About admission appeals

If you are not offered a place at your preferred school

Community and voluntary controlled schools

If we refuse a place in your preferred school or if you are not happy with the school we have offered your child, you should contact the School Admissions Team. We will send you details of how to appeal against this decision.

If we had to refuse all three of your preferences you could appeal for each of them. There would be a separate hearing for each school for which you were appealing.

The right of appeal is suspended for children who have been permanently excluded from two schools.

Voluntary aided schools, free schools, trust schools and academies

If we refuse a place at your preferred voluntary aided school, free school, trust school or academy on behalf of the governing body, you should contact the school to enquire about the appeal process.

Schools outside Kirklees

If we refuse a place at your preferred school on behalf of another local authority, you should contact the other local authority to enquire about the appeal process.

Types of appeal

For school admission appeals up to and including year 2 there are two types of appeal, Key Stage 1 Class Size Appeals (CS) and General Issue Appeals (GI). The type of appeal depends on how the school arrange their classes and the year group your child is in.

For appeals for year 3 onwards in primary school and year 7 in secondary schools, these are always General Issue appeals (GI).

Primary school appeal types

Middle school appeal types

Secondary school appeal types

In year admission appeals

Appeals against a decision in any other year groups will be heard within 30 school days of the appeal being received by the Local Authority.

You will receive notification in writing of the date, time and venue of your appeal 10 school days before the hearing.

You will receive full appeal papers including the admission authority case and your submissions prior to the appeal hearing (approximately one week before).

Decision letters will be sent within five school days of the hearing.

School days are term time only. If an appeal is submitted in the holidays, the 30 school days starts from the beginning of a new term

We will however, try to hear it as soon as possible.

The appeals process

Pupil admissions appeal process

Notice of admission appeal

It is very important for you to stay within any timetable given for your appeal process and that you state all the information on which your appeal is based in your written statement of appeal. If you miss the last date to ask for an appeal it may result in a delay in hearing your appeal.

Appeals timetable

Appeals submitted after these deadlines will be heard within 40 school days from the deadline for lodging appeals where possible, or within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged, this may not be before the end of the academic year. You will receive at least 10 school days' notice of your appeal hearing.

Please ensure any additional evidence you wish to submit in support of your appeal is received by the Pupil Admissions Team at least four working days before your appeal. Any material not submitted by the specified deadline may not be considered by the Independent Appeals Panel.

You must also let us know if you intend to call any witnesses or be represented at the appeal hearing.

Appeal hearing

The clerk of the appeal panel will write to you about the appeal hearing and explain the procedures. An independent appeal panel hears appeals.

It is made up of three people, including:

• At least one 'lay' member (a member of the public with no specialist education experience)
• At least one 'independent' person who has experience in education and who is familiar with educational conditions in our area or who is a parent of a registered pupil at a school.