Appeal and late submission of application form

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JRM
Posts: 301
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2012 7:32 pm

Appeal and late submission of application form

Post by JRM »

I was approached for advice today and I'm not sure of the answer.

Child A just missed the required mark for the local grammar school. I informed them that to appeal they need to still put that school on their application form, and put their next choice down second.

I then discovered that they hadn't received the parent pack with the unique identification number (UID) to log onto the council's admission system. As they hadn't received that pack, they also did not know that the deadline was 31st October.

Having pointed this out to them and no doubt caused some panic, what is the correct thing to do now? If they contact the council and ask for a paper form, will they be treated as a late applicant? Does this mean that they would only be considered after all the people who applied on time.

Their first choice comp, which they would usually get into, is historically oversubscribed, so is there a risk that they would not get in there either?

Would they still be able to appeal (non-qual) for the grammar school?

Or, would they need to appeal and show that the council were at fault and they were not aware of the application deadline?

Any pointers welcome. Thank you.
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The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.
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mammy1
Posts: 27
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2013 9:09 pm

Re: Appeal and late submission of application form

Post by mammy1 »

I think it would be very difficult to prove that you hadn't received the paperwork required, should this have been posted to their address or given out through their school? Also unless they have been living away from the area or something similar, I think not knowing the deadline for application would be very difficult to prove. Obviously this is just my opinion.
JRM
Posts: 301
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2012 7:32 pm

Re: Appeal and late submission of application form

Post by JRM »

That was my initial thought - although the paper work should come through the post to you and they have moved village and school in the last year. It is a school where you take the kids to the playground, but parents don't go in at all so no chance to see a poster really. At our previous school parents were in the building more often and there would probably have been a poster in reception.

So do we know how a late application would be treated?
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Twinkle
Posts: 580
Joined: Tue May 05, 2009 10:26 pm

Re: Appeal and late submission of application form

Post by Twinkle »

If by any chance they are in Kent, then the deadline has been extended until today and they could make an online application.
Okanagan
Posts: 1706
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:20 pm
Location: Warwickshire

Re: Appeal and late submission of application form

Post by Okanagan »

The best thing you can do is probably to ring your local admissions service, give them the scenario (you don't have to give names) and ask what their advice would be.
ToadMum
Posts: 11946
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:41 pm
Location: Essex

Re: Appeal and late submission of application form

Post by ToadMum »

This is from our local admissions booklet (Southend on Sea). Whereas an application received after the closing date may be counted as on time if the family is newly-moved to the Borough, they also state the following:

Late Applications
Applications received from parents after
the closing date and who, in the view of
the Pupil Access Team, could normally have
completed an application on-time will be
treated as late applications. Such applications
will be considered after all on-time
applications have been considered and the
initial allocation of places are notified to
parents on National Offer Day.
Where possible late applications will receive
an offer of a place on National Offer Day.
This will only be for preferences at schools
that have remaining spaces after all on-time
places have been allocated.
Where a late application cannot be achieved
at a preference school with remaining places,
an alternative offer will be made at the next
nearest non selective school with places
available within the Borough.
If this is not possible because of a lack of
time, parents whose applications are late will
be advised at which school their child will be
offered a place as soon as possible after all the
on time responses to offers have been received.


(I know you are not talking about Southend, though - we don't have any villages within the Borough and we don't need a code to access our online system initially). We get our packs via the school rather than sent to our home address. I would say I assume that the child concerned must be the eldest in the family if the parents didn't realise that that they had missed anything, but most years at our primary there seems to be a younger sibling whose parents manage to get something wrong.

Doesn't the school organise a transition meeting / pass on letters from the LA reminding parents that the deadline is looming and they haven't submitted an application yet?

Whatever, though, they need to contact the LA immediately and explore their options...
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Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: Appeal and late submission of application form

Post by Etienne »

As ToadMum has indicated, these problems are more common with a family's first primary school application!

I know that some LAs will treat a late application as timely if there are very exceptional circumstances, e.g. single parent hospitalised at the crucial time, and no one able to act in loco parentis. An exception might also be made if it could be shown that the LA had done something incorrectly (e.g. if it lost a paper application that had been submitted by recorded delivery, and signed for, prior to the deadline).

Unfortunately, being unaware of the deadline may not count for much when the information would have been available on the LA website.

There is a responsibility on the LA to publish key information - and, I'm afraid, some responsibility on parents to be proactive.
If they contact the council and ask for a paper form, will they be treated as a late applicant? Does this mean that they would only be considered after all the people who applied on time.
If they applied now, I assume their application would be considered in the second round of allocations.

Probably a good idea for them to get their application in as soon as possible now (the longer they leave it, the worse it might look to an appeal panel), and to attach a very apologetic note explaining the circumstances (in the hope that these might be viewed with a bit of sympathy - if not by the LA, then perhaps by an appeal panel).

I see no reason why they can't appeal for a grammar school - in due course. They would be appealing against non-qualification and probably (depending on local circumstances) oversubscription as well.
Etienne
JRM
Posts: 301
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2012 7:32 pm

Re: Appeal and late submission of application form

Post by JRM »

Thank you for your advice. You are correct in it being the eldest child. The 11+ was suggested to them at last minute and they did that, but were considering whether to appeal or not when Mum had a couple of spells in hospital (although home before the end of October). It is only through conversation with me today (I went through this last year) that they realised the deadline was in October. They did go to part of an open evening at one of the schools so I would imagine that makes it even harder to argue that they didn't realise the dates involved.

I'll talk to them again in the morning and see if I can find our local council's procedure for late applicants.

Thanks again.
The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.
Dr Seuss
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