School Admission Appeals

If you have been refused a school place in Salford and you wish to appeal, you should complete the appropriate appeal form and the links to both forms are shown underneath the Frequently Asked Questions on this page. 

We can only communicate about your child’s appeal with the person named on the appeal application form. We need your permission in writing to share information about your appeal with anyone else. Please confirm by email or in writing if you want us to include anyone else in the communications about your child’s appeal. 

If you have been refused a place at a school in another local authority, there will be information on that local authority’s website about how to appeal for their schools. You could also write to or email that local authority clearly stating the reasons you are appealing the decision.

You can cancel your appeal at any time but we would appreciate it if you told us as soon as you decide you no longer need to appeal.

We need your decision to cancel your appeal in writing. Please send your email to decisionmakingandscrutiny@salford.gov.uk as soon as possible and please include in your email:

• the name of your child
• the date of birth of your child
• the name of the school for which you were appealing.

You will receive all your information about your child’s appeal by email and so it is important that if you have changed your email address since you submitted your appeal that you inform decisionmakingandscrutiny@salford.gov.uk.

If receiving information about your appeal by email causes you difficulties, please get in touch with us straight away at decisionmakingandscrutiny@salford.gov.uk or by phoning 0161 793 3669 and we can discuss alternative ways of communicating with you (for example by phone and post).

• You will receive an acknowledgement email so you know your appeal application has been received and is being dealt with within two weeks of submitting your appeal.
• You will be sent a formal invite for your appeal (stating the appeal hearing date and time) at least ten school days in advance of the hearing.
• If you wish to submit additional evidence which you did not include with your initial appeal, you must make sure it is received within a reasonable time prior to the hearing date (normally seven days). Any additional evidence or information received too late may not be able to be considered at the appeal hearing. The final decision on whether late submissions can be included rests with the independent appeal panel that is hearing your appeal.
• You will receive a copy of all the documents for your child’s appeal hearing (including a copy of the school’s case) approximately five days before the hearing.
• You will receive an email telling you if your appeal has been refused or allowed at the end of the day when the decision meeting for your appeal is held. 
• You will receive a full decision letter (outlining the reasons why your appeal was refused or allowed) within five school days of the decision meeting for your appeal, where possible. 

You can appeal against a decision not to offer your child a place in the school of your choice in any year group. The only exception to this is nursery, which is non-statutory education, and therefore there is no right of appeal.

However, you should note statutory limits on infant class sizes (reception class, year one and year two). This means that one teacher can teach no more than 30 pupils.

As a result, there are restrictions placed on the circumstances in which an independent appeal panel can grant an appeal for admission of a child to an infant class at school.

Appeals against refusal to admit on the grounds of infant class size legislation can only be granted in the following circumstances:

1. That the admission of an additional child would not breach infant class size limits.
2. That the decision to refuse admission was not one which a reasonable local authority would make in the circumstances of the case. The panel will need to be satisfied that the decision to refuse admittance was 'perverse in the light of the admission arrangements', i.e. it was 'beyond the range of responses open to a reasonable decision maker' or 'a decision which is so outrageous in its logic or of accepted moral standards that no sensible person in who had applied his mind to the question could have arrived at it'.
   This means the panel can only allow an infant class size appeal if the decision is unreasonable (as defined by the law) or the rules were not correctly applied in your case.
3. That the child would have been offered a place if the admission arrangements had been properly implemented.
4. That the child would have been offered a place if the arrangements had not been contrary to mandatory provisions in the School Admission Code (2012) and the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.

Before you submit an infant class appeal, it is important that you understand these restrictions and that the independent appeal panel must follow them when they make their decision about your infant class appeal. 

The DfE provides guidance on your case for appeal and what to expect DfE’s guidance for parents/carers/guardians on school admissions appeals and this includes that:

• Wanting your child to go to a particular school because it’s the best in the area is not likely to convince the panel that your child should get a place at the school over another child.
• For Infant Class Size Appeals, a decision that makes it impossible for you to transport all your children to school on time is unlikely to be considered perverse. However, a decision to refuse a place for a child whose family had to relocate under a witness protection scheme might be. The decision on whether a refusal was unreasonable will be made by the appeal panel and will depend on the facts of the particular case presented at the appeal.

Appeals for sixth form places in schools and academies can be lodged by the young person and/or the parent/carer/guardian, but where they are made separately the appeals must be heard together.

The following timescales apply to all schools including academies:

• Transfer to secondary school appeals - appeals for a child due to start year seven in secondary school at the start of the new academic year, must be heard within 40 school days of the deadline for lodging appeals.
• Starting in reception class appeals - Appeals for a child due to start reception class at the start of the new academic year must be heard within 40 school days of the deadline for lodging appeals.
• Appeals for late applications for September intakes - Appeals for late applications will be heard within 40 school days of the appeal deadline where possible or within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged. 
• Appeals for any other year groups - Appeals for any other year group must be heard within 30 school days of the appeal being received from the parent/carer/guardian.

