Office for Education and Schools

Catholic Schools Appeals Service

Office for Education and Schools

Hinsley Hall, 62 Headingley Lane

Leeds, LS6 2BX

0113 2618034

0113 2618044 – fax

YOUR GUIDE TO ADMISSION APPEALS

We have produced this guide to support Catholic school governors when they receive admission appeals

C O N T E N T S O F P A C K

2Important information – all appeals

3What you need to know

4Sample refusal letters

5Flow Chart – annual round appeals

6Flow chart – in year appeals

7School helpsheet

8Sample acknowledgment letters

9Sample cases

-Sample case 1

-Sample case 2

-Sample case 3 – Primary

-Sample case 4 – Secondary School

March 2014 (Update)

What you need to know . . .

As the Admission Authority, your governing body is responsible for admission appeals and is legally bound by the Code of Practice for Admission Appeals.

The Catholic Schools Appeals Service (CSAS) can provide an appeals service to your governing body. When using this or any other service, it is your responsibility to satisfy yourself with the conduct of the appeals

CSAS is associated with Leeds Diocese but clerks and panel members are independent of the diocese in all matters related to appeals.

CSAS has trained clerks and a pool of independent panel members who are trained in line with the requirements of the Admission Appeals Code 2012

Appeals are conducted fully in line with the Admissions Appeals Code of Practice 2012. You are strongly advised to consult the Code when preparing appeals.

Appeals costs are funded by your LA either from a central fund or through funds delegated to the school’s budget. CSAS has a set a charge which reflect the professional service offered.

Getting it Right

A reminder about procedure

An appeal panel needs to satisfy itself that your admissions procedures have been properly implemented. At appeals, school representatives may be questioned about how an admission decision was made and by whom.

The Admissions Code states : - “a decision to refuse admission must not be made by one individual in a school. Where the school is the admissions authority, the whole governing body or an admissions committee established by the governing body must make such decisions.”

ANNUAL ROUND ADMISSIONS

Ranking of preferences may be completed by the headteacher or admin staff but final rankings must be approved and agreed by a quorate meeting of the Admissions Committee and the decision must be minuted

IN YEAR ADMISSIONS

(From September 2010 all in year admissions will be co-ordinated by the local authority)

All decisions must be made by a quorate meeting of the Admissions Committee. The meeting must be clerked and the decision must be minuted

If your procedures are not sound,

you could lose an appeal by default

REFUSAL LETTERS

NORMAL ROUND

The Local Authority will write to parents with their school allocation. The letter will also give details about how an appeal can be lodged.

IN YEAR APPLICATIONS

From September 2013 there is no requirement for local authorities to co-ordinate in-year applications. The admission authority must act in accordance with the Admission Code if they take on this role.

REFUSAL ON GROUNDS OF PREJUDICE

I am sorry that the Governors of this school have been unable to offer (………….) a place in Y (x)

All schools have a Planned Admissions Number (PAN) which is determined annually and agreed with the Local Authority and with other admissions authorities in the area. Schools are expected to stick rigidly to their PAN, and not to exceed it. Based on official calculations of the appropriate number of students for the space and facilities at this school, the determined PAN is xxxxx

There are currently xx students in the same year-group as your child, therefore the year-group is completely full. To admit any further pupils would not only break our agreement with the Local Authority and with other schools, but it would also cause detriment (prejudice) to our educational provision for existing pupils and to the efficient use of our resources. Therefore, the Governors had no alternative but to refuse your application.

You have a legal right to appeal to an independent panel against this decision of the governors. If you wish to appeal, please write to the (Chair of Governors,/Chair of Admissions Committee,/Clerk ) stating your intention to appeal and outlining the reasons for your appeal. Your letter should be written within (fifteen working days) from the date of your refusal letter.

REFUSAL ON GROUNDS OF INFANT CLASS SIZE PREJUDICE

I am sorry that the Governors of this school have been unable to offer (………….) a place in Y (x). The place has been refused because admission would have resulted in the relevant class exceeding the legal limit of 30 children with a single teacher. This is known as Infant Class Size Prejudice.

You have a legal right to appeal to an independent panel against this decision of the governors. However there are special rules relating to Infant Class Size appeals which mean that parental appeals can only be upheld in certain circumstances. To lodge an appeal, please write to the (Chair of Governors,/Chair of Admissions Committee,/Clerk ) stating your intention to appeal and outlining the reasons for your appeal. Your letter should be written within (fifteenworking days) from the date of your refusal letter.

