Displaying items by tag: appeals

I now have the data for  appeals for those primary and secondary schools in Kent, whose appeals were heard by an Independent Appeal Panel organised by KCC. In previous years I have had the data for all schools at this time, but figures for the 26 secondary schools who organise their own appeals will not be available until later in the year. I do not publish school by school data here, as it varies so much year on year, depending on the pressure on places, the decision of the admission authority (in most cases the school)  as to how hard to resist the appeal and the make up of the panels. However, I do identify below where there are particular trends. 

Details follow.........

Updated August 2014

Please note: I am unable to advise on which routes are cheapest, or the best option to take. You should contact the Council school transport department or the bus company for this information.

"Statutory Guidance"  for for free school transport on distance grounds is laid down by government, but varies in interpretation between Kent and Medway  on the issue of grammar and faith schools (see below).  The document also provides considerable information and guidance on other school transport issues, often used by parents in admission appeals. Other subsidies provided for transport for young people are discretionary by Local Authority and vary widely from none in many LAs to free transport in the London Boroughs. Both Kent and Medway, which operate different schemes, are more generous than the norm. The arrangements for Kent have recently changed the latest scheme being outlined below. You will find details of the Medway scheme here. 

Young Person's Travel Pass

Although there is a total layout of £250 per year for the full package, young people can now purchase all the benefits of the previous scheme, explained here, albeit at an increased fee from the previous £100 for the Freedom Pass. The price is halved for children on free school meals and there is no cost for those in care, who have been in care, or young carers, as explained here.  To date, I have no further information on the extension scheme, but will update this as I receive it.

A few services on specific school runs carry an additional charge as explained here. In summary, those are a few services to Hugh Christie Technology School, a few from Appledore to Ashford schools, and a few from Ashford and Shadoxhurst to Homewood School.

Post 16 Travel Card

This is not an entitlement, and students will need to check with their school, college or work based learning provider to confirm if they will pay the cost. This is £400 per annum, is applicable with most bus operators and there are reductions in costs depending on parental income, details here (updated 2017). The pass allows students to travel free at all times on applicable services, but applications must be made by 31^st May before the start of the relevant school year.

Free School Transport

This system remains in place for children  under 8 years old who live more than 2 miles from the school using the shortest available walking route, or over 8 years old who live more than 3 miles from the school using the shortest available walking route. A walking route can include public footpaths and is a route that a child, accompanied as necessary, can walk to and from school with reasonable safety to school. You will find full details here. There is a slight easing of the rules for low income families.

The term “nearest school” does not differentiate between grammar and non-selective schools and takes free schools into account, which has recently altered some children’s entitlement who live nearest to one of the new free schools in rural areas such as near Hadlow or Wye. For children who have been awarded places at a grammar school, if there is a non-selective school nearer then they do not qualify.

If you applied for the nearest school and it is full, the concession applies to the next nearest school, and so on. 

Distance rules have been in place for many years, and I can still remember the sense of unfairness felt by my family more than half a century ago, as I lived 20 yards short of the three miles to Ashford Grammar School so did not receive a pass, but caught the bus at the same stop as others who qualified. I continue to have enquiries about appeals from parents in similar situations!

Medway Youth Pass

This scheme entitles all young people who live in Medway and hold a valid pass to pay half the adult fare at all times when travelling on any local bus service, up to the end of the academic year after their 18th birthday. The journeys must start in Medway and can be to any destination in Medway or Kent, as long as any changes of bus are in Medway. This pass is not valid on the subsidised 'MY' yellow buses run by Medway Council or companies who already offer a child fare. 

Medway Council Free Bus Pass

The Council operates a similar Free School Transport scheme to Kent except that in Medway, if the child has qualified for grammar school or been offered a place at a faith school on faith grounds they are entitled to free transport if it is to their nearest appropriate school and they live more than three miles away (or two for under eights). In practice, only those applying to a faith primary school or St John Fisher Catholic School and selective children living on the Hoo Peninsula generally qualify.

