Secondary schools - admissions and appeals
Every year around 60,000 pupils living in London transfer to
secondary school. The City of London together with all 32 London
boroughs and eight councils bordering the capital have agreed to a
new system to co-ordinate admissions to their secondary schools.
The co-ordinated admissions system will be fairer, with more
parents being offered one of their preferred schools earlier and
fewer getting no initial offer at all. It will be easier for
parents and reduce anxiety for you and your children. Find out more
about the City of London's
secondary school admissions process.
Pupils without an offer at a preferred school
The City of London is responsible for ensuring that every child
resident in its area has the offer of a school place. Parents of
City of London pupils who have not received an offer at a preferred
school will be notified of schools that still have places
available, to which they can make further applications. These
further applications together with the applications received after
the October closing date will be considered in late March / early
April 2008 and parents will be notified of the outcome in or around
the second week of April 2008. For any pupils for whom a place
cannot be offered at the school(s) applied for, a place will be
reserved at the nearest Tower Hamlets School with an appropriate
vacancy. Parents are advised to accept this offer in case a place
does not become available at one of their preferred schools.
However, if one does, they can then withdraw from the allocated
school.
Appeals
If your child is not offered a place at the school you prefer,
you have a right of appeal under the School Standards and Framework
Act 1998. The closing date for appeals against the refusal of
places in the Tower Hamlets schools that use the Council’s
admission policy is Monday 24 March 2008. Appeals must be received
in writing in Pupil Services, Mulberry Place, 5 Clove Crescent,
London E14 2BG by 5.00pm. If you are appealing for Bishop
Challoner, Raine’s, Sir John Cass or a school in another borough,
you should check the deadline date, which might be different, and
send your appeal direct to the address given in the refusal letter.
The letter that Pupil Services sends you with the results
of your applications on 3 March will remind you to contact the
school or the Local Authority immediately for an appeal form if you
are refused a place at a school in another borough.
An independent appeals panel hears all appeals and the
proceedings are recorded by an independent appeal clerk. The
decision of the panel is binding on the LA, the admission authority
if they are different and you. If you consider that the panel has
acted improperly or unreasonably in handling your case, you may
make a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman; you may
complain to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills that
the LA has acted unreasonably; you may complain regarding the
administration of the appeal to the Council of Tribunals; or
initiate proceedings in the High Court for a judicial review of the
panel’s decision.
As Appeals are normally held during the Summer Term, parents are
strongly advised to secure a place at an alternative school in case
the appeal is unsuccessful. The City of London's
Family and Young Peoples Information Service will give advice
and assistance to parents in submitting an appeal. If you need help
or advice at any stage of the transfer procedure, please do not
hesitate to contact this Office.
Late applications
Applications received after 19 October 2007 may not be
considered until the week beginning the 24 March 2008 after the
decisions have been taken for those that were received on time.
However, if there is an unavoidable reason for your application
being late, eg your family has only just arrived in the City of
London, we may make an exception to this rule and, where possible,
treat your application as though it was received on time.
Notifying parents of the results of their applications
On 3 March 2008 Pupil Services will send parents a letter
notifying them of the highest ranked school that is able to offer a
place. If an application for a higher ranked school is
unsuccessful, the letter will tell parents how they can appeal
against the decision to refuse a place. Lower ranked offers will be
cancelled or “withdrawn”. Parents may also receive letters from
voluntary aided schools explaining why the application was refused
or an offer of a place was not made.
Waiting lists
If your child has been refused a place at any of their
preferred schools, they may automatically be kept on the
waiting list for the school (please check with the school). You may
also ask for your child’s name to be placed on waiting lists for
other schools that they did not apply to originally, please speak
to home Authority of the school.