Appeals flowchart – Annual Round – Year R

Guiding you through the process

======

Appellant informs school of intention to appeal

You acknowledge the appeal request and if appropriate give an Application Form for appeal

Contact your LA and ask for details of preferences made and places offered. The LA should also provide a summary of the co-ordinated scheme. This information should be sent to the clerk with your case

Start preparing your school case – you will need to send this to the Clerk together with the admissions policy, application and supplementary form and any relevant correspondence at least 2 weeks before the appeal date – the clerk will agree this date with you

Decide who is to represent the school at the appeal – often it is the headteacher but it is good practice to involve a governor as an observer

The clerk will send you copies of all the papers at least 10 days before the appeal – read these carefully – remember you are not allowed to present new information at the hearing – only in advance

If this is your first appeal, make sure you understand the procedure –

read the Code or ask the clerk

Attend the appeal

After the appeal, the clerk lets you know the decision and informs the appellant in writing

You should keep file copies of all papers –these should be retained for three years

Appeals flowchart – In Year appeals

Guiding you through the process of in year appeals (from September 2010)

======

Appellant informs school of intention to appeal

You acknowledge the appeal request and if appropriate give an Application Form for appeal

Send the appeal papers to the Clerk – don’t wait too long – appeals must be heard within 30 working days of the receipt of appeal request

Contact the LA and ask for a copy of the Allocation Letter and information about any preferences made and places offered – you will need to provide this information as part of your case

Start preparing your school case – you will need to send this to the Clerk together with the admissions policy and any relevant correspondence at least 2 weeks before the appeal date – the clerk will agree this date with you

Decide who is to represent the school at the appeal – often it is the headteacher but it is good practice to involve a governor as an observer

If this is your first appeal, make sure you understand the procedure –

read the Code or ask the clerk

Attend the appeal

After the appeal, the clerk lets you know the decision and informs the appellant in writing

You should keep file copies of all papers –these should be retained for three years

You need to prepare the school case
Papers to be submitted are:
All paperwork regarding the admission, ie applications, refusal letters etc
The school Admission Policy – the one in force at the time of application
At statement explaining why the child couldn’t be admitted (see below)
Any other relevant information such as class groupings and sizes, waiting list details, catchment area maps, evidence of overcrowding, health and safety concerns
All papers will be shared with parents and panel
All school papers must be submitted to the Clerk at least 15 working days before the hearing
______
Reasons for not admitting a child are:
Infant class size prejudice (infant class would exceed legal limit of 30)
Prejudice to education and resources – caused by admitting an extra pupil /

Sample Acknowledgment Letters

Use letters like these to respond to parents

when they have lodged an appeal

Annual Round

Dear …………………………….

Your Admission Appeal – (child’s name – dob)

Thank you for your appeal request / appeal letter dated ………………………

I enclose a form for you to complete and return either to school or to the address on the form.Once the form is received by the Appeal Service the Clerk will then contact you with information about the appeals process and details of the arrangements.

In the meantime, please contact me if you have further queries.

Yours etc …………….

In Year

Dear …………………………….

Your Admission Appeal – (child’s name – dob)

Thank you for your appeal request / appeal letter dated ………………………

In the meantime, please contact me if you have further queries.

Yours etc …………….

SAMPLE CASES

We have provided three sample cases to help you.

Make sure you delete or replace all red type with your own text

We recommend that you provide a separate

statement for each appellant

Sample Case 1

Annual Round – admission to Year R

Sample Case 2

In year admission. Key Stage 1

Refusal because of Infant class size prejudice ***

Sample Case 3

In year admission. Key Stage 1 or 2

Refusal because of normal prejudice

Sample Case 4

Secondary School Admission appeal

*** Refusal can also be made due to ‘future infant class size prejudice’

This means that whilst a child can be admitted at the time of application without breaching the legal limit, the limit would be breached in a later year.

In year admissions : as of September 2013 Local Authorities no longer have the responsibility to co-ordinate in-year admissions. Please check what arrangements the governing body have made and advise accordingly.

Sample Case 2 and Sample Case 3 ask you to include information regarding the Net Capacity of your school – please ensure you use the most up to date information. This is particularly important if you have redesignated space or if building work has taken place since the Net Capacity was last updated. If you need help with this please contact Kevin Anderson, Diocesan Building surveyor for advice.

READ PAGE 7 BEFORE YOU START

DELETE OR REPLACE ALL RED TYPE

SAMPLE CASE 1

ANNUAL ROUND - FOR ENTRY INTO YEAR R

ST ANYONE’S CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL

Name, DOB address of Child
Appellant(s) & relationship to child
Preferences made by parent / Ask LA to supply this information and insert
School Allocated / Ask LA to supply this information and insert

The Governing Body is the admission authority. All preferences were ranked according to the oversubscription criteria and places up to and including the planned admissions number of XX were offered by the local authority on behalf of the governing body in accordance with the co-ordinated scheme.