There is an issue in that for most of the Hoo children the nearest grammar schools are Sir Joseph Williamson’s for boys and Fort Pitt for girls, and a proportion of children get offered the Chatham grammars either directly or after appeal.

In such cases Medway Council usually turns them down for free transport, unless they have applied to the nearer grammar schools, including Rochester Grammar for girls, and gone to appeal, however pointless. My advice therefore is to pursue applications at these other schools, so that when rejected you can show the Council that the relevant Chatham grammar is the nearest grammar school you can access. You may well need to go to appeal to do this. Medway parents living on the Hoo Peninsula have had considerable success with appeals for transport to Medway Grammar Schools (not necessarily the nearest) and if relevant to you, don't be put off. I am happy to support parents for such appeals.

Free School Transport Appeals 

In both Kent & Medway, appeals against transport decisions are initially to a Panel of Councillors, and there are successes each year, often on grounds of wrong measurements. Medway appears more flexible than Kent for 'exceptional circumstances', especially with regard to grammar school appeals.

All data on this page is provided by Kent County Council, often under the Freedom of Information Act. Many thanks to officers for their co-operation.

Kent Secondary Transfer 2017

Notes: (1) I don't yet have data for boys and girls differentiated, but will include this as soon as it is available

        (2)  'Other' includes children who are home educated. 

Kent Secondary Transfer 2016 

Kent Secondary Transfer 2015
 

Kent Secondary Transfer 2014

You will find further commentary here, and about oversubscription and vacancies here. 

Kent Grammar School Assessments for Year 6 children, for Admission in September 2014^*

You will find commentary here. 

* Total figures slightly different from supporting data, reflecting adjustments. Figures relate to place of school attended, rather than place of residence. Allocation figures in March are based on place of residence. You will find the equivalent figures for the September 2012 tests here. 

 ^** the in area or "selective areas" are those parts of Kent which were historically served by grammar schools, before freedom of choice legislation removed their significance.

Details of Out of County applications and passes

As in previous years, there has been much hysterical debate in the media about the likely impact of the  out of county children who passed the Kent eleven plus. However, as I have forecast previously, the impact is again likely to be much less than other commentators have claimed. The real picture is as follows:

 Commentary here.

Kent Secondary Transfer 2013

Commentary here. There are many more statistics relating to 2013 entry in the News and Comment section. 

Kent and Medway Secondary Appeals 2013

 Further commentary here. 

2012 Appeal Statistics

It is proving very difficult to obtain these on a county wide basis with so many academies, Foundation and Voluntary Aided schools now arranging their own appeal panels. As I find this data of limited value, I am no longer collecting it, except for Panels organised by KCC. 

Kent 11 Plus Test Results for 2013 Entry
The Kent pass mark is an aggregate of 360 from the three tests, with a requirement for all three scores to be 319 or greater. This standard is chosen to select 21% of all children in the Kent selective areas. Children from the non-selective areas of Kent (served by Angley School, Homewood School, Longfield Academy, Mascall's School, Marsh Academy) and out county candidates have to achieve the same scores. Another 4% of children in the selective areas are added through the headteacher assessment procedure, to bring the total to 25%. The following table shows the outcomes of the test.

11 Plus Test Results for 2012 Entry
The Kent pass mark is an aggregate of 360 from the three tests, with a requirement for all three scores to be 319 or greater. This standard is chosen to select 21% of all children in the Kent selective areas. Children from the non-selective areas of Kent (served by Angley School, Homewood School, Longfield Academy, Mascall's School, Marsh Academy) and out county candidates have to achieve the same scores. Another 4% of children in the selective areas are added through the headteacher assessment procedure, to bring the total to 25%. The following table shows the outcomes of the test.
Kent Grammar School Assessments for Year 6 children, for Admission in September 2012

The number of out county chldren successful in the Kent Test is up from the 1156 of 2010, but only a small proportion of these children actually take up places in Kent grammar schools (137 boys and 117 girls offered places in Kent Grammar schools in March 2011 for admission in September).

