*For your appeal to be valid you must clearly set out the reasons why you would like your child to go to your preferred school, you should provide as much information as you can.
1. What should I focus on?
We advise you to focus on:
- the reasons why you want your child to attend the school you are appealing for
- what the school offers that will meet your child’s specific needs
- what the impact will be on your child, if unable to attend your preferred school
- if relevant; what the school offers that the current school / school offered does not offer
Do not focus on the reasons why you do not want your child to go to a different school. It is not guaranteed your appeal will be successful, the stronger the reasons, the better the chance, it will not be enough to simply say you want your child to attend the school because you want your children to go to the same school or because it is the closest school.
We encourage you where possible to provide documents to support your case, for example, if your appeal is based on medical grounds, the panel will expect to see documents from a health professional such as a letter of formal diagnosis. Any supporting evidence you want the panel to consider must be provided by yourself, we are unable to contact anyone such as social worker or doctor to obtain this.
It is important any supporting evidence you wish to be considered is submitted no later than 1 week before your appeal hearing as the late introduction of evidence may not be considered by the panel. Other people’s faces or personal details on documents submitted may be blanked out. Please note, your appeal form and supporting information are seen by the panel, the school you are appealing for and School Admissions.
If you are appealing for a place in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2 the panels powers to allow admission of an additional child are severely limited, before lodging an appeal please read and consider the information regarding Infant Class Size Legislation.
It is important to read this guidance before deciding whether to lodge an appeal because the panel does not have the flexibility to consider personal circumstances, the appeal is a ‘review’ of the decision to refuse admission and for this reason it is extremely rare for an infant class size appeal to be successful. (Please see here for more information on Primary School Appeals).
Before lodging an appeal for a Sandwell school remember:
- you must have applied for a place at the school and been refused the place
- you must not have already had an appeal for the same school for the same year group
2. How do I lodge an Appeal?
You can lodge an appeal online to do this you must log in to your MySandwell account or register for an account.
Alternatively, you can download and complete the appeal form. You may return the form by post to the address given at the bottom of the appeal form.
Remember to clearly give the reasons for your appeal on the appeal form. Please provide an email address on the appeal form as all correspondence is sent by email. Sometimes emails can filter to your junk / spam folder, we advise you to regularly check your junk / spam folder.
3. I have lodged my Appeal, what happens next?
Once your appeal date is confirmed, you will receive an email telling you the date your appeal will be heard, at this stage we are unable to give you the time of your appeal.
A minimum of 14 days before your appeal date, you will receive an email which will include:
- The date and time of your appeal
- The names of the panel members and clerk
- The deadline to submit additional information
- Details of how the appeal will be conducted
- Relevant documentation relating to your appeal including, a statement prepared by the admission authority, a copy of your appeal form and any additional information. If the paperwork is not ready, the documentation will be sent to you as soon as possible, ensuring you have enough time to read the paperwork before your appeal