Guidance for parents and guardians on school admission appeals

In 2023, 0% of appeals for grammar school from out-of-county applicants were successful. 100% were unsuccessful.

In 2023, 9% of appeals for grammar school from in-county applicants were successful. 91% were unsuccessful.

The grammar schools are usually heavily over-subscribed. Think carefully about appealing, especially if your child:

• does not live in Buckinghamshire
• lives out of the school’s catchment area
• has been offered a place at an upper or all-ability school
• is unqualified for grammar school
• has been offered another grammar school place

Many appeals for grammar schools are made and there are usually no places available. Appeals are only successful where parents have exceptional educational, medical or social reasons for appealing for the particular grammar school, supported by strong, written evidence.

Your child will be qualified for grammar school if they:

• achieved a score of 121 or more in the Transfer Test for year 7 entry, or
• did not achieve 121 in the Transfer Test but were qualified at Selection Review, or
• achieved the qualifying score in the Late Transfer Test for years 8 to 10 entry

If your child is qualified for grammar school but your application for a place was refused, this is because the admission authority:

• has allocated all the school places under the school’s published admission rules, and
• says the school is full, and to admit another child will harm the education of the other pupils

Your child may be qualified for grammar school but there is no guarantee that they will be offered a grammar school place by the admission authority.  Usually there are many more qualified children than grammar school places available.

In September 2023 there were 3,930 qualified grammar school applicants for year 7 entry, for 2,313 available places.

When there are more qualified applicants for grammar school than there are places available, the school’s admission authority offers places according to oversubscription criteria or rules. These are published on schools’ websites.

Under these rules, places are more likely to be offered to qualified children who have siblings at the school or who live near the school. Once all the places have been allocated to applicants under the rules, other qualified applicants will be refused.

If a child is qualified for a Buckinghamshire grammar school, it does not matter what score they achieved. So, a child with a score of 150 is not any more likely to be allocated a grammar school place or succeed at appeal than:

• a child who achieved 121
• a child who achieved 119 but was qualified by the Selection Review Panel

It does not matter if a child achieved less than 121 in the Transfer Test but was qualified at Selection Review. In allocations and appeals they are treated the same as those children who qualified in the Transfer Test.

If your application for a place at a higher preference grammar school for your qualified child is refused, you can make an appeal.

Most qualified grammar school appeals are unsuccessful because the admission authority shows:

• the school is already full
• the school does not have the resources to admit further children without harming the education of the existing pupils
• this harm outweighs the parent’s reasons for appealing for the particular school

In 2023, 163 appeals for year 7 by qualified grammar school applicants were heard.

5 were successful. 158 were unsuccessful.

3% were successful and 97% were unsuccessful.

You should submit your appeal and evidence as explained in this guidance, particularly how to make an appeal and evidence you can use.

If your child is qualified for grammar school, you do not need to submit academic evidence but you should explain your reasons for appealing for this particular grammar school.

Where a child has been allocated an all-ability school within a reasonable distance from home, an appeal for a school just because it is a grammar school is highly unlikely to be successful.

You will need to provide exceptional medical, social or educational reasons for wanting a place at the particular grammar school. You should provide supporting evidence if possible.

If your child is qualified for grammar school but you are unsuccessful at appeal, you can stay on the waiting list for the school.

You can contact the Admissions Team for advice or queries about:

• waiting lists
• Transfer Tests
• Selection Reviews

Your child is unqualified for grammar school if they did not:

• score 121 in the Transfer Test for year 7 entry, and did not go to Selection Review
• score 121 in the Transfer Test, went to Selection Review and were unsuccessful, or
• achieve the qualifying score in the Late Transfer Test for entry into years 8 to 10

If you have any questions about Transfer Tests and Selection Reviews, contact the Admissions Team. Do not contact the Appeals Team.

Most unqualified appeals for grammar school fail.

In 2023, 144 unqualified year 7 grammar school appeals were heard.

9 were successful. 135 were unsuccessful.

7% were successful and 93% were unsuccessful.

There are two types of appeal process for unqualified grammar school applicants:

• you went to Selection Review and were unsuccessful; or
• you did not go to Selection Review

At your appeal, the Appeal Panel must decide if the Selection Review was carried out in a fair, consistent and objective way.

“Fair, consistent and objective” are not defined. Their ordinary meaning applies.

