ADMISSIONS APPEALS

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ADMISSIONS APPEALS BUTTERFIELD CONSULTANCY LTD
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• ADMISSION CRITERIA
• Are they clear, fair and objective?
• Are they in plain English and commonly used
  community languages?
• Do they set out clearly the timescales?

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• ADMISSION CRITERIA
• Are the criteria free from doubt and easily
  understood?
• Are they objective and based on known facts?
• Are they procedurally fair and equitable for all
  groups of children?

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• ADMISSION CRITERIA
• Do they enable parents preferences for the
  schools of their choice to be met to the maximum
  extent possible?
• Provide parents or carers with easy access to
  helpful admissions information

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• ADMISSION CRITERIA
• Are Looked after children number one?
• Distance, Siblings, Travelling Arrangements
  are they defined?

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• ADMISSION CRITERIA
• Are parents able to give details of religious
  and philosophical convictions?
• Catchment areas you can have them as long as
  they are not arbitrary do they consider
  population, bus routes, walking distance?

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• ADMISSION CRITERIA
• No interviewing
• Schools cannot say they will only accept children
  whose parents have put their school as the first
  preference

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• CAN THERE BE A CHALLENGE TO ADMISSION CRITERIA
• The criteria could be challenged before the
  AdmissionAppeal Panel or by way of Judicial
  Review.
• If challenged before the Panel the members should
  consider the possible interpretations and adopt
  the interpretation that produces the most
  sensible result.
• It is only where there is established of self
  evident unlawfulness that an Appeal Panel should
  adjourn and let the parents raise the matter in
  the High Court.

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• PARENTAL PREFERENCES
• Parents must be able to express a preference as
  to the school they would like their child to
  attend.
• Be able to give reasons for that preference.
• Be able to set out any religious or philosophical
  convictions they would like taken into account.

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• PARENTAL PREFERENCES
• The Admission Authority must comply with the
  parents preference unless places have been
  allocated up to the published admission number
  and the Authority can show that admitting the
  child would prejudice the provision of efficient
  education or efficient use of resources.

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• DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION ACT 1995
• The provisions of the 1995 Act apply to admission
  arrangements
• A disabled person is discriminated against if,
  for a reason which relates to their disability
  they are treated less favourably than people who
  are not disabled and it cannot be shown that the
  treatment is justified.

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• DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION ACT 1995
• At the moment schools do not have to remove or
  alter a physical feature.
• Schools must publish information on admission
  arrangements for disabled pupils, access
  arrangements for such pupils, the steps being
  taken to treat disabled pupils as fairly as other
  pupils and plans for increasing the accessibility
  of the school.

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• DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION ACT 1995
• When hearing an appeal the Panel should consider
  whether there has been discrimination
• Where cases are brought on the basis of
  disability they must consider whether the pupil
  is disabled and whether or not there has been
  discrimination.

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• DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION ACT 1995
• The onus is on parents to show the Authority was
  aware of the disability and have treated the
  child differently from pupils who were not
  disabled. If the parent proves this the Panel
  should then consider whether or not the Authority
  has looked at making reasonable adjustments so
  that the child could be admitted to the school.
• If the child is disabled, has been treated
  differently from the pupils who are not disabled
  and the school has not considered making
  reasonable adjustments the Disability Rights
  Commission indicates the appeal should be allowed.

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• DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION ACT 1995
• Examples of what might be taken into account in
  considering whether a proposed adjustment is
  reasonable include
• The need to maintain academic, musical, sporting
  and other standards
• Money available
• Cost

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DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION ACT 1995

• The availability of provision through special
  educational needs law
• The practicalities of making a particular
  adjustment
• The health and safety of the disabled pupil and
  others
• The interests of other pupils

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• BEGINNING THE APPEAL
• The Admission Authority must make arrangements
  for parents to appeal.
• The parents should be told in writing why the
  application was unsuccessful.
• The parents should give reasons for wishing to
  appeal.
• No set timescale to return the appeal form but a
  date should be given by which it must be returned.

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• BEGINNING THE APPEAL
• At least 14 days notice must be given of the date
  for the appeal.
• The appeal should normally be held within 30
  school days of an appeal being made or, for
  appeals made during the normal admissions ground,
  within 30 school days of the specified closing
  date for receipt of appeals.
• At least 7 days (5 working days) before the
  hearing the Admission Authority should supply the
  clerk with the necessary documents.

