Secondary school new year 7 admissions appeals

What you can appeal and how to make an appeal

Right to appeal

You've a right to appeal to an independent appeal panel against the decision to refuse your child a place at your preferred school. The last date to appeal is  4 May 2021.  Appeals are heard from June onwards.

How to appeal

The first round of school allocations will be complete on 1 March 2021.   The last date to appeal is 4 May 2021 for schools where Bristol City Council present the appeal on behalf of the school.  The deadline for other schools may be different.

The preferred method of sending written grounds of appeal to school admissions is by email to  school.admissions@bristol.gov.uk

We cannot return or forward  written grounds of appeals received by post  that were sent to school admissions by mistake.  Keep a copy of your grounds of appeal and ensure you send them to the correct school or local authority by the requested date.

Allocation of new year 7 places and appeal templates will be published on 1 March 2021.

Appeals in previous year

See secondary school place appeals for details of applications and outcome of Bristol secondary school appeals last year.

Appeal hearing

You'll get at least 10 school days notice of the date, time and place of the appeal hearing. You're encouraged to come and speak at the appeal hearing.

You'll find out the result of your appeal hearing within five days of the school's last appeal hearing.

What the appeal panel takes into account

The independent appeal panel takes into account the:

• preference you expressed
• reasons for your school preference
• admission authority’s published admission arrangements
• admission authority’s reasons for refusing a place
• personal reasons for your school preference

The independent appeal panel is not bound by the admission authority’s published criteria and has the power to make a place available even if the year group is full. The appeal panel will be able to take your reasons for wanting your child to attend the school or academy into account.

If an appeal is upheld

The decision of the independent appeal panel is binding on the admission authority. This means your child will be admitted to the school, even if the year group is full. The decision of independent appeal panel can only be overturned by the courts.

If an appeal is dismissed

When an appeal is dismissed there is no automatic right to a second appeal. A second appeal can only be granted if a significant change of circumstances has occurred since the original appeal was heard. A significant change in circumstances would include:

• where a sibling of statutory school age has been offered a place or has started at the preferred school and this information was not known at the time of the original hearing
• change of address, now living significantly closer to the preferred school, or now reside within the area of first priority for the school
• where new evidence which could not have been introduced at the time of the original appeal has become available and supported by a letter from a doctor, psychologist or social worker

If your child is on the waiting list for the school, they will remain on the waiting list until 31 December 2021.