You will find the data for previous years below but, as I have collected it in more detail for 2012 entry, it is not directly comparable.

Secondary School Transfer 2011 Entry
Please note that all data below is based on the situation on 1st March. There is considerable subsequent movement before the start of the new school year in September.

Kent County Council figures show a pleasing increase in the number of children being offered their first choice secondary school on 1^st March, up from 80% in 2010 to 83% in 2011. Just 413 got none of their choices.  With nearly 500 fewer Kent children in the system, waiting lists for popular schools were generally much lower this year.  However, 66 Kent children who passed the Kent Test and named a grammar school on there application form received none of their preferences. Another 69 such children were offered a place at a non-selective school below the highest placed grammar school on their list (who had presumably put this down as a safety net). KCC in their publicity did not recognise this lattter group as having lost out on a grammar school place although qualified.  Last year the eighteen most popular schools each turned away more than 50 children who put them in first place, but this year the same number of schools sees the bar drop to 40 places oversubscribed. Leigh Technology Academy (Dartford) remains Kent’s most popular school for the fourth year running, with 199 disappointed first choice applicants. Second comes Tonbridge Grammar, with 104 girls who had passed the eleven plus turned away. After Westlands (Sittingbourne) on 94, comes Dartford Grammar School with 88, entering the lists for the first time as applicants from the London Boroughs realised the school was accessible, a third of the places going to high scoring applicants from out of county. Next in line was Judd School (grammar, Tonbridge), followed by: Valley Park School (Maidstone); Fulston Manor School (Sittingbourne); Brockhill Park Performing Arts College (Hythe); Brompton Academy (Gillingham); King Ethelbert School (Margate  – new entry); and The Thomas Aveling School (Rochester). Then follows Skinner’s School (grammar, Tunbridge Wells ), slipping from its position as most popular grammar school in 2010, and: Folkestone Academy; Dartford Grammar School for Girls;  Canterbury High School; Hillview School for Girls (Tonbridge); Bennett Memorial Diocesan School (Tunbridge Wells); and Simon Langton Girls Grammar School (Canterbury – new entry). At the other end of the scale, four Kent schools were over half empty before KCC drafted in additional children who had been offered none of their choices: Skinner’s Kent Academy; Angley School (Cranbrook); Walmer Science College, and New Line Learning Academy (Maidstone).  One wonders how some of these schools can continue to function with finances depending on pupil numbers. The school with the greatest increase in popularity was Dartford Grammar School (up 55 disappointed first choices), the biggest loser was surprisingly Homewood School in Tenterden, down 100, but still oversubscribed. The pressure of out of county children taking up places in Kent grammar schools was once again greatest in the North West of the county, with 189 children taking up places in the four Dartford Grammar Schools (52 of these coming from as far away as Lewisham and Greenwich) as opposed to just 57 in the three West Kent super selectives, both figures very similar to last year. Many of these figures will have changed between March and September, as parents had to decide whether to accept places offered, others being offered places off the waiting lists. As many as 700 further children may have gained places through the appeal procedure.

