• 1. Local Authority area in which the appeal took place:
Glos
• 2. What you were appealing against?
• a. non-qualification only?
• b. oversubscription only?
• c. both non-qualification and oversubscription?
Oversubscription only
• 3. Name of school you were appealing for:
SHS
• 4. Was this a school where the governors are the admission authority?
(e.g. academy, foundation or voluntary aided)
• 5. Approx. date of appeal hearing:
mid-May 2018
• 6. How many days in advance of the hearing, including weekends, did you receive the case papers?
About 10 days
• 7. Where was the appeal held?
(e.g. council offices)
Hotel conference room
• 8a. Did your individual hearing start more or less on time?
Yes
• 8b. If not, how late was it in starting?
About 10 mins
• 9. Do you know what sort of independent appeal panel you had? For example:
• a. A panel appointed by the Local Authority? - because it's dealing with a community school for which the LA is the admission authority.
• b. A panel appointed by the school? - because it's an academy, foundation or VA school where the governors are the admission authority.
• c. A Local Authority appointed panel acting at the request of the school? - because it's an academy, foundation or VA school where the governors are the admission authority, and they 'hired' a panel from the LA.
• d. Some other panel acting at the request of the school? - because it's an academy, foundation or VA school where the governors are the admission authority, and they 'hired' a panel not from the LA but from a commercial organisation, charity, or some other body.
Don't think I took it in at the time!
• 10. Who was on the panel?
(if you were told, e.g. a retired teacher, a businessman, and school governor - no names, please.)
All involved professionally with education in the county over a number of years.
• 11. Was there a group hearing?
(This is where stage 1 - the LA or school case - is presented to all the parents as a group)
No
• 12. Did the appeal follow the recommended order of business?
• a. the case for the admission authority;
• b. questioning by the appellants and panel
• c. the case for the appellants;
• d. questioning by the admission authority and panel;
• e. summing up by the admission authority; and
• f. summing up by the appellants.
Yes
• 13a. Had your case already been considered by a Review Panel?
(sometimes applies to non-qualification)
No
• 13b. If so, were you told that, because your case had already been reviewed, the only issue for the appeal panel was whether the review had been conducted properly?
No
• 14. What questions were you asked about your case?
Did the father support the appeal (he couldn't be present) - yes
Why didn't we go to a counsellor for DD's condition earlier
How was DD on the day of the test
Wouldn't DD get more support if she went to the same school as her older sister (older sister at different school)
Was there any disturbance noted in the room invigilator's report on the day of the test - no
• 15. What were the panel like?
(e.g. Were they friendly? polite? considerate?)
Polite and considerate, kind, quite direct though
• 16. As far as you know, was the representative of the admission authority left alone with the panel at any point in time? (It's acceptable for the representative to be waiting outside the room, but he/she must not be already in the room with the panel when you arrive, or remain in the room with the panel when you leave.)
No
• 17. Were you asked at the end of the hearing whether you had had sufficient time to state your case (or words to that effect)?
Yes
• 18. Did you feel rushed?
No
• 19. How long did the hearing last?
(excluding the group hearing, if there was one)
About 25 mins
• 20. Were you told you could telephone for the decision?
(most authorities do not allow this, although some do)
No
• 21. If you have the result, was your appeal successful?
Yes
• 22. How long did you have to wait for the decision, including weekends?
8 days
• 23. Success rates for appeals for this school (if applicable, and if known):
• a. on this occasion
Don't know - there were over 30 appeals this year though
• b. in previous years
About 7-9 appeals seem to be upheld each year (the school commented it can take up to 32 in each class)
• 24. Any other comments:
Thanks to advice on this forum, we pulled together as much evidence as we could of academic ability and extenuating circumstances, and why this school was the best fit. As I was on my own on the day I prepared a short speech on paper which I managed to read and get to the end of - surprisingly nerve-wracking, even though everyone was very nice. The panel asked probing questions so I was glad I'd had a chance to think about what they might ask, to be ready with the answers. However I'd forgotten to prep the summing-up, so had to think on my feet a bit - luckily it didn't matter in the end! Try to go with someone else if you can - the panel, clerk and school were as kind as they could be in the circumstances, but it was quite intense in the spotlight for even just 25 mins.