you. However, this person must not have a connection with the school being appealed for (e.g. a member of staff from the school).

What happens at an appeal hearing

1. The panel will decide on whether or not to uphold your appeal and grant your child a place.
2. The admission authority will explain why they turned down your application.
3. You’ll be able to give your own reasons why your child should be given a place.
4. The appeals panel must decide if the school’s admission arrangements were properly followed and are legal according to the school admissions appeals code.
5. If the arrangements are legal and were properly followed, the panel must decide if they were followed fairly and thoroughly.
6. If the arrangements weren’t properly followed or are illegal, your appeal must be upheld.
7. If your appeal has not already been upheld, the panel will decide if your reasons for your child receiving a place outweigh the school’s reasons for not admitting another child.
8. The panel will send you and the admission authority their decision within 5 school days.

A panel’s decision can only be overturned by a court. If there’s a change in your circumstances which could affect the decision, you may be able to appeal again.

The decision

The independent panel will make their decision after all appeals have been heard.

You will be notified of the decision in writing, usually within five working days of the last appeal.

The decision of the panel is final and can only be overturned by a court.

Full details of the admission appeals process and regulations are available in the School Admissions Appeals Code.

Other types of appeal

There are three other types of appeal to individual appeals:

• grouped appeals - where all those appealing for a place at a school are invited to attend a joint hearing
• assessment appeals - an appeal for a grammar school when your child hasn't passed the Medway Test
• allocation appeals - an appeal when your child has been refused a place at a school when the oversubscription criteria has been applied. This includes grammar schools when your child has been assessed as grammar under the Medway Test, but not received a grammar school place.