Secondary school transfer 2010 entry
On allocation day in March, for 2010, most oversubscribed school in Kent for the third consecutive year was the Leigh Academy in Dartford, turning away 218 first choices. This is followed for non -selective schools by, in order: Valley Park School- 112, Homewood School - 110, North School Ashford - 96, Fulston Manor School - 83, Westlands School - 78, Bennett Memorial Diocesan School and Folkestone Academy - 64,  Brockhill Park School - 60, Sandwich Technology College - 57, Mascalls School - 55, Charles Dickens School - 53, and Hayesbrook School - 50. All others are less than 50.
Newcomers to the list are: Brockhill Park (up from 17), Sandwich Technology (up from 48), and Hayesbrook (up from 29). Out go: Aylesford (down from 68  to 15), Maplesdon Noakes (55 to27 ), St Simon Stock (53 to 11)  and Cornwallis (50 to 30 )
For grammar schools most first choices turned away -  Skinners School with 115 (up from 92 but see below); then Judd School- 88 (in top two for past two years); Tonbridge Grammar School - 77 (top last year); Weald of Kent Grammar School - 50; Dartford Grammar School for Girls - 47; Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Girls  - 39; Maidstone Grammar School - 36; Dartford Grammar School - 35; Queen Elizabeth's Grammar SChool - 34; Simon Langton Grammmar School for Boys - 34; Sir Roger Manwoods School - 33; and Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys 32. All others had fewer than 30.
The caution with regard to Skinners is that many parents put them second to Judd and this year in particular the figures are skewed with Skinners offering places to 73 first choices, 39 second choices and 3 third choices (St Olave's is often the third school in this triangle)). Over at Judd there were 120 first choices and 2 second choices offered places so I would argue that Judd is the more oversubscribed – the vagaries of the system!

The Judd School has offered 16 places off the waiting list on 31st March. Clearly this will have a corresponding knock on figure for The Skinners School who initially offered 6 further places. Also of  note are Longfield Academy up 72 first preferences from 64 to 136 (turning away 22 of these), Oakwood Park Grammar  School up 54 (turning away 15 of these) , Chaucer Technology College up 45, Swan Valley Community School up 43. For all the above schools, waiting lists and appeals will see numbers of the children turned away eventually offered places at their first choice school.

There were just 5 Medway schools with vacancies before Medway Council reallocated children who had been given none of their choices. After reallocation, Bishop of Rochester Academy and St John Fisher RC were full, whilst Hundred of Hoo, Chatham Grammar Boys and Chatham Grammar Girls still have spare places. 151 places were taken up by Kent children nearly every school accepting some; with 116 Medway children going the other way into Kent - nearly half of these to Holmesdale. 68 out of the 298 children entered for Medway Reviews were successful.

The following grammar schools each had more than ten vacancies on March 1st: Borden, Clarendon House, Dover Grammar Boys, Folkestone Girls, Harvey, Highworth (heavily oversubscribed with first choices last year!), Invicta. The following grammar schools have four or fewer vacancies (none between four and ten!): Gravesend Boys (heavily oversubscribed with first choices last year!), Gravesend Girls, Wilmington Boys, Wilmington Girls. All other Kent grammar schools were full on National Offer Day.

Non selective schools with vacancies, that were full last year: Hextable, Meopham, Northfleet Girls, St Edmunds Dover, St George's Gravesend, St John's Gravesend, Walmer, Wilmington Enterprise.

Please note that even though a school is full according to the Planned Admission Number, appeals can and will be successful in some cases. An Independent Appeal Panel has the right to instruct schools to take additional children. Last year the number of successful appeals at oversubscribed schools in Kent ranged from nil to 38. Further, where a grammar school has vacancies, the appeal panel is under no obligation to fill these and won't if there are insufficient children of a 'grammar school standard'.

Five Kent schools had over half their places empty before the Local Authority allocated children, who had not been offered any of their choices, to them.

Secondary School Appeal Statistics for 2010 entry
I do not publish statistics for individual school appeals, as these are determined by Appeal Panels, not by the schools themselves and so can vary enormously year by year.

Please note:
1) Appeals are only heard for places at grammar schools or non selective schools that are oversubscribed. Grammar  school appelas can be against a decision that the child is not of grammar school ability, that the school is full, or both.

2) the Foundation and VA Non Selective Appeal figures are distorted by 4 schools whose combined 132 appeals were all successful.
3) The Academy figures is distorted by the Leigh Academy's 65 appeals. 
4) Appeals not organised by KCC are managed by a number of different providers

11 Plus Test Results 2011 Entry
The source of the data on this page is Kent County Council. My thanks for their co-operation in this.

