School allocation post appeal

[Mum1976]

We live in Bucks and have been through the appeals system for my son who missed the pass mark by less than one whole mark. Following three appeal hearings for three separate schools he was placed on a waiting list for two grammar schools. He was successful in gaining a place at one which we accepted and was at the top of the waiting list for our (very) local first choice one. Since then he got bumped down to position number four due to successful appeals and the school going three over pan so he needs three school refusals in order to be offered a place.

We can practically see the school from our house and our neighbour who lives a few doors closer was successful at appeal. All of his friends are going there. The other now allocated second choice school that we’ve accepted is three miles away. In order to get there he will have to walk 1.5 miles to a bus stop and then travel 3.5 miles on the coach. He has a seasonal medical condition that requires him to take prescription medication from April
to September but also suffers with travel sickness. Initial conversations with a pharmacist prove that not only could he not take travel sickness tablets for more than three days he absolutely cannot mix them with his prescribed seasonal medication. I have written to the admissions team at County asking them what we can do about this and also to my local town council who have said they will discuss this as a team. Haven’t heard anything from either of them since the beginning of the week. I also wrote to the appeals team who other than me complaining to the EFSA about the conduct of the appeal said the case was closed as far as they’re concerned.

I’ve got an appointment to get a letter from the doctor substantiating the medical facts for the case.

Have I got any leverage to get him in to the first choice school?

Situation just feels very wrong.

I’d appreciate any advice at all. Thank you!

[Etienne]

Welcome to Appeals.

Very sorry to hear the appeal for your first preference was only partially successful.
It sounds as if you overcame FCO (with a score of 120 you're likely to have gone to review), then won the qualification argument (so you were able to go on the waiting list), and only fell at the very last hurdle (oversubscription).

Since then he got bumped down to position number four due to successful appeals and the school going three over pan so he needs three school refusals in order to be offered a place.

I'm afraid this is what happens to the waiting list if there are successful appeals.

We can practically see the school from our house

Distance can be critical under the admission rules, but other factors tend to carry more weight at appeal.

our neighbour who lives a few doors closer was successful at appeal.

Without knowing the details of their case, what was said at their hearing, and how the panel assessed the strength of their reasons for seeking a place, it's really not possible to make any comparison. Distance is unlikely to have played a part in the decision.

All of his friends are going there.

See C2 (ix):
https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appea ... -school#c2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

..... also suffers with travel sickness .... I’ve got an appointment to get a letter from the doctor substantiating the medical facts for the case.

Was travel sickness part of your case at appeal? Did you produce any evidence at the time?

I also wrote to the appeals team who other than me complaining to the EFSA about the conduct of the appeal said the case was closed as far as they’re concerned.

This is the correct advice - and the ESFA will only look at the case if there has been a procedural error. They will not consider the merits or otherwise of the panel's decision.

Even if something were to come to light entitling you to a re-hearing, nothing is likely to happen before the end of September or October, so to be realistic you must be reconciled to your son starting at the grammar school he has been offered.

Have I got any leverage to get him in to the first choice school?

Unliklely, on the information available so far. Sorry not to be more encouraging, but we wouldn't want to give you false hope.

[Mum1976]

Thank you so much for your reply Etienne. Part of my frustration is that I don’t feel heard right now, so thank you.

So the travel sickness factor was not relevant to the appeal at the time, since the allocated school when we were appealing was a local walkable (non-grammar) school and we hadn’t yet been given the second choice grammar school. We were given the second choice (now allocated school) earlier on in the same day that we received e.mail notification that he’d made the waiting list for the first choice school (we then received the paper letter detailing the appeal outcome for the first choice school the following morning confirming that we’d fallen at the last hurdle).

Medication wise the hay fever (and it’s side effects) was however part of both the cases and accepted as being a contributing extenuating circumstance which ultimately led him to be grammar qualified.

We had gone to Review, there’s not a single person who can understand why the Review was unsuccessful, including the Head. Reasons they gave were supplied academic evidence was borderline in line with the test score. However seeing as the FCO was over turned on both cases could it be take to the High Court that had they conducted the Review properly he’d have got his first choice on the 1st March?? Just a thought.

If the EFSA decided he appeal hadn’t been conducted properly either does that mean we have to go to appeal again and potentially lose even being on the waiting list? Does everyone have to ‘re-appeal’? How does that work for children who’ve stated school in the September? Seems pretty harsh but I’m interested how that works.

Since we were grateful that we’d even made a waiting list position at the time I hadn’t considered disputing the conduct of the appeal. However on reflection there was I felt a deviation from ‘best practice’ in our first choice appeal. Are the rules for the way appeals run merely advice for the IAP’s or are they mandatory rules?

In our appeal we discussed deeply personal matters, some of which concerned the safeguarding and wellbeing of our son. One of the IAP’s had his study door open throughout with his wife in the background who was very visible and became front and centre of camera when she bought him a cup of tea and he muted himself (meaning he could not be seen or heard at all times). He was wearing a headset with speaker to conduct the hearing but obviously she could everything HE was saying even she couldn’t hear the rest of us. This has bothered me ver since. Please advise on what you think. The last thing I want to do is anything that would get him removed off of the waiting list post a stressful re-hearing.

