Secondary school places: How to appeal a school admissions decision

Children starting secondary school in England and Wales in September 2023 have been offered school places.

What are the options if parents are unhappy?

Children starting Year 7 in England and Wales in September 2023 found out about school places on 1 March.

In Northern Ireland, emails about post-primary school places are issued on 20 May.

In Scotland, no offers are made, as councils decide where children are placed.

Primary school offers will be made in England and Wales on 17 April.

In England and Wales, parents who applied online received an email on 1 March with details of how to accept the place, and the deadline.

Those who did not apply online were sent a letter.

If parents do not accept by the date specified, the offer could be withdrawn and the place given to someone else.

Figures aren't yet available for the whole of England, but in 2022, 83.3% of applicants were offered a place at their first preference secondary school. That percentage has been broadly static since 2014.

Looked-after children are given top priority, but beyond that, schools can set their own admissions criteria. Some give priority to children from a particular religion, or those who pass an entrance exam.

Research from the University of Bristol about how 3,250 secondary schools in England admitted pupils in September 2020 found:

The Nuffield Foundation charity said prioritising local children "reinforces geographic inequalities by excluding those who can't afford to live close to the top-performing schools," and urged a fairer approach.

In England, if your child is not offered a place at your preferred school, you are usually offered another school listed on your application.

If none of your chosen schools have spaces, your child may be offered a place somewhere else.

You can join the waiting list for your preferred school(s) - and these must remain open for at least the first term of the school year.

You can accept a place after being on a waiting list even if your child has already started at another school.

In Wales, any child not given a place at their first preference school is added to a waiting list.

In Northern Ireland, if your child is not offered a place at any of the schools you wanted, you will be asked to choose a new preference from a list of schools that still have places.

In Scotland, the council decides which school in your local catchment area your child will attend. You can request a place at a school outside the catchment area, and the council must allow this if there is space - but it is not guaranteed.

You can appeal against the decision no matter where you are in the UK.

In England, you can appeal within 20 working days, and the case must be heard within 40 days.

The final decision is made by an independent panel at a hearing where the council or school explains why the application was rejected, and the parent makes the case for why their child should be accepted.

To appeal successfully, parents must show that the proper admissions process was not followed, or that relevant circumstances about their child were not considered.

Parents and carers should be informed of the panel's decision within five days.

If the appeal is successful, the child will be given a place, but if it is unsuccessful, the child can still be added to the school's waiting list.

There were 28,687 appeals (3.9% of new admissions) for the 2021-22 academic year. Of those, 6,055 (21.1%) were successful.

The percentage of appeals made has not changed significantly in recent years, although the proportion which were successful has dropped from 26.3% in 2016.

In Wales, parents can challenge the admission authority's decision during an initial appeal hearing.

If the panel does not find in the child's favour at this point, the appeal can move to a second stage where parents set out their argument, and the admission authority responds.

Parents should have the panel's final decision within five days.

Parents and carers across the UK may be able to get free or lower-cost transport if their child's allocated school is far away.

Applications need to go through the relevant local education authority.

If your child has special educational needs (SEN) in England, their Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP) will specify their school. The school must give the child a place.

In Wales, a child's statement of SEN will set out a particular school the local authority thinks is appropriate.

If you applied for a place after the deadline in England and Wales, your application will not be considered until after the first round of offers are made.

This means your child is less likely to get a place at your preferred school.

However, your child can still be added to the waiting list of the school you wanted.