Guidance for parents and guardians on school admission appeals

When you apply for a school place for your child, you can express a preference for a school or schools. But you do not have the right to a place at a particular school.

Applications for school places are refused where:

• there is no place available for your child at your preferred school
• you applied for a grammar school place and your child is unqualified

If you have applied for a school place for your child and the admission authority for the school has refused your application, you have the right to appeal.

An independent appeal panel will hear your appeal.

You are responsible for:

• making your appeal
• explaining to the Appeal Panel why you want the school place
• providing written information in support of your appeal

There are important deadlines for making your appeal and submitting your evidence.

You should read this Parent’s Guide in full before you make your appeal.

View advice about how parents can apply for school places in Buckinghamshire and how places are allocated.

View government guidance for parents on school admission appeals.

The Department for Education advises parents that:

• some schools receive more applications than they have places available
• the appeals process can be burdensome for all involved, so admission authorities do not take lightly the decision to refuse a place
• in most cases your child will not have been offered a place because there were other children who more closely met the school’s oversubscription criteria