Changes to appeals regulations in light of COVID-19 outbreak

Regulations published on 24 April allow us to conduct school admission appeals by video call. We will be using Microsoft Teams to conduct the appeals. You can join a Teams meeting anytime, from any device, whether or not you have a Teams account. Instructions on how to join a Teams meeting are provided below and parents/carers are advised to familiarise themselves with these instructions before their appeal.

You will be contacted by email and advised of all of the detailed arrangements for their appeal. If you have not provided us with an email address on your appeal form, please email dsu_schoolappeals@sandwell.gov.uk advising us of an email address that we can contact you on. We are currently unable to contact parents/carers by phone.

Don't forget to check if the email has been filtered to your junk/spam folder.

We appreciate that you may be anxious about their child’s schooling and we are doing everything we can to hear appeals as quickly as possible. Please ensure that you read everything that is sent to you carefully so that you are fully prepared before the hearing.

Download the instructions for Microsoft Teams

We try to make sure that as many pupils as possible are offered places at the school they and their parents want. 

However, if we cannot offer your child a place at the school or schools you prefer, you have the right to appeal to an independent appeal panel.

You can find out more about the appeals process:

If you are appealing against a decision of an academy, trust, foundation or voluntary aided school you will need to contact the school for information on their appeals procedure.

Appealing for a school place September 2024

School places for September 2024 have now been offered for all relevant year groups.

If you applied for a school place for your child to start in September 2024 and you didn't get the school you wanted, you can appeal against the decision. You can only appeal forschools that were a higher preference and for which you have been refused.

To appeal you can download, complete and post an appeal form or you can appeal the decision online.

Download the appeal form

If you wish to appeal for Sandwell Academy please contact them directly. If you want to appeal for a school outside Sandwell please contact the relevant local authority.

Appealing a school transfer decision during the year (Mid-year process)

If you applied to transfer your child to another school during the school year but you were unsuccessful, you can appeal the decision online or download the appeal form .

Please note this online form is only for current mid-year requests and not for appeals for school places starting in September 2024

Appeals timetable - the process

The decision

You should be made aware of the appeal decision within five school days unless there is a good reason why the decision has been delayed.

Appeals for heavily oversubscribed schools can last for up to two weeks.  You will be notified of the decision no later than five school days of the last hearing unless there is good reason why the decision has been delayed.

For further information regarding school appeals please visit the Democratic Services Unit Website