Questions 

I want to appeal for a place at a preferred school.  What do I do?

Your letter gives you details of how to appeal. If the school is a Community school, please use the appeal form on the Appeals page.

If you wish to appeal for a Merton Voluntary Aided School or Academy, please contact the school directly. If you wish to appeal for a school outside of Merton, please contact the Local Authority in which the school is situated for more information.

Please see your letter for details of who to contact, or contact the school for further information.

When will my appeal take place?

Appeals for Reception and Year 7 will be heard according to the time-table on the Appeals webpage

If you submit an appeal during the school year for an existing year group, your appeal must be considered by an independent appeal panel within 30 school days of the date it was received.

The appeal form

When completing your form, please give as much detail as you can about why you are appealing for a place at a particular school.

If there are any dates on which you cannot attend an appeal, please give details. Efforts will be made to avoid those dates.

If you require the services of an interpreter, this can be arranged, but please ensure you request this on your form.

Who are the appeals panel?

Appeal panels comprise a minimum of three members.  They are not connected with the local authority or the schools involved in your appeal.  They are volunteers and give their time freely in order to assist with the appeals process.  All panel members are fully trained before they sit on panels.

Who is the clerk to the Appeal Panel?

This is the person appointed by the admission authority to ensure that the admission appeal is conducted properly and in accordance with the School Admission Appeals Code. This person is also able to give independent advice to parents/guardians.

Who deals with the appeals processes?

Your appeal, once lodged, will be passed to the Democratic Services Team, who arrange and clerk the appeals.  

The clerk to the independent appeal panel will organise the appeals.  They are heard during office hours on Monday to Fridays, usually in Merton Civic Centre.  

You will be given at least 10 schools days’ notice of the date and time of your appointment.  You will be also be advised of the names of the panel members who will consider your appeal, and you will be sent a case statement which explains why your child was not given a place at the school of your choice.   You will also be given a deadline by which you must submit any extra information you would like to put before the panel.

What happens at the appeal hearing?

At the appeal, all parties have the right to attend.  This means that both you and a representative from the local authority (the presenting officer) will be able to address the appeal panel.  

You have the right to be represented or to be accompanied by a friend.  

When you arrive at the civic centre, you will be asked to wait until the panel is ready for you.  The clerk will collect both you and the presenting officer and take you to where the appeal takes place.  

  • The chair of the panel will greet you, introduce everyone present and outline the procedure to be followed:
  • The presenting officer will explain why a place at the school could not be given to your child, and will deal with questions.
  • You will give your reasons why you think an exceptional place should be given for your child at the school, and will answer any questions.
  • The presenting officer will sum up.
  • You will sum up.
  • The panel members can ask questions at any time, and can ask the clerk for advice or guidance at any time.  

The same panel will, if possible, hear all the appeals for a particular school.  They will not make their decision until after they have heard the last appeal.  You will be notified in writing of the decision.

The decision

A panel can only allow or refuse an appeal.  They have no influence on your child’s position on the waiting list for a school.

The appeal panel’s decision is binding and can only be challenged via a judicial review.

The Local Government Ombudsman may consider a complaint of maladministration (i.e. the way your appeal was dealt with).

In some instances the Secretary of State may consider whether the panel was correctly constituted and if the panel acted reasonably.

Appeals for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 (infant class)

If you are appealing for a place for your child in reception, year one or year two, please note that the law limits the number of pupils in an infant class with one qualified teacher to a maximum of 30, and restricts the grounds on which an appeal panel can allow an appeal.

In this type of appeal, the panel can only offer a place to your child where it is satisfied that either:  

  1. The admission of an additional child would not breach the infant class size limit of 30 children; or
  2. The admission arrangements did not comply with admissions law or were not correctly and impartially applied, and your child would have been offered a place if the arrangements had complied or had been correctly and impartially applied; or
  3. the decision to refuse admission was not one which a reasonable admission authority would have made in the circumstances of the case. (i.e. the decision was perverse in the light of the admission arrangements, beyond the range of responses open to a reasonable decision maker, or so outrageous in its defiance of logic or accepted moral standards that no sensible person applying his mind to the question could have arrived at it).

What is the normal admission round?

The normal admission round begins in September and ends on the published offer date. This is used for Reception and Transfer to Secondary School (Y7). All other applications are In-Year applications.

What is the admission criteria?

If a school is oversubscribed and receives more applications than there are places available, the admitting authority will apply their published admission criteria to decide which children will be offered a place. This is sometimes referred to as an admissions policy or oversubscription criterion.

Who is the admission authority?

The admission authority is the authority that determines which criteria will be used if there are more applications than places. For community schools the admission authority is the Local Authority. For the Church schools, Free Schools and Academies, the Governing Body is the admission authority.

What is the published admission number?

The published admission number (PAN) is the number of pupils in each year group that the admission authority has agreed will be admitted without causing problems for the school.

What is the Net Capacity of the school?

This is the maximum number of pupils in the school that can be accommodated without causing problems for the school.

How is the Net Capacity worked out?

The Department for Education (DfE) has devised a formula based on the size of classrooms and common areas that determines the maximum number of work places in the school.

What is a community or maintained school?

A community school is a school that is maintained by the LA who are also the admissions authority.

What is a Voluntary Aided School?

These schools are the Church schools in Merton. The Governing Body of the school set the admission criteria and arrange admission appeals.

What is an Academy?

Academies are state-maintained but independently-run schools in England set up with the help of outside sponsors. The school will arrange appeals.

What is the home authority?

The home authority is the Local Authority within which your home is located. They have an obligation to find a school for your child. This school may not be one of your preferred schools.

What is School Admissions Code?

This is statutory guidance issued by the DfE for admission authorities.

What is the School Admission Appeals Code?

This is statutory guidance issued by the DfE to follow when arranging school admission appeals.

What is the Department for Education (DFE)?

The government department with responsibility for infant, primary and secondary education in England.

What is the governing body?

This is collectively the group of people elected or appointed to oversee the management and budget for the school.

What is maladministration?

This is where the approved and published procedures for admissions of pupils and the appeals process have not been followed and have caused injustice as a result.

What is the National Curriculum?

This is the education programme established by the government that each school is required to follow.

What is an Ofsted report?

This is a report produced by a team of school inspectors to assess how a school is performing against a range of predetermined targets on the day of the inspection.

What is oversubscription?

This occurs when there are more applications than there are places available.

What is the preferred school?

This is the school that you would like your child to attend.

What is prejudice?

This is where the Admissions Authority refuses a place at a school because it believes that the admission of one more pupil would have an adverse effect on the efficient use of resources or the efficient education of the children already at the school.

What are qualifying measures?

These are the measures, such as employing additional staff, that a school would have to take if it admitted more pupils than the published admission limit. This only applies in class size appeals.

Contact us

School Admissions Team
Civic Centre
Morden
SM4 5DX

Email: admissions@merton.gov.uk