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• APPEAL PANELS
• Must consist of 3 or 5 members.
• Must consist of at least one education expert
  and one lay member.
• Appeal Panel Members must be appointed

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SEX DISCRIMINATION ACT 1975

• Admission authorities must not discriminate
  between boys and girls in the way they admit
  children to a school except where the school in
  question is a single sex school

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RACE RELATIONS ACT 1976 2000

• Admission authorities cannot discriminate against
  applicants on the basis of race, colour,
  nationality or national or ethnic origin
• Public bodies, including schools have a duty to
  promote racial equality

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DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION ACT 2005

• Schools and local authorities have a duty when
  carrying out their functions to have regard to
  the need to
• a) promote equality of opportunity for disabled
  people
• b) eliminate unlawful discrimination
• c) eliminate disability related harrassment

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DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION ACT 2005

• d) promote positive attitudes towards disabled
  people
• e) encourage disabled peoples participation in
  public life
• f) take account of disabled peoples disabilities
  even where that involves more favourable
  treatment

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EQUALITY ACT 2006

• It is unlawful for schools to discriminate
  against a person on the grounds of that persons
  religion or belief in the following ways
• In the terms on which it offers to admit him/her
  as a pupil
• By refusing to accept an application to admit
  him/her as a pupil or

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EQUALITY ACT 2006

• Where he/she is a pupil of the establishment
• In the way in which it affords him/her access to
  any benefit, facility or service
• By refusing him/her access to a benefit, facility
  or service
• By excluding him/her from the establishment or
• By subjecting him/her to any other detriment

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• APPEAL PANELS
• Complaint 01/C/015721- parent complained all
  panel members were white males. The ombudsman
  said ideally attempts should be made to ensure
  the panel reflects the makeup of the local
  community but failure to do so was not
  maladministration.

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APPEAL PANELS Complaint 05/B/3822 The ombudsman
found that it was maladministration for a
gentleman who was a governor of a school that the
children of 7 appellants currently attended to
sit on an appeal panel involving those parents.
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• INFANT CLASS APPEALS
• Classes containing children, the majority of whom
  are aged 5, 6 or 7 must not exceed more than 30
  pupils for each qualified teacher.
• There is a duty on authorities and governing
  bodies to comply with this limit.

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• INFANT CLASS APPEALS
• Once a class size of 30 has been reached a child
  can be refused a place on the grounds that
  qualifying measures would be required to keep
  to the statutory limit i.e. provide more
  accommodation or increase the number of teachers.

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• INFANT CLASS APPEALS
• The Admission Authority must show
• 30 places have been allocated
• They have been allocated in accordance with the
  admission arrangements
• It is, therefore, necessary to take qualifying
  measures

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INFANT CLASS APPEALS Parents sometimes raise
the question of whether or not there is money
available for another teacher and/or another
classroom
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INFANT CLASS APPEALS If this point is
raised the question is whether or not the school
has any spare money available not the authority
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• INFANT CLASS
• The Appeal Panel can allow an appeal if
  satisfied
• The decision to refuse admission was not one
  which a reasonable Admission Authority would have
  made in the circumstances of the case (Ground A)
  or
• The child would have been offered a place if the
  schools admission arrangements had been properly
  implemented (Ground B)

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• INFANT CLASS
• To allow an appeal under Ground B the Panel must
  be satisfied that the Authority did not allocate
  places in accordance with the admission
  arrangements and that the child would have got a
  place if places had been allocated properly.
• When considering an appeal under Ground B the
  Panel can only consider information available to
  the Admission Authority when it made its decision
  together with material the Authority would have
  been aware of if it had acted reasonably.

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• INFANT CLASS
• The courts have held that in considering Ground
  A
• In considering Ground A the Panel can receive any
  new information the parents wish to put forward
  even though the Authority was not aware of it at
  the time the application was considered.
• However, this evidence, to enable the Panel to
  allow an appeal on Ground A must be persuasive.

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INFANT CLASS

• However, the draft School Admissions Appeal Code
  indicates that appeal panels can only take into
  account information that was available to the
  admission authority when they considered the
  application.

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• INFANT CLASS
• When considering an appeal in respect of Infant
  Classes the Panel should consider any future
  prejudice which would be caused by admission of
  an additional child i.e. the effect on the school
  in future years of admitting the child e.g. the
  cost of engaging another teacher.

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INFANT CLASS

• If a panel was to interfere with the decision to
  refuse a place at the preferred school you must
  find that the authority in making its decision
  was or would, in the light of all the evidence
  now available, be perverse.

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INFANT CLASS

• The panel must be satisfied that no reasonable
  authority could have made or would make the
  decision under appeal.

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• THE TWO STAGE PROCESS
• Stage one the onus is on the Council to make
  out a case against admission on the grounds that
  one of the statutory reasons for refusing to
  accede to parental preference applies. If the
  Authority does not show that this is the case the
  appeal must be allowed.
• Stage two the Panel must balance the reasons
  for refusing admission against the reasons given
  by the parents for wanting their child to attend
  the school. An appeal can only be allowed where
  the parents reasons, on balance, prevail.

