Primary School Places September 2021: How to appeal or accept your child’s place

This Friday – 16th April 2021 is National Offer Day, where Primary school places for September 2021 start are allocated.

If you applied online you can log in to view your school place. You will also be notified by email during office hours. If applied using a paper application a letter will be sent second class.

If you want to accept the place

You do not have to do anything if you wish to accept a place offered at a community or voluntary controlled school. The head teacher of the school has been informed of the allocation and will make any further arrangements regarding the admission to secondary school.

To accept places offered at schools which are their own admission authority, please contact the school direct.

If you do not want to accept the place

If you have not been offered your preferred school you have a statutory right to an admission appeal. You should keep all correspondence you receive as it may be required if you lodge an appeal.

By law, if your child is refused a place at your preferred school, you have the right to appeal against that decision to an independent panel. School admission appeal panels are independent of the school and the local authority. At the hearing, you can present your reasons for preferring that particular school and the panel will decide whether your reasons are strong enough to overturn the admission authority’s decision.

You can use the form that you download from this page to submit an appeal. There is an address on the form that tells you where to send it. Make sure you read all the accompanying guidance notes and that you check the deadlines.

If you submit an appeal, you will receive a reply from the clerk telling you when and where your appeal will be heard. As early as possible before the hearing, you will then be sent a written summary of the reasons why your child was refused a place at the school.

Preparing for a hearing

School places are refused for various reasons, such as the school being oversubscribed or, in the case of a selective grammar school, because your child did not achieve the standard required in the selection tests. At an appeal hearing you can mention anything that you believe helps explain why the school you are appealing for is more suitable for your child, or why the school your child has been allocated would, in your view, be unsuitable.

Under government Covid-19 guidance, all appeal panels are currently meeting remotely

What happens after the hearing

The clerk to the panel will write to you to tell you the decision. You may also be given a telephone number to ring to find out the result before you receive the letter.

There is no further right of appeal for a place in the same school in the same year group unless there is a significant change in your circumstances. The Local Government Ombudsman can investigate complaints of maladministration in relation to maintained schools, for Academy and Academy Trust schools this would be the Education Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).

For more information on appeals please see North Yorkshire County Council Website.

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