The independent appeals panel will have three members. All school admission panels must include at least one person who has experience of education in Salford, and at least one independent lay member.

As well as you and the three independent appeal panel members, there will also be:

• A clerk to offer advice to the panel on points of law, procedural matters and to take notes on the meeting. They will take no part in the decision-making process.
• A school representative who will present the case for the school as to why they cannot allocate also have someone a place to your child. They may be accompanied by the Headteacher of the school or senior teacher or the Chair of the Governing Board for the school.
• A facilitator who is there to admit you into the Teams meeting for the hearing and deal with any IT issues if they arise.

You can bring a friend or family member with you for support.

If you need an interpreter or have cultural or accessibility needs, please let us know.

You may wish to have a representative attend the appeal to present your case for you. We need your permission in writing to share information about your appeal with anyone else. Please confirm by email or in writing if you want us to include anyone else in the communications about your child’s appeal. 

You can contact us at decisionmakingandscrutiny@salford.gov.uk or on 0161 793 3669.

A group hearing for school admission appeals refers to a process where multiple parents/carers/guardians appeal for places at the same time, for the same school and for the same year group and they are all are invited to attend a single hearing, together with the independent panel and the clerk, to hear the school case for refusing your children a place at their school. 

In Salford, group hearings are used for Year 7 appeals and Reception appeals when large numbers of appeals are received for the same school. You will be sent more information about this if group hearings are going to be used for your child’s appeal. 

You may wish to do the following to help you prepare:

• Read the school’s admission policy
• Salford primary admission policies
• Salford secondary admission policies
• Read the DfE’s guidance for parents/carers/guardians on school admissions appeals
• Gather evidence for your appeal (including any documents/statement you wish to include).
• Make a note of what you would like to say to the appeal panel, and to write down any questions you might wish to ask. This will make sure that you do not forget any points you wish to make at the hearing.
• On the day of the appeal make sure you are in a secure and private location where you will not be overheard or disturbed. If privacy is difficult, let us know and we can explore alternative arrangements with you.
• Familiarise yourself with Microsoft Teams as the appeals will be held online via Microsoft Teams.

Please check your emails regularly (including spam/junk folders) as everything to do with your appeal will be sent by email.

If you need help with technology and emails or prefer a face-to-face hearing, please contact us. You can ring us on 0161 793 3669.

The hearing will be as informal as possible. The chair of the panel will try to put you at your ease; however, certain procedures must be followed to make sure that everyone making an appeal is given a fair chance to put their case.

The following is a summary of what usually happens:

1. The school representative presents their case. They will explain why your child has not been given a place at the school.
2. You may ask questions.
3. The panel members may ask questions.
4. You present your case, explaining why you feel your child should be given a place at the school.
5. The school representative may ask you questions.
6. The panel members may ask you questions.
7. The school representative will sum up.
8. You will sum up.
9. The Chair of the panel will explain how you will receive the result of the hearing.
10. You and the school representative will leave the appeal to allow the panel to make its decision in private. 
11. The appeal ends.

You do not have to attend, although it is easier to explain your case if you are there in person. You can send a representative if you prefer.

If you do not wish to attend and you wish to send a representative instead, or you are unable to attend on the date given, you should contact Democratic Services as soon as you receive your invitation to the hearing - decisionmakingandscrutiny@salford.gov.uk or 0161 793 3669.

If you do not attend the appeal without informing Democratic Services or without good cause, the appeal panel may consider your appeal in your absence after reading your appeal submission and the case presented by the representative for the school.

Yes if you wish you can arrange for a lawyer to represent you. The school will not have a lawyer to present their case.

You should contact Democratic Services as soon as you receive your invitation to the hearing - decisionmakingandscrutiny@salford.gov.uk or 0161 793 3669.

• You will be informed by email whether your appeal has been refused or allowed. This email will be sent to you after the decision meeting has finished and this is usually at the end of the day on which your appeal was heard. Important to note: For Year 7 and Reception appeals for places to start at a school in September, the decision meeting can only take place when all the appeals for the school have been heard so it can be a few days before you receive this email. 
• You should receive the full decision letter for your appeal (which will include the reason your appeal was refused or allowed) by email within five school days of the decision meeting, where possible. If this is not possible, due to the volume of appeals, we will keep you updated on when you should expect to receive it.

Your child will be expected to attend the school that they have been offered.

For reception and secondary intakes in September, your child’s name will be kept on a waiting list until 31 December that year. The local authority will co-ordinate waiting lists and you will be contacted if a place becomes available for your child. After this date, you will need to reapply through the in-year admissions process if you still wish for your child to be considered for a place at the school.

