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School admission appeals

How to appeal a school place

If you are not happy with the school place you are given, you can appeal for any school.

You can contact Blackpool school admissions for help. 

We can tell you which schools have places available, add your child's name to waiting lists for other schools and provide information to help you appeal. 

To appeal for a faith school in Blackpool or Highfield Leadership Academy, contact the school and request an appeal form.  The completed form is sent back to the issuing school.

For all other Blackpool schools, contact the school admission team for an appeal form.

If the school is in Lancashire, contact their school admissions team on 01524 581148 for advice on how to appeal.

Before completing the form please check with the admissions team, as there may be available places at your preferred school.

After submitting an appeal

Once you have submitted your form:

  • You will be invited to attend the appeal hearing to tell the panel why you feel your child should have a place at your preferred school/academy. The hearings are all by video link.  A parent can choose to present their case by video or just by phone.
  • You will receive a letter with the date, time and instructions on how to access the video link of the hearing. 
  • You will usually be notified at least 14 days before the hearing to give you time to prepare.
  • The appeal will be heard in front of a panel of 3 people acting independently of the local authority. They will have no connection with the school you are appealing for, or the school your child has been allocated a place at. These are the people who will make the decision about your appeal.

If a place has already been refused at appeal, the admissions authority will only consider a second appeal for a place at the same school or academy in the same academic year if they consider that there has been:

  • A relevant
  • Significant and
  • Material change in the family's circumstances (since the original appeal hearing).

If this is the case a second appeal hearing may be appropriate. 

Timetables for 2024 appeals

Timetable for Blackpool secondary school appeals for admission to September 2024

 2019 secondary school admission appeal dates
By date Action 
By Friday 12 April 2024      Appeal forms to be received by democratic services, in order for the appeals to be heard in the first round of hearings.
Appeal forms can be submitted after this deadline but the hearing will not be held until later in the year

By Friday 10 May 2024

Any additional documents that parents/carers wish to provide (ie.medical evidence) should be sent to democratic services
By Friday 17 May 2024 Notification of appeal hearings will be sent to parents/carers
By Friday 21 June 2024 Appeals that have been submitted by 12 April 2024 will be heard by independent appeals panels

Timetable for Blackpool primary school appeals for admission to September 2024

 2019 primary school admission appeal dates
By date Action 
By Friday 10 May 2024 Appeal forms to be received by Democratic Services, in order for the appeals to be heard in the first round of hearings.
Appeal forms can be submitted after this deadline but the hearing will not be held until later in the year
By Friday 17 May 2024 Any additional documents that parents/carers wish to provide (ie. medical evidence) should be sent to democratic services
By Friday 31 May 2024 Notification of appeal hearings will be sent to parents/carers
By Friday 5 July 2024 Appeals that have been submitted by 10 May 2024 will be heard by independent appeals panels

Become a member of the appeals panel

We have a pool of appeal members and use 3 people to sit on our panels at any one time. There are 2 types of panel member – those with experience of education (eg. a retired headteacher/teacher/school governor), and “lay” members (those without any experience in education). 

Appeal panels sit all year round with appeals for community schools being held on a fortnightly basis and as and when required for voluntary aided schools. There are a higher number of appeals in May/June/July for the September admission to primary and secondary schools.

All new panel members receive training before taking part in an appeal. After this initial training, panel members will receive refresher training every year. In addition, the clerk to the panel is always available to give advice. 

To ensure the appeals panel is independent and unbiased, some people are not eligible to become members. For example, employees of Blackpool Council would not be able to apply.

For more information and an informal chat, please contact: Mr Lennox Beattie, Democratic Services team leader, on 01253 477157 or email lennox.beattie@blackpool.gov.uk

Contact

School admissions team

PO Box 4, Blackpool, FY1 1NA
Telephone 01253 476637