Primary school admission and appeal
- There are standard application forms known as the Reception Common Application Form (RCAF) and Junior Common Application Form (JCAF). Parents can also apply online here, and I recommend this process.
- Primary school admissions are straightforward for most parents, with similar rules for entry to most schools, except church voluntary aided schools.
- If applying for a Kent primary school place for September 2010 or January 2011 at the normal age of admission, you MUST complete an admission from by 8 January 2010. This allows you to name three schools in order of preference. If you don't have one, a Kent admission prospectus for your area can be downloaded at Primary.
- There is no need to put your local school down in first place; enter the one you most want your child to attend. You will not damage your chances at your local school by putting it in a lower order.
- If applying for a church voluntary controlled school, make sure you tick the box showing you wish your child to be considered for a church school, otherwise wise you are considered after all those who have ticked the box, whatever your religious background.
- You will find primary school league tables here. These need to be treated with extreme caution. They are heavily influenced by (1) the ability of pupils admitted to the school – see the most recent OFSTED Report for details of attainment on entry here. (2) the importance the school places on achieving high SATs results as distinct from educating the pupils. have posted details of Kent Primary School appeal statistics for 2008/9 here.
- Key dates are:
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Key Action
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Key Dates in Scheme
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Closing Date for RCAFs/JCAFs
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Friday 8 January 2010
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Offer day
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Monday 22 March 2010
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Date by which places should be accepted or declined
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Friday 23 April 2010
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Schools re-allocate places that have become available
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After Wednesday
28 April 2010
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- 14,739 primary school applications were received in Kent in 2009. The following table shows the numbers of Year R pupils offered their first choice school, and those not offered any school on their list. There are blank spaces in the table where the information is not available. Whilst the data from different years is not directly comparable, the table shows a steady decline in the proportion of children offered their first choice school. The proportion not getting their first choice has nearly doubled over two years, as has the proportion offered no school on their list, but allocated a school by KCC.
It is not clear why this worrying decrease in succcessful applications is taking place.
| 2009 number | 2009 % | 2008 number | 2008 % | 2007 % | |
| number of pupils offered a school |
14739 | 100 | 14432 | 100 | 100 |
| offered a school named on CAF |
14105 | 96.4 | 13794 | 96.3 | 97.5 |
| Offered 1st choice | 12998 | 88.2 | 12933 | 89.1 | 91.3 |
| Offered 2nd choice | 810 | 5.5 | 776 | 5.4 | |
| Allocated by KCC | 527 | 3.6 | 458 | 3.2 | 2.5 |
- First piece of advice on Primary School appeals is – don’t panic. You will not get an earlier appeal or a better hearing by sending in your case early. If you are not ready, make sure you record your appeal by the closing date, using such words as “I am appealing for….... I will send in my detailed case when it is ready”. This enables you to take advice or plan your appeal without additional pressure (it is already stressful enough!). Following several queries on this - the rule is: "Parents should also be informed that there is no statutory time limit for submitting information about their appeal".
- For technical reasons, I don't have exact Kent Infant Class appeal figures, but there were no more than 10 successful out of some 350. Almost all of the ten were special cases (two of them mine). I am prepared to take on appeals where there is a chance of success, but if you can't see you have a special case, you are unlikely to have one. Rember, if you wish to appeal, all you need is to use the form of words on my News page, and then submit your detailed case later.
- Appeals for places at primary school are very difficult because of a government ruling that no infant class should have more than 30 pupils. You will find details here . There are just three Kent schools with infant classes of over 30 pupils. However, I have secured success at primary school appeals, and ensure that parents make the best case possible. One of my clients won an appeal for his son to an infant class in a catholic primary school. His twin sister had already been offered a place initially. Another won a place after fraud by another parent was demonstrated. A third won a case after we demonstrated doubt over the distance measurement. Another is featured in a Report published by the Local Government Ombudsman here.
- I am sorry to be so negative, but Infant Class Legislation is very tough. Parents often ask me what the point of an appeal is in such circumstances; quite simply it is your legal right. Sadly, for nearly all of the 458 Kent children who were offered none of their choices, your only chance is through the waiting list process. Schools should be in a position to advise you of this at the appropriate time; also of the distance from the school to the home of the furthest child accepted the previous year and the distance from the school to your own home.