For in year admissions, you should check the admission policy for the school concerned to find out about the waiting list. Some schools hold termly waiting lists and other schools hold annual waiting lists. Parents/carers/guardians may need to request to be added to the waiting list.

You cannot re-appeal for a place in the same school in the same academic year unless there has been a significant change in your circumstances.

You may still appeal for other schools where you have been refused a place for your child.

Yes, it is. The decision is binding on both you and the school. Normally it is not possible to have your appeal re-heard unless you can show that it was not dealt with according to the proper procedures. 

You can complain about the way the appeal was conducted, but you cannot complain about the decision itself. Details of how you can complain will be included in your decision letter and are summarised below.

If the school you appealed for was an academy – If you are unhappy with how your appeal has been administered and you feel you need to complain about maladministration on the part of the Independent Appeal Panel you can raise your complaint with The Department for Education.

If the school you appealed for was not an academy - If you are unhappy with how your appeal has been administered and feel you need to complain about maladministration on the part of the Independent Appeal Panel you can raise your complaint with The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.  

You should get a decision on your complaint within nine weeks (45 working days). You will be told if it will take longer. You will get a letter explaining the reasons for the decision. If it is decided something went wrong with the appeals panel, it may be decided to:

• ask the school to hold a new appeal hearing with a different panel
• recommend the school reviews its appeals process

You do not have the right to a second appeal in respect of the same school for the same academic year unless, in exceptional circumstances, the admission authority can/may accept a second application because of a significant and material change in the circumstances of you, your child or the school but still refuse admission.

The decision to allow a second appeal for a particular year group therefore lies with the admission authority for the school. In the case of academies or voluntary aided schools, this is the governing body/trust board. In the case of community schools and voluntary controlled schools, this is the local authority.

A second right of appeal may be allowed where there has been a significant or material change in circumstances since the first appeal hearing. For community and voluntary controlled schools, the local authority considers this to be in one of three circumstances:

1. where the oversubscription criteria under which the child’s application is considered has changed
2. where a child changes address and the distance to the current/allocated school would be unreasonable (see definition below).
3. where the condition, means, needs or circumstances of the child have changed, and this change materially affects the child. In this instance, this change was not foreseen or could not have been contemplated at the time of the original appeal.

How do we define reasonable?

The word ‘reasonable’ is used several times throughout admissions legislation in relation to in-year fair access, infant class size legislation, and admission appeals. There is no clear definition of the word ‘reasonable’ in law, rather it is a standard that holds that each person owes a duty to behave as a reasonable person would under the same or similar circumstances.

In relation to school admissions purposes this means that the offer of a school within a reasonable distance for in year fair access and infant class size purpose must be determined on a case-by-case basis. To ensure consistency in decision making, the following factors will be considered when determining the ‘reasonableness’ of a school offer.

Free transport support is only provided after two miles walking distance for up to eight-year-olds and up to three miles for eight to 16-year-olds. This does not mean that school places over this distance cannot be offered, but that the local authority must give consideration to distance and supporting travel where these distances are exceeded.

Good practice suggests that primary aged children should not spend more than 45 minutes travelling to get to school. This increases to 75 minutes for secondary aged pupils.

Complexity of a journey may need to be considered, such as multiple bus changes and waits between buses.

Secondary school pupils are likely to be lone travellers and therefore elements such as special educational needs and disability (SEND) may have an impact on the child’s ability to complete a complex journey.

Primary aged pupils will be accompanied by an adult and therefore the total journey time travelling daily for that adult may need to be considered as a factor in reasonableness.

Where the family comprises of a sibling group, overall travel time, and impact on the family of siblings being sent to separate schools should be considered using the above points.

The above factors are considered together on an individual case basis and a decision is made on whether the offer is reasonable. Where no reasonable offer can be made, then the local authority will use the fair access protocol to place children.

Important notes:

In each instance, the local authority would only consider allowing a second right of appeal if the parent/carer/guardian had not already presented the change of circumstances to the panel as part of their case at their first appeal.

Any second appeal panel must be made up of different panel members from the first.

For nursery, reception, and secondary intakes you do not need to reapply. Your child's name will remain on the waiting list for your preferred school until the end of the autumn term after they are due to start.

The local authority will co-ordinate waiting lists for all schools. If school places become available during this time, these places will be offered using the admission criteria.

For in-year admissions, you will need to reapply if your appeal is not successful as no waiting lists are held for these transfers.

Any appeals won by parents/carers/guardians are extra places given to children taking the number in the year group concerned over the published number. The admission process allows places to be given to children until the admission number for the year group concerned has been reached by using the admissions criteria. Places cannot be allocated to children on the waiting list until the number of children in the year group concerned falls below the published admission number.