Why the place was not allocated

XXXXX was placed in Category X of the oversubscription criteria. Governors were unable to offer a place as the application was ranked below the cut off point. If additional children were admitted, the governors would be in breach of the legal class size limit of 30. (only add this if Infant class size legislation applies)

Allocation of Places as at (date)

(This is an example)

Peter Smith was placed in oversubscription category 5

The planned admission number is 30

Places offered / Applications recieved
Category 1 / RC looked after / 1 / 1
Category 2 / RC in parish / 18 / 18
Category 3 / Other RC / 9 / 9
Category 4 / Non RC looked after / 0 / 0
Category 5 / Other Christian denominations/other faiths / 2 / 5
Category 6 / Other applicants / 10
TOTAL / 30 / 43
As there were 5 applicants in Category 5, the distance tie breaker was used
Child A allocated sibling
Child B allocated 1.7 miles
Peter Smith not allocated 1.9 miles
No more places allocated below this point

You must NOT indicate where a child is placed on the waiting list
You must NOT name any other children anywhere in your statement

Waiting List

The governors are required to operate a waiting list until at least the end of the first term of the year of entry. If a place becomes available, it will be offered to the next child on the list. The list is ranked on the day of a place being offered according to the oversubscription criteria

Anticipated class organisation in September 20XX
Insert figures in the table
Classes / total
Year R
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Total

Insert the following information where relevant :

How the school is organised – mixed or single age classes / no of teaching spaces / split site etc

No of classrooms – whether any are below standard size of 60m2

Numbers of teachers and teaching assistants and how they are deployed

Special needs issues – number on register/number of statements – any EAL issues

Resources / playground / hall / toilet provision – impact of additional numbers

Health and safety issues – corridors / staircases / circulation

Any comments on overcrowding issues from independent sources (eg Ofsted)

Summary of the School Case

The school is resourced and organised on the premise that year groups will consist of xx children. The Headteacher and Governors have carefully planned staffing and curriculum structures expecting that this is the number of children to be educated.

The Governors are unable to employ additional staff or provide additional classrooms at this time.

The physical accommodation is sufficient only to meet the Published Admission Number and no more. Extra children would therefore raise the numbers within the existing structure above what is educationally desirable. Therefore the Governing Body, as the Admission Authority for the school, argues that to admit another child would affect the education of the children already on roll and would result in class sizes in Key Stage One exceeding the legal limit. (only add this if Infant class size legislation applies)

The Governors regret that they were unable to comply with parental preference. The decision was made in accordance with Section 86 Paragraph (3)(a) and 4 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 and subsequent legislation.

Signed: Date

Also include

Admission policy for the year admission (make sure year is shown) / Essential
Copies of all correspondence relating to the admission / appeal / Essential
Supplementary Form completed by appellant (if not received say so) / Essential
LA summary of how the co-ordinated scheme operates (from LA) / Essential
Map of parish boundary or catchment area / Essential
Plan of school / Optional

SAMPLE CASE 2

INFANT CLASS SIZE PREJUDICE –

FOR IN YEAR ENTRY INTO KS1

READ PAGE 7 BEFORE YOU START

DELETE OR REPLACE ALL RED TYPE

ST ANYONE’S CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL

Name DOB and address and school year of Child,
Appellant(s), relationship to child
Date appeal submitted :
Proposed Date of Admission
Previous School Attended
Preferences made by parent / Ask LA for this information and insert
School Allocated / Ask LA for this information and insert
Nearest school with places and distance from home / Ask LA for this information and insert

The Governing Body is the admission authority. This decision not to admit was made at a meeting of the Admissions Committee held on xxxxxxxxxx

Why the place was not allocated

Governors were unable to offer a place as XXX’s application as admission would have resulted in the class size exceeding the legal limit of 30. The school would then have been in breach of Infant Class Size regulations.

The planned admissions number (PAN) is XX

The Net capacity range calculated using the DCFS formula is XX to XX

Waiting List

The governors operate a waiting list. If a place becomes available, it will be offered to the next child on the list. The list is ranked on the day a place is offerd according to the oversubscription criteria

You must NOT indicate where a child is placed on the waiting list
You must NOT name any other children anywhere in your statement

Current class organisation (complete the table)
Classes / total
Year R
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Total

Children with Special Educational Needs

These pupils require individual education plans, are more demanding on staff time and much more vulnerable to the adverse effects of overcrowding. Children with special needs are integrated into mainstream classes. The table below shows the current number of children in each year group with special educational needs

Classes / School action / School action plus / Statemented / Total% in brackets
Year R
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6

Add details of any EAL children and the impact of these children in the relevant class