The new School Admission Appeals Code
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The new School Admission Appeals Code
The new School Admission Appeals Code and the new School Admissions Code have now been published on the DCSF site and will come into force in February 2009. They can be accessed from:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/sacode/
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/sacode/
I was looking through the new Appeals Code at the end of last week, and the changes seem limited.
10. This Code differs from the previous School Admission Appeals Code (issued in January 2008) in four respects:
a) it clarifies that only employees of the local education authority (not the local authority as a whole) are disqualified from serving on Appeal Panels (see paragraph 1.5(c));
b) it allows locally elected politicians to attend appeal hearings to support the appellant (see paragraph 2.14);
c) it clarifies the extent to which Appeal Panels can consider the lawfulness of admission arrangements (see paragraph 3.2(a)); and
d) it reflects the new right of children to appeal against decisions in relation to admissions from academic year 2010/11 (see paragraphs 1.31, 2.3, 2.5, 2.35).
11. The changes referred to in a), b) and c) above apply to all appeals heard after the coming into force of this Code.
Etienne