Education Admission Appeals, Independent Review (Exclusion) Panels–
Information for panellists
When a parent is refused a place for their child at their preferred school, they have a right
of appeal. The hearing takes place before an Independent Appeals Panel. The Panel
hears the case for the admissions authority and for the parent (known as the appellant)
and decides whether to uphold or dismiss the appeal. The statutory basis for the appeals
process is the Schools Standards and Framework Act 1998. The most recent School
Admissions Appeals Code was issued under Section 84 of the Act in February 2012.
Appeals Panels
An Appeals Panel is made up of at least 3 trained members: a person with experience of
education (non-lay), a lay person (without experience of the provision of education) and a
trained Chair (who can be either). Non-lay, or education experts are people that are not
members of the Authority but who have experience in education, are acquainted with the
educational conditions in the area of the Authority or are parents of registered pupils at a
school, but not employees of the LEA except teachers. Lay members do not have any
personal experience in the management of a school or the provision of education in any
school, disregarding any experience such as a Governor or in any other voluntary
capacity, and they have not at any time had any connection with the LEA or any person
employed by it.
The Panel is supported by an independent Clerk who advises the Panel on points of law
and procedure and takes notes during the hearing.
The Appeal Hearing
Immediately before the Hearing the Clerk will ensure that all parties are present and have
everything they require. When it is time for an Appeal to be heard, all parties go into the
Hearing together: the Clerk, the school or Admissions Authority representative and the
appellant.
The Chair of the Appeals Panel introduces everyone and explains the procedure and the
Appeals Panel begins. When the Panel has heard both cases, the Admissions Authority
representative and appellant will be asked to leave the Hearing for the Panel to make their
decision.
The decision
The Code sets out 2 decision making processes for admission appeals.
Key Stage 1 appeals (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2). The Code allows admission of an
extra pupil only in exceptional circumstances because the law states that classes should
be limited to 30 pupils, per class per teacher. In Key Stage 1 appeals, the Panel will
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consider whether an error has been made and the child should have been admitted in the
first instance or if the circumstances are so exceptional that any reasonable authority
would have offered the child a place. (Essentially the Hearing reviews the original decision
to refuse a place).
Key Stage 2 appeals and above. The decision is made in 2 stages. First, the panel must
decide whether or not the school followed the admissions procedure and whether
admitting an extra child would prejudice the provision of education and efficient use of
resources for pupils already attending that class. If not the child is admitted (eg there is
space for an extra child in the class). If it is agreed that procedure was followed and that
prejudice would occur, the panel goes on to the second stage which weighs up the case of
the child and the case of the school and decides which of the two is the stronger.
What is required of a panellist?
Panel members follow a process, extracting and weighing up relevant information from all
parties to make a decision. Panel members deal with a variety of people from diverse
backgrounds, negotiating situations where appellants may express anxiety or anger.
Excellent communication skills and the ability to navigate information and understand legal
and policy documents is essential. The ability to reach clear, methodical decisions which
may be scrutinised and challenged is integral to the role, and impartiality to both the
schools and parents is also necessary, as is confidentiality. In coming to a decision, it is
important that the Panel keeps in mind the requirements of the School Admission Appeals
Code.
Appeals are timetabled to last about half an hour. During the main Appeals period between
March and July, appeals can be heard throughout the day - it is aimed to keep them to
about 8 a day if possible. There may, however, be only 1 or 2 appeals on a particular day.
A panellist can decide on each occasion whether or not to accept the invitation to serve on
a particular panel. Some panellists only want to do one or two appeals a year, others hear
them more often. There is no obligation to accept a particular hearing. Lunch and travel
expenses are provided. Training is provided.
Why be a panellist?
For some people the work is helpful for their career, providing them with relevant work
experience. For others, it is rewarding in itself to give people the chance to state their case.
Appellants often become clearer about the options open to them during a hearing and the
reasons why a place was not offered at a preferred school.
The Schools Admission Appeals Code can be downloaded at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/search/results?q=School+Admission+Appeals+Code
For further details and an expression of interest form, call: Louise Appleby or Sara
Livingstone on 0191 2787878 or email: [email protected]
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