So, of the 11,255 children who sat the Kent Test in September, 5,113 were assessed selective, roughly the same number as last year (11,241). The number of out of county children sitting the test rose by 115, the number of Kent children fell by 101 reflecting a lower number in the age group. However, the number of Kent children passing is up by 81 to 4,120, whilst the number of out county children passing is down by 105 to 993.  

There are 4,458 grammar school places in Kent, so if only Kent children were taking them up, there would be 338 spare places, nearly all in the East of the County. The great unknown is how many out of county children will take up Kent places, as many of them have multiple applications across different counties and Boroughs.

My sense of these figures is - little change.

I have now obtained information on the distribution of successful out of Kent 11 plus candidates, and this shows a remarkable shift in pattern. The number of successful candidates in East Sussex and Surrey is just 40, only 6 higher than the total that were offered places at Judd, Skinners or Tonbridge Grammar last year.  As these schools only take high scorers, many of the ooc children will not be eligible and others will not apply for places. With the lower cohort size in West Kent this really promises to make life easier  for many grammar school applicants in 2011. I am unable to suggest a reason why this reduction has happened, except the possibility that recent publicity has convinced some it is too difficult to  gain entrance to these schools.

Another 302 ooc qualified ooc children come from other London Boroughs astride the rail mainline to Dartford, with 31 from Thurrock. We can assume that all those who are looking to Kent grammar schools realistically, and some will just have taken the test for practice, are looking to the two Wilmington and the two Dartford grammar schools, although the different oversubscription criteria for each afffects the number that will be admitted in the end.
To these, there needs to be added a further 130 Medway children, although many, if not most, of these have taken the Kent Test as a reserve to Medway grammar school places.  Those looking seriously into Kent will be considering grammar schools in Gravesend, Maidstone or Sittingbourne, although the former are likely to come under additional pressure again from the out of county surge, as happened in 2009.

2010 Admissions

For 2010, Most oversubscribed school in Kent for the third consecutive year was the Leigh Academy in Dartford, turning away 218 first choices. This is followed for non -selective schools by, in order: Valley Park School- 112, Homewood School - 110, North School Ashford - 96, Fulston Manor School - 83, Westlands School - 78, Bennett Memorial Diocesan School and Folkestone Academy - 64,  Brockhill Park School - 60, Sandwich Technology College - 57, Mascalls School - 55, Charles Dickens School - 53, and Hayesbrook School - 50. All others are less than 50.
Newcomers to the list are: Brockhill Park (up from 17), Sandwich Technology (up from 48), and Hayesbrook (up from 29). Out go: Aylesford (down from 68  to 15), Maplesdon Noakes (55 to27 ), St Simon Stock (53 to 11)  and Cornwallis (50 to 30 )
For grammar schools most first choices turned away -  Skinners School with 115 (up from 92 but see below); then Judd School- 88 (in top two for past two years); Tonbridge Grammar School - 77 (top last year); Weald of Kent Grammar School - 50; Dartford Grammar School for Girls - 47; Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Girls  - 39; Maidstone Grammar School - 36; Dartford Grammar School - 35; Queen Elizabeth's Grammar SChool - 34; Simon Langton Grammmar School for Boys - 34; Sir Roger Manwoods School - 33; and Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys 32. All others had fewer than 30.
The caution with regard to Skinners is that many parents put them second to Judd and this year in particular the figures are skewed with Skinners offering places to 73 first choices, 39 second choices and 3 third choices (St Olave's is often the third school in this triangle)). Over at Judd there were 120 first choices and 2 second choices offered places so I would argue that Judd is the more oversubscribed – the vagaries of the system!

The Judd School has offered 16 places off the waiting list on 31st March. Clearly this will have a corresponding knock on figure for The Skinners School who initially offered 6 further places.

Also of  note are Longfield Academy up 72 first preferences from 64 to 136 (turning away 22 of these), Oakwood Park Grammar  School up 54 (turning away 15 of these) , Chaucer Technology College up 45, Swan Valley Community School up 43.

