Missed out on your preferred secondary school? Here's what to do next and how to appeal

Places at secondary schools across in England and Wales will be announced later today, but with record numbers of pupils set to miss out on their first-choice here’s what to do if that happens to you.

Around one in five children are expected to face disappointed and attend less desirable schools, due to many schools being oversubscribed.

This is partially because of the baby boom a decade ago, which has caused the number of pupils applying to secondary school to peak this year at 625,000.

Although more places have been on offer, it is not enough to keep pace with the extra demand – especially at more popular schools.

The situation is exacerbated in London, with almost half of pupils set to lose out in boroughs such as Lambeth.

Around one in five children are expected to face disappointed and attend less desirable schools , due to many schools being oversubscribed (stock image)

When will you hear?

Most families should expect to receive an email on Friday afternoon or early evening, notifying them of their allocated school.

Some local authorities do also issue letters, which should be expected to arrive by Saturday.

What to do if your child does not get their first-choice place?

If your child is not accepted to their first-choice place, is it worth considering the school they have been offered.

Your local authority must find your child a place, by law, even if it is not one of your chosen schools. However, if you reject that place they do not have to offer you another school place so you could put yourself at risk of starting September without a school for your child.

Elizabeth Coatman, a state education consultant for the Good Schools Guide, advised that parents accept the place offered, even if just as a back up, as you can still add your child to the wait list of one of your preferred schools in the meantime.

What to check about the school you have been offered if it is not your first-choice?

It is worth looking at the school’s most recent GCSE results, as a good indicator of the school performance or the most recent Ofsted inspection report.

It is also worth considering other factors such as how far from your home it is, would it be easy for your child to travel their each day, whether you can go and look around it before the school year starts to help you decide if it is the right place for you?

Can you appeal a decision?

Yes, on your local authority website you will be able to appeal a school decision if you are not happy with the outcome.

But you will need a valid reason for an appeal, such as why your child needs to be attending that particular school on medical or social grounds or if you can show an error in the admissions process.

Parents can appeal against the decision even if they accept a place offered at another school and can add their child to the waiting list at the same time.

However, you will be unlikely to have a successful appeal if you are just unhappy with the school you have been offered.

How does an appeals process work?

You have 20 school days after your offer has been received to submit an appeal, after this there will be 40 days for your case to be actioned and you will receive a 10 day warning before the hearing.

It will be a panel hearing of three or more people, with the admissions authority explaining why the application was turned down and the family able to make a case for their child to be admitted.

Then a decision can be expected within five days

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