Admission criteria at appeal?

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GranTourismo
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2010 11:53 pm

Admission criteria at appeal?

Post by GranTourismo »

How does an appeal panel decide when the cut off is and do they follow the admission criteria of the school being applied for?
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: Admission Criteria At Appeal?

Post by Etienne »

If the issue is oversubscription, then the panel simply considers in each case whether the parental reasons outweigh any prejudice to the school. However, if they are minded to allow more appeals than they feel the school could cope with, then they have to choose the strongest cases, and stop at the point where they think the prejudice to the school has become too great.

They may take account of the admission rules, but are not bound by them - they are free to consider any points put to them.
Etienne
GranTourismo
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2010 11:53 pm

Re: Admission criteria at appeal?

Post by GranTourismo »

Are those appealing on just oversubscription prioritised over those appealing on non-qual and oversubscription?

Thanks
andyb
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Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 10:27 am
Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: Admission criteria at appeal?

Post by andyb »

GranTourismo wrote:Are those appealing on just oversubscription prioritised over those appealing on non-qual and oversubscription?

Thanks
I would have thought not because by the time schools are allocated the child has either qualified or not and no consideration is given to whether they qualified straight off or by subsequent successful non-quali appeal.
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: Admission criteria at appeal?

Post by Etienne »

In most authorities (but not Bucks), non-qualification and oversubscription are going to be dealt with after 1st March at one and the same hearing.

I wouldn't have thought appellants would be prioritised in the way described, but clearly if a child hasn't already qualified via the 11+, there's more to prove at the appeal.
Etienne
Alex
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Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 10:10 pm
Location: Lincolnshire

Re: Admission criteria at appeal?

Post by Alex »

I cannot speak for other authorities but in Lincolnshire there is certainly no priority for those appealing against oversubscription only over those appealing non-qualification and oversubscription. If the panel deem the child who did not reach the qualifying mark as qualified then it will go on to weigh up prejudice to the school against the child's need for that school in exactly the same way as it will for the already qualified appellants. The figures for successful appeals for the Community/Controlled Grammars here show that non-qualified appellants generally have as much chance of success as qualified appellants, though the nubers are rather too small to draw any firm conclusions.
GranTourismo
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2010 11:53 pm

Re: Admission criteria at appeal?

Post by GranTourismo »

Etienne wrote:In most authorities (but not Bucks), non-qualification and oversubscription are going to be dealt with after 1st March at one and the same hearing.
Thanks Etienne. I didn't realise that it had been a hearing in two parts, I just assumed you got it over with in one sitting. Are you invited by the panel to present your non-qual appeal and then your over-subscription appeal?
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: Admission criteria at appeal?

Post by Etienne »

It could vary from authority to authority.

In Lincs., for example, there seems to be a clear structure:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... aneous#e27" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(scroll down to E27b)

- but the separate parts could easily become merged.
Etienne
capers123
Posts: 1865
Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 9:03 pm
Location: Gloucestershire

Re: Admission criteria at appeal?

Post by capers123 »

GranTourismo wrote:Thanks Etienne. I didn't realise that it had been a hearing in two parts, I just assumed you got it over with in one sitting. Are you invited by the panel to present your non-qual appeal and then your over-subscription appeal?
Here in Gloucestershire there is only one hearing per parent. So the Admission Authority present their case (be it for oversubscription, non-qual, or both) to the panel & the parents of that child, then parents & panel ask questions; the parents make their case, AA & Panel ask questions, both sides sum up.

The plus is that the parents get to hear the AA side in confidence. The down side is the panel gets to hear the same statement (with a different name & score) read out 10, 20, 30 or more times - we try hard not to look bored at that stage, but there really is nothing new said (and we, like the parents, have a copy of the AA statement in front of us in the appeals docs).

Of course, once the parents start to ask questions, then we pay full attention.

In some other LEA areas, I think there is a massed hearing for the AA to make the case for oversubscription, then all the parents cases are heard individually, I assume at a later date.
Capers
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: Admission criteria at appeal?

Post by Etienne »

The plus is that the parents get to hear the AA side in confidence
As far as the oversubscription element is concerned, I think a stage one group hearing is usually in the parents' interests. Parents feel more confident in a group, they have more time to think, and a question from one parent can often spark a follow-up question from someone else. The Admission Authority case is more likely to come under intense scrutiny!

It is not unknown for some AA representatives to have a strong preference for individual stage ones, and to avoid group hearings like the plague ..... :roll:
Etienne
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