The Appeal Panel must only:

• review the Selection Review paperwork
• look at evidence provided to the Selection Review Panel at the time it made its decision
• decide if the Selection Review Panel followed the correct process

The Appeal Panel cannot carry out the Selection Review process again.

If the Appeal Panel decides the Selection Review was carried out in a fair, consistent and objective way, it cannot consider:

• any academic evidence you provide
• your reasons for wanting the school

If the Appeal Panel decides there is enough evidence to show the Selection Review was carried out in a fair, consistent and objective way, your admission appeal will be unsuccessful.

In 2023, the Appeal Panel decided 82% of Selection Reviews were carried out in a fair, consistent and objective way and, therefore, the appeals were unsuccessful.

Only if the Appeal Panel decides that the Selection Review was not processed correctly, can it go on to consider:

• any academic evidence you provide to support your case that your child should be qualified for grammar school; and
• your reasons for appealing for the particular grammar school

When you make your appeal, you should give reasons and provide supporting evidence to explain why:

• you consider the Selection Review was not carried out in a fair, consistent and objective way
• your child should be qualified for grammar school
• you want a place at the particular grammar school

You will need to provide:

• reasons why your Selection Review was not processed correctly, (for example, saying you disagree with the Selection Review Panel’s decision would not be an acceptable reason)
• strong, written academic evidence of grammar school ability
• exceptional social, medical or educational reasons with supporting evidence for the particular grammar school

Where the child has been allocated an all-ability school reasonably near home, an appeal for a school just because it is a grammar school is highly unlikely to be successful.

Do not send your Selection Review paperwork to the Appeals Team. It will be provided by the Admissions Team and included in the appeal papers sent to the Appeal Panel.

When you make your appeal, you should give reasons and provide supporting evidence to explain why:

• your child should be qualified for grammar school
• you want a place at the particular grammar school

You will need to provide:

• strong, written academic evidence of grammar school ability
• exceptional social, medical or educational reasons for the particular grammar school

Where the child has been allocated an all-ability school reasonably near home, an appeal for a school just because it is a grammar school is highly unlikely to be successful.

Some examples of academic evidence include:

• school reports
• SATs results
• other school test results where available
• letters of support from current or previous schools

The Appeal Panel will want to see if your child is in the top third of the academic cohort. 

It will be interested in Maths and English results in particular, especially where your child scored less than 121 in the verbal or maths parts of the Transfer Test.

The Appeal Panel will look at your child’s academic progress and any comments made by their current or previous headteachers.

Do not send in schoolwork or certificates. You can submit a list of relevant certificates or achievements.

The Appeal Panel will also want to know why your child did not achieve the qualifying Transfer Test score. You should provide evidence in support of any reasons. For example:

• relevant medical notes
• letters from school or health professionals

The minimum Secondary Transfer Test qualification score for year 7 entry is 121. The range goes up to about 180. The greater the shortfall in marks, the stronger the academic and mitigating evidence needs to be.

For example, an appeal for grammar school for a child who scored 100 in the Secondary Transfer Test for Year 7 entry is highly unlikely to succeed at appeal. Parents would need to provide extremely convincing academic and mitigating evidence to the Appeal Panel.

The Appeal Panel can only qualify your child for the grammar school if it is satisfied you have provided enough academic evidence to show your child is of the required grammar school standards.

Your appeal will be unsuccessful if the Appeal Panel decides there is not enough academic evidence to qualify your child. You will not be offered the grammar school place.

If the Appeal Panel decides there is enough academic evidence to qualify your child and there is a place available at the appealed for school, you will be offered a place.

However, usually all grammar school places have been allocated and the school is full.

So, the Appeal Panel will consider if your reasons for wanting a place at the particular grammar school outweigh the admission authority’s case that it cannot admit an additional child without harming the education of the existing pupils.

You will need to provide exceptional medical, social or educational reasons for wanting a place at the particular school. You should provide supporting evidence if possible.

If the Appeal Panel decides that the admission authority’s case is stronger than your reasons for appealing for the particular grammar school, you will not be offered a place.

If your reasons for appeal are stronger than the school’s case for refusal, you will be offered a place.

Most grammar school appeals are unsuccessful even where the Appeal Panel has qualified the child because the admission authority shows:

• the school is already full
• the school does not have the resources to admit further children without harming the education of the existing pupils
• this harm outweighs the parent’s reasons for appealing for the particular grammar school

If the Appeal Panel qualifies your child but does not uphold your appeal for a place at the school, your child will be placed on the waiting list for that grammar school only.