conflicing information
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Hello liney,
There will often be small discrepancies in the numbers provided by the school and by the LEA because the LEA only asks for the overall numbers three or four times a year so they are always out of date as soon as they are published. I would go back to the LEA and ask again. The way the numbers are published in my LEA is in numbers per year group (or age group) in the Autumn, Spring and Summer terms each year - so had you asked someone in my LEA they possibly would have provided you with those figures rather than what you asked for specifically which was numbers starting year 7 over the past 8 years - thus instead of getting, for example, the numbers who started year 7 in 2005, you might be given the number in year 9 now. This still would not explain a discrepancy of 23 except if you are looking at numbers in the 6th Form years which may be very different from the starting in year 7 numbers, either upwards because the school takes in extra pupils at 6th form level or downwards if pupils leave to go elsewhere.
There should be no problem at all in requesting this sort of information before appeal or in raising questions about the information at appeal. Most admissions authorities should be providing you with this information as part of their case for prejudice before the appeal. You get the opportunity to ask questions of the school's representative or LEA representative after they have presented their case and can raise such issues then eg. "I noticed from your figures (or from the figures which I requested from the Local Authority) that you have 258 pupils in year 10 and I wondered how the school has managed with the extra 18 pupils" followed by things like "That's the year group that did their KS3 SATS last year, isn't it, and they achieved x,y,z results which were actually the highest in the last 3 years"; "You mentioned the health and safety aspects - have there been any recorded incidents in the school due to the overcrowded stairs/corridors?" etc, etc.
One thing to remember is, that if this is an appeal for a school with a large number of oversubscription appeals, your arguments about numbers will be for the benefit of everybody not just you, as the panel will hear all the appeals before making any decisions about individual cases. Thus it is probably your personal reasons for the appeal which are going to be the most important thing in the ultimate decision making.
Good luck.
There will often be small discrepancies in the numbers provided by the school and by the LEA because the LEA only asks for the overall numbers three or four times a year so they are always out of date as soon as they are published. I would go back to the LEA and ask again. The way the numbers are published in my LEA is in numbers per year group (or age group) in the Autumn, Spring and Summer terms each year - so had you asked someone in my LEA they possibly would have provided you with those figures rather than what you asked for specifically which was numbers starting year 7 over the past 8 years - thus instead of getting, for example, the numbers who started year 7 in 2005, you might be given the number in year 9 now. This still would not explain a discrepancy of 23 except if you are looking at numbers in the 6th Form years which may be very different from the starting in year 7 numbers, either upwards because the school takes in extra pupils at 6th form level or downwards if pupils leave to go elsewhere.
There should be no problem at all in requesting this sort of information before appeal or in raising questions about the information at appeal. Most admissions authorities should be providing you with this information as part of their case for prejudice before the appeal. You get the opportunity to ask questions of the school's representative or LEA representative after they have presented their case and can raise such issues then eg. "I noticed from your figures (or from the figures which I requested from the Local Authority) that you have 258 pupils in year 10 and I wondered how the school has managed with the extra 18 pupils" followed by things like "That's the year group that did their KS3 SATS last year, isn't it, and they achieved x,y,z results which were actually the highest in the last 3 years"; "You mentioned the health and safety aspects - have there been any recorded incidents in the school due to the overcrowded stairs/corridors?" etc, etc.
One thing to remember is, that if this is an appeal for a school with a large number of oversubscription appeals, your arguments about numbers will be for the benefit of everybody not just you, as the panel will hear all the appeals before making any decisions about individual cases. Thus it is probably your personal reasons for the appeal which are going to be the most important thing in the ultimate decision making.
Good luck.
Katie,
In a non-qualification appeal the panel will not even have gone on to consider the arguments about numbers, however compelling, if they decided not to uphold your arguments about academic ability. The oversubscription part of an appeal against both non-qualification and oversubscription only comes into play once the child is deemed "qualified".
By the way, was absolutely delighted to read about your son's success this year - congratulations!! Hope you are celebrating in style!
In a non-qualification appeal the panel will not even have gone on to consider the arguments about numbers, however compelling, if they decided not to uphold your arguments about academic ability. The oversubscription part of an appeal against both non-qualification and oversubscription only comes into play once the child is deemed "qualified".
By the way, was absolutely delighted to read about your son's success this year - congratulations!! Hope you are celebrating in style!
Hi Capers,
Exactly so.
The problems with appeal started way before the hearing when we first had contact with the clerk. This tale is not for the faint hearted!
P.M. me if you'd like the full details.
We have had some rather splendid news this week though. DS has just passed the entrance tests for a school which appears within the top ten in the country in Ofsted league tables. Perhaps the panel made a mistake?
Exactly so.
The problems with appeal started way before the hearing when we first had contact with the clerk. This tale is not for the faint hearted!
P.M. me if you'd like the full details.
We have had some rather splendid news this week though. DS has just passed the entrance tests for a school which appears within the top ten in the country in Ofsted league tables. Perhaps the panel made a mistake?
