School admission appeal - parent guide

Read this guide before you fill in your appeal form.
It explains how appeals work, what to expect and how to avoid delays.

Who this guide is for

This guide applies to:

infant class size appeals (reception, year 1 or year 2)
appeals for key stage 2, 3 or 4 (years 3 to 13)
�� community and voluntary controlled schools
other schools that use the �� School Appeals Service

If you are not sure whether this guide applies to your school, email surrey.schoolappeals@surreycc.gov.uk.

Children with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans

If your child has a full, final Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan, you cannot appeal through this process. You must appeal through the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Tribunal, which is a separate national process.

Speak to your SEND case worker

Children being assessed for an EHC plan

If your child is being assessed for an EHC plan but does not yet have one, you can appeal until the plan is issued.

Admission authority

Before you read about how appeals work, it helps to know what an admission authority is.

The admission authority is the body that decides who gets a place at a school.

It may be the school, the academy trust, or the council.

How to appeal

Your appeal must be in writing and include your reasons for appealing (your grounds).

You must complete separate appeal form for each child and each school.

Find the correct form in the directory of �� schools.

If you need to change anything after you submit the form, email surrey.schoolappeals@surreycc.gov.uk as soon as possible. This may affect your hearing date.

What you must include

Your appeal form must include a short summary of why you believe your child should get a place at the school.

This is the law (School Admission Appeals Code 2022). If you do not give any reasons, we cannot accept your appeal.

Include:

your full contact details
any alternative address for correspondence
your child’s full name, date of birth and current school
(optional) details of other children in your household, if relevant
your new address and the date you will live there, if you are moving
any support you need, such as:
- an interpreter or sign language interpreter
- help because of a disability
- access support at the hearing

Tell us about support needs on your form. We may not be able to arrange support if you ask on the day of the hearing. You may bring your own interpreter or signer, but please tell us as soon as possible.

Send supporting evidence

The �� School Appeals Service will not request evidence for you.

You must send any evidence you want the appeal panel to consider.

Evidence can include:

medical letters
proof of address
reports from a social worker, teacher or other professional

Evidence rules

Send copies, not originals attach as a document, we cannot access your cloud
Include passwords for any protected files
Send evidence by 5pm on the deadline - the appeal panel may not consider evidence sent after
Use PDF or Microsoft Office for digital evidence
Bring your own device if you want to show digital content at the hearing
The appeal panel cannot consider any evidence from staff at the school you are appealing for
�� School Appeals Service will not request evidence on your behalf (like from GPs, social workers or teachers)
If you make claims about another school, the council may check them
if your evidence shows another child, or includes their details, you must get permission from their parent or carer.

School appeals timetable

See School admission appeals timetable for:

offer days
deadlines for sending your appeal
final dates for hearings
late appeals
in-year appeals outside normal entry times

This timetable applies to community or voluntary controlled schools.

Other schools may use different dates - check with the school.

Hearings are not set up until after the closing date.

After you submit your appeal

At least 10 school days before the hearing date, you will receive the date and time of your hearing

Before the hearing you will get an appeal pack with all the documents.

Bring this pack to the hearing.

Attending your hearing

Try to attend your hearing if you can. You may be able to attend remotely if available.

If you do not attend, the appeal panel will decide your appeal based on your written information.

The school’s representative will still present the school’s case.

Who you can bring

You can bring:

a partner, friend or relative
a legal representative (you do not need one)

Please let us know who will be with you at the appeal hearing.

You must share hearing details and paperwork with anyone you bring.

What happens at the hearing

The chairperson will:

introduce everyone
explain the process

You and the school will each have a chance to speak and ask questions.

If several families are appealing for the same school, the appeal panel will hear the school’s case once, then see each family separately.

Summing up your case

At the end of the hearing, the school’s representative and then you can each sum up your case.

How the panel decides

The appeal panel is made up of 3 independent volunteers who have no link to the school or the council. They decide your appeal using the evidence you and the school provide.

They look at:

whether the admission authority followed the law and its rules
the school’s reasons for not admitting more children
your reasons for wanting the place

Infant class size appeals (reception, year 1 and year 2)

By law, infant class size appeals cannot have more than 30 children per teacher. This makes infant class size appeals very difficult to win.

The appeal panel can only allow your appeal if:

admitting another child would not break the class size limit
the school did not follow its own rules, and your child would have got a place if they had
the decision was so unreasonable that no sensible admission authority would have made it

The appeal panel may also look at what could happen in future, for example, if mixed-age classes could go over legal limits later.

The panel cannot allow your appeal because:

you prefer the school
you have childcare problems
your child has friends at the school

If you have questions about infant class size appeals, contact the School Admissions Team.

Key stage 2, 3 and 4 appeals

Appeals for years 3 to 11 use a two-stage process:

Stage 1 – checking the decision

The appeal panel looks at whether the admission authority:

followed the law
applied its admissions rules correctly
has valid reasons for not admitting more children

The appeal panel can allow your appeal at this stage if:

there was a mistake and your child should have got a place, or
the school can admit another child without causing problems

Stage 2 – balancing your case

If the admission authority followed the law and says it cannot take more children, the appeal panel will balance:

your reasons for wanting the place
the reasons for not admitting more children

If your case is stronger, the appeal panel will allow your appeal.

When many families appeal, only the strongest cases may be successful.

Boarding school appeals

If a boarding school didn’t give your child a place because other children met the school’s admissions rules better, then the appeal works in the same way as any other school appeal.

If the school said your child was not suitable to board, the appeal panel will check whether the decision was reasonable based on the information they had.

The appeal panel will not do its own test to decide if your child is suitable to board.

After the hearing

Decision letters

We usually send the appeal panel's decision within 1 working day. You will then get the full reasons at a later date.

If your appeal is successful, the school must offer your child a place.

If your appeal is not successful

You usually cannot appeal again for the same school in the same school year.

Your child will stay on the waiting list.

If a place becomes available, the school will offer it to the next child on the list according to the waiting list rules.

No right of appeal against the appeal panel’s decision

You cannot appeal the appeal panel’s decision.

But you can complain if you think the process was not followed properly.

Complaints

If you think the appeal was not handled properly, you can complain to:

the (for maintained schools)
the (for academies and free schools)

They cannot change the decision but may offer a new hearing if they find serious problems.

How to withdraw your appeal

If you want to withdraw your appeal, contact the �� Schools Appeals Service as soon as possible.

Email: surrey.schoolappeals@surreycc.gov.uk

Private and no precedent

The appeal panel decides each appeal on its own facts.

Previous appeal outcomes do not set a precedent.

All appeals are confidential.

Get school appeals advice

If you still need help after using this guide, you can contact the School Appeals Service.

You can also get independent advice from these organisations:

- decides on objections and variations to admission arrangements.
- gives free legal advice on children’s rights and education law
- offers independent advice and support for parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities

See the for the legal rules appeal panels must follow.

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