For all the above schools, waiting lists and appeals will see numbers of the children turned away eventually offered places at their first choice school.

There were just 5 Medway schools with vacancies before Medway Council reallocated children who had been given none of their choices. After reallocation, Bishop of Rochester Academy and St John Fisher RC were full, whilst Hundred of Hoo, Chatham Grammar Boys and Chatham Grammar Girls still have spare places. 151 places were taken up by Kent children nearly every school accepting some; with 116 Medway children going the other way into Kent - nearly half of these to Holmesdale. 68 out of the 298 children entered for Medway Reviews were successful.

The following grammar schools each had more than ten vacancies on March 1st: Borden, Clarendon House, Dover Grammar Boys, Folkestone Girls, Harvey, Highworth (heavily oversubscribed with first choices last year!), Invicta. The following grammar schools have four or fewer vacancies (none between four and ten!): Gravesend Boys (heavily oversubscribed with first choices last year!), Gravesend Girls, Wilmington Boys, Wilmington Girls. All other Kent grammar schools were full on National Offer Day.

Non selective schools with vacancies, that were full last year: Hextable, Meopham, Northfleet Girls, St Edmunds Dover, St George's Gravesend, St John's Gravesend, Walmer, Wilmington Enterprise.

Please note that even though a school is full according to the Planned Admission Number, appeals can and will be successful in some cases. An Independent Appeal Panel has the right to instruct schools to take additional children. Last year the number of successful appeals at oversubscribed schools in Kent ranged from nil to 38. Further, where a grammar school has vacancies, the appeal panel is under no obligation to fill these and won't if there are insufficient children of a 'grammar school standard'.

Five Kent schools had over half their places empty before the Local Authority allocated children, who had not been offered any of their choices, to them.

Secondary school transfer statistics 2010 entry

Transfer Appeal Statistics  2009
 

Please note that the large majority of successful primary appeals would be for junior classes, as Infant appeals are governed by Infant Class Legislation (see Primary admissions page).

Foundation and Voluntary Aided Schools  

In addition there are a number of schools that do not use KCC Appeal Panels. Statistics are not available for these. 

Statistics vary enormously school by school. For grammar schools the proportion of successes range from 76%  of 33 appeals (an LEA school) down to 7% of 108 appeals (a Foundation School). For non selective schools, there were five schools where all appeals were successful, but one Foundation school with just 10% of 20 appeals successful.

 Secondary Transfer Statistics 2009 entry

There was  a total of just 131 vacancies in Kent’s 33 grammar schools, at National Offer Day in 2009  mainly in the east of the county.  The problem is that the 268 out county children who took up places in West and North West Kent Grammar schools displaced many children from these areas eastwards, some to grammar schools they cannot reach daily, with more than 40 boys West Kent boys offered places in Folkestone or Sittingbourne. 

The biggest influx is into the four Dartford grammar schools with 29 children coming from Greenwich and another 15 from Lewisham. Bromley took up 59 Kent grammar school places, Bexley another 56 and East Sussex 50.

Most oversubscribed grammar school was Tonbridge (101 turned away), edging out Judd from last year (95). These were followed by Skinners, Dartford, Weald of Kent, Tunbridge Wells Boys, Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells Girls. This year’s problem is highlighted by these eight schools who all turned away more than 40 qualified first choices. Last year there were just three, the same top schools as last year.

However, for the second year running the most oversubscribed school in the county is the Leigh Academy in Dartford, rejecting 200 first choice applicants.

One striking feature of non selective school placements is the wide fluctuation in popularity from year to year. I think the biggest controversy in the county surrounds Valley Park School in South Maidstone, whose popularity has soared this year, turning away 106 first choices, up from 16 in 2008.  Other non selective schools rejecting more than 60 first choices are: Folkestone Academy (newly rebuilt); Homewood (Tenterden); Bennett Memorial (Tunbridge Wells);  Westlands (Sittingbourne), Charles Dickens (Broadstairs), North (Ashford), Archbishops’ (Canterbury); Aylesford (rebuilt under PFI and not even full last year); Mascalls (Paddock Wood) and Fulston Manor (Sittingbourne). Only half these schools were in this list last year showing how difficult it is to predict popularity.