Is it also possible to get all information relating to my son’s Review case under FOI? We can’t help feel something went awry with the Review that we don’t know about, more than the legal parts we got over turned.

Many thanks for listening, I really appreciate it.

[Etienne]

Is it also possible to get all information relating to my son’s Review case under FOI? We can’t help feel something went awry with the Review that we don’t know about, more than the legal parts we got over turned.

I don't think so, unless things have changed. The letter accompanying the review decision always used to say that there is no record of the review case other than what is in the clerk's notes. Check what your letter said.

Since we were grateful that we’d even made a waiting list position at the time I hadn’t considered disputing the conduct of the appeal. However on reflection there was I felt a deviation from ‘best practice’ in our first choice appeal. Are the rules for the way appeals run merely advice for the IAP’s or are they mandatory rules?

There are mandatory and non-mandatory rules.
The rules are set out in the Appeals Code:
https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeals/general#a4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
For the mandatory provisions, look for the words "must" and "must not" in bold type.
If you should decide to go to the ESFA, they will expect you to quote the relevant section of the Code, so I will give paragraph numbers where they might be relevant below.

If the EFSA decided he appeal hadn’t been conducted properly either does that mean we have to go to appeal again

The ESFA will ask for a fresh appeal if there has been a procedural fault, and the error is so serious that it affected the decision and caused an injustice. The ESFA cannot simply change the panel's decision.

.... and potentially lose even being on the waiting list?

We would have to see what the wording of the ESFA's decision might be. (If necessary, you could always decline any offer of a fresh appeal.)

As far as I recall, there is a question on the ESFA form asking what remedy you are seeking.
If you wish to make a complaint, it would therefore be prudent to write "A re-hearing of the prejudice part of the appeal.

How does that work for children who’ve stated school in the September? Seems pretty harsh but I’m interested how that works.

It can take weeks or months for the ESFA to conduct an investigation and make a decision. If the complaint is upheld in full, it might take another three weeks for an appeal to be arranged.
If an appeal is successful, the child would switch schools on a date agreed with the new school - perhaps within a few days, or perhaps after half-term (if it's mid-October and coming up to half-term).

seeing as the FCO was over turned on both cases could it be take to the High Court that had they conducted the Review properly he’d have got his first choice on the 1st March?? Just a thought.

I can see the logic. This could have been a point for the appeal hearing, but difficult for you yourself to raise when you had no idea what the decision on FCO & qualification was going to be. The question now is whether the appeal panel failed in its duty to consider this aspect of the admission arrangements (since the review is part of the admission arrangements).
The Code states:

• • 3.2 The panel must consider the following matters in relation to each child that is the
    subject of an appeal:
    ... b) whether the admission arrangements were correctly and impartially applied in
    the case in question

The High Court would expect you to have taken your case to the ESFA in the first instance, so you would have to
see what the ESFA think about this, even though I have doubts the ESFA would uphold the complaint.

In our appeal we discussed deeply personal matters, some of which concerned the safeguarding and wellbeing of our son. One of the IAP’s had his study door open throughout with his wife in the background who was very visible and became front and centre of camera when she bought him a cup of tea and he muted himself (meaning he could not be seen or heard at all times). He was wearing a headset with speaker to conduct the hearing but obviously she could everything HE was saying even she couldn’t hear the rest of us. This has bothered me ver since. Please advise on what you think.

This is a breach of the Appeals Code:

• • 2.15 Admission authorities must ensure that appeal hearings are held in private

There are grounds for a complaint here, which I think the ESFA would uphold - but my guess is that they will probably decline to offer a re-hearing because of lack of any evidence that it influenced the panel's decision and thereby caused a serious injustice.

So the travel sickness factor was not relevant to the appeal at the time, since the allocated school when we were appealing was a local walkable (non-grammar)

But you weren't appealing against the allocated non-selective school - you were appealing for three grammar schools.
The local grammar school was your first preference, and if travel sickness is an issue, one might have expected one of the reasons for putting the local school top of the list is that no travel would be involved?

Perhaps you were thinking - prior to your discussion with the pharmacist - that there was no issue because medication would solve any problem of travelling to the 2nd or 3rd preference?

I only mention this in case you want to explore every possible avenue.
It is nothing to do with the ESFA, but if there is significant new information that was not - and could not have been - available at the time of the appeal, then the admission authority has the discretion to allow a second appeal.
Because it's a decision for the admission authority, they're unlikely to be keen to exercise their discretion in your favour, and may want to argue about whether the new information is 'significant' or should have been investigated earlier on.
You would therefore need the strongest possible letter of support from your GP.


Returning to the ESFA, I suggest reading:
https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeals/ombudsman" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Mum1976]

Thank you, I’m going to digest all this extremely helpful advice.
Our family has lived by the first choice school for seven years and my son is heartbroken at the situation. He’s a very tolerant and resilient character but this is really taking it’s toll on him. Another seven years of then being a square peg in a round hole is worth fighting for with every last bit of breath in me because I know how uniquely suited he is to his first choice school, just minutes walk away, with his support network. I’ve seen what being wrongly placed in an unsuitable school does to a child / teenager with our other child and I’m not going to let lightening strike twice in my children if I can possibly help it.

Thank you so much, I really do appreciate it.