Choosing a school

If you are unsuccessful in getting the school that you want, you might want to appeal for a place. Every parent has a right to appeal for the school of their choice, but this does not guarantee success - currently about 1 in 5 appeals are successful in Coventry, although this can vary greatly between schools. There is, unfortunately, no magic formula to winning an appeal, but there are some things you can do to give yourselves the best possible chance.

How do appeals work?

In this section, you can find out important information about appeals, how they work, and hopefully get some guidance about how you should go about it.

• Key Stage One (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2)
• Primary to Secondary Transfer/In-Year transfers (Year 3 - Year 11)

Once you have looked at all this information, hopefully you will have a better idea of what is involved in appeals and whether you think it is worthwhile to proceed with your application.

Will legal representation help me?

If you wish, you can have legal representation. However, the appeal is not a court and the panel are not there to debate the law - they are there to make a decision based on the reasons given by yourselves and the admission authority. There are also some firms who advertise their services to present appeals, normally at a high financial cost. Be aware that this is no guarantee of success and could be wasted money - you should be able to present just as good a case by yourself with good preparation.

Education Health and Care Plans

If you have an Education Health and Care Plan and you are not in agreement with the educational setting named in Section I, then you can appeal this decision. However, this is not done through the school itself but through the First-Tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability). 

Full details can be found in our Resolving Disagreements section.