At the other end of the scale, four schools were over half empty before children unsuccessful in any of their applications were allocated to them..

Secondary Transfer Appeal Statistics 2008

LEA or Community Schools

Foundation or Voluntary Aided Schools

These are appeals organised by the KCC for these schools. Many Foundation and VA Schools organise their own appeals and I do not have data for these. 

Note: these statistics hide a multitude of sins. One LEA Grammar school had 55 successful appeals, others have very few. Grammar School appeals include both selection appeals (where the child do not pass the Kent test, and oversubscription appeals (where many appellants may have passed the Kent tests and be seeking a place in schools that are full). 

Updated: September 2017

 I no longer take on appeals, but in any case Infant Class Legislation means that success rates are very low (see figures below). However I am always happy to give advice through my telephone consultation service. Please feel free to send me details of your dilemma, through the contact me page and I will: (a) tell you if I have no relevant advice; (b) come back with a succinct answer; or (c) suggest I can help.

You will find some recent data and additional information in a recent news item. 

For all problems, first piece of advice is don't panic. If you are going to appeal it is better to reflect what you are going to write in your appeal statement rather than dash something off in the hope it will be looked at early, or you will get priority in an appeal because you got in first. You won't. If you have been given none of your choices and have been allocated a school that does not make any sense, it may be worthwhile contacting KCC admissions to see if there  is a better alternative that has vacancies. This will not include one of your choices as these will all be full.

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• 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".

• Appeals for places at primary school are very difficult because of a government ruling that no infant class should have more than 30 pupils. Whilst I no longer prepare appeals one of my clients in the recent past 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. Another was also taken to the Local Government Ombudsman where we secured a place after demonstrating that the Local Authority had made mistakes in applying the oversubscription criteria. Another won a place after we demonstrated that the Admission Criteria were unfair.

• Of the  272 appeals for Reception Classes for entry to Kent Primary Schools for September 2017, where Infant Class Legislation Applied,  just one was successful where there were class sizes of 30 children or a multiple of this, 15 or 20 in the Planned Admission Number. Another 14 places were won on appeal out of 38, where the Planned Admission Number is not a multiple of 30, with five out of eight successes into Junior Schools. . 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. Remember, if you wish to appeal, all you need to do initially is to use a form of words similar to "I am appealing for a  place for my child.... in the Reception Class at ..... School. A more detailed letter will follow", and then submit your detailed case later.

• 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 444 Kent children who were offered none of their choices in  2017, 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, to enable you to understand your chances.

Last updated April 2020, but still a work in progress, as other areas need more attention. 

You will find a page on the possible effects on school appeals of the Coronavirus here.

You will find data for 2019 Appeals in Kent and Medway here. 

 Each year I used to receive a number of enquiries about oversubscription appeals following the normal application process for primary and secondary schools (having now retired from offering individual advice).These are where the school (it may be non-selective or grammar) is full. I advised many parents to put in a holding appeal (simply writing "I am appealing for a place for my child (name) at (name) school. A more detailed letter will follow" on the form, which means you do not need to submit full details by deadline day). You can then leave submitting a detailed letter until after the first round of reallocations takes place. 

You will find data on 2019 appeals here. 

To make an appeal for a Kent school you should download an appeal form here. 

