Contents
- A message to parents
- Introduction to primary schools
- Primary schools in Bexley
- Applying for a primary school place
- Faith schools and supplementary information forms
- Junior school applications
- Late applications and change of preference
- Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools
- Offers of places
- Waiting lists
- Appeals
- Deferred entry
- Special education provision
Appeals
If you are not allocated the school of your preference, then you can appeal against the decision.
The appeal will be heard by an Appeal Panel, which is independent and is set up in accordance with DFE School Admission Appeals Code of Practice. Members of Appeals Panels will include people with experience of education, but none will have been concerned with making the original admission decision. Appeals are normally heard in June and July, prior to when the child is due to start school in the following September.
Because of the legal requirement to have a maximum of 30 pupils in infant classes, the power of Appeal Panels to allow appeals is very limited, therefore very few are successful.
Parents are only likely to be successful with an appeal if they can show either:
a) That the admission of their child would not breach the infant class size limit.
b) That a place would have been offered if the admission arrangements had complied with admissions law or had been correctly and impartially applied.
c) That the decision not to admit their child was not one which a reasonable Admission Authority would make in the circumstances of the case.
When you are advised of the outcome of your application, if you have not been offered your first preference school, you will be given information on how to obtain a form on which you can register your appeal. Governors of voluntary aided and free schools and academies have their own appeal panels and deal with appeals against their decisions on admissions to their schools. Parents should contact the school for details of the appeal arrangements and an appeal application form.
School Appeals Timetable
Admission dates
| 30 April 2024 | Deadline for accepting or declining the offer of a place made on 16 April 2024 |
|---|---|
| 15 May 2024 | Deadline for lodging Appeals against a decision not to offer a place at the School of your preference – see timetable below. |
Appeals timetable
| 15 May 2024 | Deadline for lodging Appeals against a decision not to offer a place at the School of your preference School |
|---|---|
| June to July 2024 | Appeals will be heard up to 40 school days after the deadline. Appellants will receive at least 10 days' notice of their appeal hearing. Decision letters will be sent within 5 school days of the hearing wherever possible. |
| Late applicants | Appeals will be heard within 40 school days of the deadline for lodging appeals – where possible, or within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged |
| In-year Appeals | Will be heard within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged |
Appeals for Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools
The closing date for Appeals for Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools to be received is 15 May 2024. Appeals lodged after that date will still be heard, but after all on-time appeals.
- you can request a Community and Voluntary Controlled School Appeals form by emailing the Schools Admissions Team - schooladmissions@bexley.gov.uk
List of Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools in Bexley:
- Birkbeck Primary School – Community School
- Crook Log Primary School – Community School
- Danson Primary School – Community School
- Dulverton Primary School – Community School
- Foster’s Primary School – Voluntary Controlled School
- Longlands Primary School – Community School
- Orchard Primary School – Community School
- Parkway Primary School – Community School
- Upton Primary School – Community School