Secondary school admission appeals

About making a secondary school admission appeal

About making a secondary school admission appeal

You should read all the guidance on these pages before you submit an appeal.

Appeal hearings are held online using Zoom. You’ll need access to a computer, tablet or phone with microphone and camera facilities to join the hearing remotely. You don’t have to attend the hearing, in this case the appeal can be heard using your written application.

You’ll be contacted about your appeal by email.

Why hasn't my child been given a place?

If your child has not been allocated a place at your preferred school, it's because the school received more applications than the places available and when the school applied the oversubscription criteria, other children had a higher priority for the available places.

The number of places available for secondary schools is based on each school's physical size, the number of classrooms and what they're used for. This determines the Published Admission Number (PAN), the number of students that can properly be accommodated within the constraints of the school buildings.

Exceeding this number would damage the quality of education received by all students and could be unsafe. It would also cause what is known as prejudice to the provision of an efficient education and the efficient use of resources.