• The latest Code of Practice for School Appeals, issued by government, took effect in 2012. Some key issues are set out at Code.
• If your child is not allocated their first preference school in March, you may be able to secure a place at a school higher in your list through appeal or via the waiting list and you can follow both processes at the same time.
• First piece of advice 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!). If yours is one of the few academies that organises early appeals, you can still send in your case when you are notified of the date, without penalty. Appeal dates for each school are published on the school website, theoretically by February 28th (secondary). 
• Appeals are always possible for both grammar non selective schools when the number of pupils applying for a school is larger than the approved number of admissions.
• Kent admission rules allow parents to apply to any school not on their original list after the first Allocation of vacant spaces in April using the In Year Admission process. Use this to the full, as at the least you are placed on a waiting list and then have rights of appeal. Some children who did not originally apply for a school and who now apply after first Allocation will be offered places ahead of others on the waiting list. The situation in Medway is more confused and confusing. 
• You will be asked to submit a case and appear personally at the Panel hearing. 

Remember that the Appeal Panel will wish to give you a maximum of half an hour at the hearing in a busy day for them. A key task is to make it easy for panellists to absorb your case. So your written submission to the appeal panel should never be more than about a page and a half long. How it is written - typed, pen, bullet points, in full is irrelevant. Focus on the main points and, whilst providing written evidence such as school reports, and headteacher's letter of support (both essential otherwise the Panel will wonder why) there is no need to go into too much detail -leave the panel something to ask questions about.

The rules say that you will need to show that that the admission of one or more additional pupils will not damage the education of those already admitted, or if not that your child has a special case that trumps this. Secondly that your child is one of those who should be included amongst those to be admitted. Do not spend too much, if any, time on the first as panellists will themselves challenge the school over its capacity. If there is a group meeting (see below) then this point will be fully resolved  at the meeting and you have no need to address it. 

Instead, focus on why your child should be one of those who should be included amongst those to be admitted. 

You should visit the relevant Individual Schools page for Kent here, and Medway here on this site to see the size of the task, as these pages give data on success outcomes in previous years. There is no general recipe for success as Panels are given no guidance on what to look for. As a result, different Panels would often come to different conclusions, some favouring the multi talented pupil, others cases of Special Need, and other difficulties that argue the child needs to be in a particular school. I have talked to panellists who are  wary about giving a school  too many children who pose problems for them. I have read too many advice pages that come up with a particular recipe for success. Apart from the general points set out below, it does not exist, and each case will be considered on its own merits to fit the panel's sense of what is right for the child and the school. In my extensive experience this can vary widely across different schools in Kent. All you can do is your best!

Your case should contain the following:

(1) what is it about the school that attracts you, and give a mention to something that caught your child's imagination on your visit. It is important to show you you have visited the school in this way, and not by quoting the prospectus which will not convince an experienced panel.

(2) what is it about your child that s/he needs to be there

(3) relevant special circumstances - the key word is 'relevant'. Flippantly, grandparents and pets have a habit of dying or becoming seriously ill, requiring the child to need security, or many variations on that theme. Members of appeal panels have heard it all before. Relevant also covers Special Needs of different types, but where possible you need to explain why THAT school is necessary or at least the most suitable 

(4) Why the school you have been offered is unsuitable/less suitable for your child. Try not to denigrate the other school - panellists tend not to like this - but focus instead on factors such as transport issues and lack of facilities appropriate for your child.  

It should also be accompanied by a recent school Report and if possible a positive reference from your child's headteacher, although many will rightly find it difficult to make a case for a child and a particular school to fit together, 

If the case is one where another child has been wrongly selected ahead of your  own, or that the admission policy has been interpreted wrongly, you have a very strong case for success, and other factors become secondary. 

•  Some Foundation & VA schools are keen to admit additional pupils, and in such cases the appeal is much easier, if you have a reasonable case, or your child appears to ‘fit’ the school ethos. you will find information on this in my Individual School pages for Kent and Medway. 
• Each oversubscribed school has its own character and approach to appeals for additional pupils.
• Grammar school oversubscription appeals can be very complex, as appellants may have children who have passed the eleven plus, others will not have, and the appeal panel has to balance competing claims.
• Remember, at the end of the day, if the school is genuinely full there may be no way to secure admission.