School admission appeals

If your child is refused a place at a school you applied for, you have the right to appeal to an independent panel. This guide explains how appeals work in England under the School Admission Appeals Code 2022, what to include in your appeal, and how waiting lists fit alongside it. This guide is general information, not legal advice.

Before you appeal

Your refusal letter must give the reason for refusal, your right to appeal, the deadline and who to contact. Check it against the school's published admission arrangements to see how your child's application was ranked.

Accept any place you have been offered, so your child is not left without a school. This does not stop you appealing or staying on the waiting list for the school you want.

Who hears the appeal

Appeals are arranged by the school's admission authority: the council for community and voluntary controlled schools, and usually the academy trust or governing body for other schools. The panel itself must be independent of the admission authority and the school.

A panel has at least three trained members, including at least one lay member and at least one person with experience in education. Hearings are private and may be in person, by video or a mix of the two.

Deadlines and timescales

Each admission authority must publish its appeals timetable on its website by 28 February each year. The main rules are:

You must have at least 20 school days from the date you were told your application was unsuccessful to lodge your appeal.
Your appeal must be in writing and must set out your grounds. The admission authority cannot limit the grounds you may give.
You must receive at least 10 school days' notice of the hearing, unless you agree to less.
Appeals lodged on time in the normal admissions round must be heard within 40 school days of the appeal deadline.
Appeals for in-year applications must be heard within 30 school days of being lodged.
The decision letter should be sent within five school days of the hearing wherever possible.

The timetable also sets deadlines for further evidence. Late evidence may not be considered.

How the panel decides

For most appeals, the panel follows two stages. First, it checks whether the admission arrangements comply with the law and were correctly and impartially applied. If not, and your child would otherwise have been offered a place, the appeal must be upheld. The panel also decides whether admitting more children would prejudice the education of other pupils or the efficient use of resources.

If the school shows prejudice, the panel moves to the second stage and weighs the school's case against your reasons for wanting that particular school. If your case outweighs the prejudice, the appeal is upheld.

When many families appeal for the same school, the same panel usually hears them all before making any decisions.

Infant class size appeals

By law, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classes must not contain more than 30 pupils per school teacher. If a school refuses a place because admitting your child would break this limit, the panel can uphold the appeal only if:

admitting your child would not in fact break the infant class size limit
the admission arrangements did not comply with the law, or were not correctly and impartially applied, and your child would have been offered a place if they had been
the decision to refuse was not one a reasonable admission authority would have made in the circumstances

The last ground sets a high bar. The refusal must be shown to be perverse in light of the admission arrangements. Unlike other appeals, the panel cannot simply weigh your family's reasons against the school's case and decide which is stronger.

What to include in your appeal

Why this school: explain clearly why your child needs a place at this school rather than the one offered, for example a medical, social or practical reason that the school can meet.
Evidence: support your points with documents, such as letters from doctors or other professionals, rather than statements alone.
Any mistakes: if you think the arrangements were applied wrongly, such as an incorrect distance, address or sibling link, say so and show why.
Your child's needs: focus on your child and family rather than general criticisms of the school you were offered.

Keep your appeal clear and to the point. You may bring a friend or representative to the hearing, and you must be allowed to speak.

After the decision

If the panel upholds your appeal, the admission authority must offer your child a place. If it dismisses your appeal, you cannot normally appeal again for the same school in the same school year. The exception is where the admission authority accepts a new application because of a significant and material change in your circumstances and refuses it again.

If you think the appeal was not run properly, you can complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (maintained schools) or the Department for Education (academies). Neither can change the panel's decision.

Waiting lists

Appeals and waiting lists run separately, and appeal panels make no decisions about waiting lists. Admission authorities must keep a waiting list until at least 31 December of the year of entry, ranked by the oversubscription criteria rather than by when children joined. If a place comes up before your hearing, you may be offered it from the list.

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

In Wales, appeals follow a separate School Admission Appeals Code, in force since November 2023, and your refusal letter will give the deadline. In Scotland, you appeal against the refusal of a placing request to the council's appeal committee, and then to the sheriff court. In Northern Ireland, appeals go to an independent tribunal set up by the Education Authority, which considers whether the school applied its admissions criteria correctly.

For free advice in England, GOV.UK points parents to Child Law Advice.

Sources: GOV.UK: Appealing a school's decision, Department for Education: School Admission Appeals Code 2022, Department for Education: School Admissions Code 2021, GOV.UK: School waiting lists, School Admission Appeals Code (Appointed Day) (Wales) Order 2023, Education (Scotland) Act 1980, section 28A, nidirect: School admissions criteria, Child Law Advice