Appeals Procedure.

If it has not been possible to offer your child a place at your preferred school, you may decide that you want to exercise your right of appeal against this decision.

When considering whether to appeal, it is important that you are aware that although the law allows you to appeal against admission decisions, it does not give your child the right to a place at a particular school. There is no guarantee that your appeal will be successful. If you are appealing for a place at a particular school, you should make arrangements for a place at an alternative school in case your appeal is unsuccessful. Accepting a place at another school does not affect your right to appeal concerning a place at the school you would prefer.

Infant Class Size Legislation

Appeals for children entering KS1, are subject to Infant Class Size Legislation. The law states that there must not be more than 30 children in an infant class (that is, classes containing reception, year 1 and year 2 children).

If you’re appealing an infant size class limit, your chance of a successful appeal is very limited.

The Appeals Panel can only offer a place where it is satisfied that: 

a)     the admission of additional children would not breach the infant class size 

b)     the admission arrangements did not comply with admissions law or were not correctly and impartially applied and the child would have been offered a place if the arrangements had complied or had been correctly and impartially applied 
c)     the decision to refuse admission was not one which a reasonable Admission Authority would have made in the circumstances of the case.

Lodging an appeal

If you wish to lodge an appeal, Statutory Appeals at Essex deal with all our appeals. All the information you require can be found on the Essex County Council website by clicking here.