Appeals

Reception appeals – September 2023

Reception places will be offered, via the local authorities, on 17 April 2023. Children who cannot be offered a place, due to there being more applications than there are places, can ask to remain on a waiting list. Parents need to return the waiting list form to the Admissions Team at the local authority to join the waiting list.

The Government has set a limit on the size of infant classes (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2), as described below. Only 1 in 9 appeals for Reception are successful because of the infant class size law.

2.15 Infant class size – Infant classes (those where the majority of children will reach the age of 5, 6 or 7 during the school year) must not contain more than 30 pupils with a single school teacher. Additional children may be admitted under limited exceptional circumstances. These children will remain an ‘excepted pupil’ for the time they are in an infant class or until the class numbers fall back to the current infant class size limit. The excepted children are:

a) children admitted outside the normal admissions round with statements of special educational needs or Education, Health and Care Plans specifying a school;

b) looked after children and previously looked after children admitted outside the normal admissions round;

c) children admitted, after initial allocation of places, because of a procedural error made by the admission authority or local authority in the original application process;

d) children admitted after an independent appeals panel upholds an appeal;

e) children who move into the area outside the normal admissions round for whom there is no other available school within reasonable distance;

f) children of UK service personnel admitted outside the normal admissions round;

g) children whose twin or sibling from a multiple birth is admitted otherwise than as an excepted pupil;

h) children with special educational needs who are normally taught in a special educational needs unit attached to the school, or registered at a special school, who attend some infant classes within the mainstream school.

Bradford local authority manage the appeals process for this Academy. The timetable for appeals for Reception places has been set as follows:

• Deadline for parents to submit appeal: Tuesday, 16 May 2023

• Appeals received by deadline date to be heard within 40 school days: Tuesday, 18 July 2023

• Last appeal date in summer term: Week beginning 17 July 2023

• For late applications, appeals will be heard within 40 school days from the deadline for lodging appeals where possible, or within 30 school days of being lodged.

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In-Year appeals

These appeals are for children transferring between schools mid-year. You can make a formal appeal to an independent appeal panel, for any school that you have applied for where admission has been refused. This is a legal process and places are not ‘reserved’ for appeal panels to offer.

As a guide, only 1 in 9 appeals for Reception, Year 1 & Year 2 are successful because of the infant class size rule described above, and only 1 in 5 appeals for Years 3 to 6 are successful.

Appeals made during the academic year (in-year) will be heard within 30 school days, or as soon as reasonably practicable.

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Appeal forms and information

The local authority (Council) processes the applications & appeals for this Academy. Details of the appeals process and the appeal form can be found here.

If you need to speak to someone about the appeal process, you can contact the local authority via:

Telephone: 01274 439200

Email: schooladmissions@bradford.gov.uk