Children’s Education Advisory Service School Admissions and Appeals
As Service families frequently move between homes on posting it is inevitable that they will find themselves having to find new school places for their children. Depend- ing upon where they go, there may or may not be places available in their schools of preference. The following gives an outline of what the general position is in England.
to have a place allocated in that school. Clearly, it is easier to express such a prefer- ence, and for an admission authority to meet the majority of parental preferences, at the normal admissions round; a process that many Service families are not able to partici- pate in. Consequently, many have to make late or in-year applications for school places.
Although admission authorities are required to have regard to the needs of Service chil- dren (SAC Para 3.22), they are specifically prevented from retaining blocks of school places for them (SAC Para 3.24a). Neverthe- less, school places should be allocated to children and their families in advance of the approaching school year if accompanied by an official MOD letter declaring a relocation date (SAC Para 3.22).
School admission arrangements are detailed in the ‘School Admission Code 2007’(SAC). The Code and associated supporting documents including the School Admissions Appeals Code are available on-line at
www.dcsf.gov.uk/sacode.
Parents have the right to ‘express a prefer- ence for a school’ but not an absolute right
Should a desired school be full, a parent has the right to appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel. Schools must provide information on how to make an appeal when they refuse a place. Only one appeal can be made for a place for a child in a particular school in any one academic year. Decisions made by appeal panels are final and can only be overturned by the courts.
Admission authorities are required to accept a unit postal address or notification of post- ing as sufficient evidence to meet residency criteria in the area concerned. The appropriate
references in the Schools Admissions Code are Para 3.23 (d) which requires that ‘Local authorities and admissions authorities must… accept a Unit postal address for applications from service personnel in the absence of a new home postal address’ and Para 3.24 (b) which states that ‘Admission authorities must not… refuse a place to such a child because the family does not currently live in the local area’. A further requirement is placed upon admission authorities by Para 2.39 which holds that ‘For children of UK Service personnel and other Crown Servants admission authorities must treat a family returning to their area as meeting the residency criteria for that catchment area even if no house is currently owned in that area once proof of the posting has been provided’.
Admissions issues are rarely simple to deal with as each local or admissions authority set their own admissions criteria within the requirements of the Code and individual circumstances may vary considerably. Should you encounter problems with finding a school place in any part of the UK, please contact CEAS who may be able to help by clarifying the situation with the admissions authori- ties, providing assistance with appeals or by referring the matters to the local admissions forums if appropriate.
Helpdesk 01980 618244 (94 344 8244)
enquiries@ceas.detsa.co.uk www.mod.uk/ceas
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Winter 2009
www.raf-ff.org.uk
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