Schooling

MPs often receive enquiries from constituents about school-related matters. Many of these can be answered from readily available information on the internet or in standard publications. Where complex issues are raised it may be more appropriate to refer the constituent to specialist bodies and organisations or to a solicitor if legal advice is sought.

School place admissions

All admission authorities must consider and decide on applications for school places in accordance with their published arrangements. It is for admission authorities to formulate their own admission arrangements; however, they must do so in accordance with legislation and the statutory School Admissions Code.

‘National Offer Day’ refers to the day each year on which local authorities are required to send the offer of a school place to all parents of secondary-age pupils in their area. For secondary pupils, offers are sent out by the home local authority on 1 March in the year the child will be admitted. For primary pupils, the offer is made on or about 16 April in the year the child will be admitted.

School place appeals

If a child does not have a place, the local authority should be contacted. A child’s name can be put on a waiting list. The “admission authority” for the school (usually the school itself or the council) must keep a waiting list open for at least the first term of each school year. If a child is on a waiting list and the school offers a place, the admission authority will send a formal offer.

If a child is refused a school place, there is the option to appeal with a hearing. The decision letter will outline the process. The admission authority for the school must allow at least 20 school days to appeal from when the decision letter is sent. The admission authority will set a deadline for submitting evidence to support the appeal. The admission authority must give at least 10 school days’ notice of the hearing and appeals must be heard within 40 school days of the deadline for making an appeal. At the appeal hearing, the panel will consist of 3 or more independent individuals who will follow the school’s admission appeals code. If the criteria were not properly followed or do not comply with the school admission code, the appeal will be upheld. Furthermore, if the reasons for a child’s attendance outweigh the school’s reasons for not admitting any more children at all, your appeal will be upheld.

Complaints about the appeals process but not the decision can be submitted. These are either submitted to the Local Government Ombudsman or the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) for academies.