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MULTIPLE APPEALS If the Authority presents its
case on more than one occasion, the case must
always be the same. The Authority cannot produce
new evidence or expand upon its case as the
appeals proceed.
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• MULTIPLE APPEALS
• Where an appeal panel are dealing with several
  appeals in respect of the same school three
  options are possible at the first stage-
• The Panel can agree that no appeals can be
  allowed without creating prejudice and move to
  the second stage or
• Agree that all appeals can be allowed without
  creating prejudice or
• Agree that some more children can be admitted to
  the school before prejudice would be created

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MULTIPLE APPEALS If the Panel decides
admission of additional children would result in
prejudice, it should consider, for each
individual case, whether the parents grounds for
the child to be admitted to the school outweigh
the prejudice. This involves no comparison
between appellants cases. If there are several
cases which outweigh the prejudice to the school
and merit admission, but the Panel determined
that the school could not cope with that number
of successful appeals, the Panel should compare
cases and decide which of them to uphold.
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MULTIPLE APPEALS If a Panel decides further
children could be admitted without prejudice to
the school, it must determine how many could be
admitted and allow appeals up to that number. In
considering which appeals to allow, the Panel may
have some regard to the admission criteria but
also to other factors in the individual parents
cases so that any compelling reasons for
admission which the parents present can be taken
into account.
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• PREJUDICE WHAT IS IT?
• To show prejudice is more than the numbers game.
• The information presented to the panel must show
  how the conclusion was reached that prejudice
  would be caused by admitting another child.

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• PREJUDICE WHAT IS IT?
• Prejudice can include size of classrooms, size of
  playgrounds, cloakroom accommodation, number of
  toilets, number of computers, the way classes are
  organised, staffing levels, health and safety,
  the number of children with special educational
  needs, the number of children who are wheelchair
  users.

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• PREJUDICE WHAT IS IT?
• Parents case medical reasons, social reasons,
  proximity to the school, travelling,delivery of
  children to school, collection of children from
  school.
• A factor the Panel should take into account is
  whether or not the child has been offered a place
  at another school this can be particularly
  relevant if there is a discussion about
  travelling to and from school

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• REASONS FOR DECISIONS
• Panels must give reasons for their decision
• It seems a standard form letter is not sufficient
  as it does not tell the reader anything about the
  particular facts and circumstances of the appeal.
• It is important parents who appeal know why their
  appeal was unsuccessful.

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• REASONS FOR DECISIONS
• The letter should explain in full why the Panel
  decided the individual circumstances of the
  parents case were considered sufficient or
  insufficient to outweigh the prejudice arguments
  of the Admission Authority (Code of Practice
  paragraph 4.83 England 4.84 Wales)

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REASONS FOR DECISIONS The letter should be the
letter of the Panel written either by the
Chairman or the Clerk and approved by the
Chairman and the remainder of the Panel.
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• THE ROLE OF THE CHAIR
• Welcome the parties
• Introduce the Panel members and the clerk
• Introduce the presenting officer for the
  Authority
• Explain the procedure
• The limited scope of an infant class size appeal
• Explain the two stage procedure
• Explain the Panel is independent
• Explain the decision is binding on the Admission
  Authority

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• THE ROLE OF THE CLERK
• Outline the basic procedure to the parents and
  deal with any questions they may have
• Ensure the relevant facts from both parties are
  presented and recorded
• Order the business
• Be an independent source of advice on procedure,
  the Codes of Practice and the law on admissions
• Record the proceedings, decisions and reasons
• Notify all parties of the decision

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• ROLE OF THE CLERK
• The Clerk should keep brief notes
• These do not have to be verbatim
• The Clerk should keep notes of the hearing until
  at least the admission process for the year is
  complete

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• ROLE OF THE PANEL
• Be independent and impartial
• Be informal
• Make a decision on the evidence heard
• Hear and carefully note the evidence
• Establish the material facts
• Ascertain any relevant law
• Reach a decision with reasons

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• ROLE OF THE PANEL
• Have all the parties
• Understood the nature of the proceedings?
• Said everything they want to say?
• Been treated courteously and made to feel at
  ease?
• Feel the Panel has been listening to and
  understood the points made?
• Be clear as to when they are to be informed of
  the decision?

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• TRAINING
• Members of Panels and Clerks must be given
  training before they take part in any hearings
• Panel members should be given regular updates on
  legislation, guidance, court decisions and
  ombudsmans reports
• Authorities must keep records of when Panel
  members attend training

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• RULES OF NATURAL JUSTICE
• The Panel must comply with the rules of natural
  justice-
• The parties must have all the papers
• The parties must be given an opportunity to put
  their case
• No person who has an involvement in the matter
  should be involved in the decision making process
• Essential that no outsider could consider there
  was any unfairness or bias on the part of anyone
  involved in making the decision

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• RULES OF NATURAL JUSTICE
• Possible problem areas
• Talking to one of the parties in the absence of
  the other
• One of the parties being alone with the Panel
• Asking inappropriate questions e.g. What is
  wrong with the school offered by the Authority
  my grandson goes there
• Body language
• Falling asleep?
• Do you know anyone?

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• HUMAN RIGHTS ACT 1998
• It does apply to Appeal Panels
• Panels have to act in a way which is compatible
  with Convention rights

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• HUMAN RIGHTS ACT 1998
• Article 2 of Protocol 1
• Under this article no person shall be denied the
  right to education. Authorities must respect the
  right of parents to ensure education and teaching
  is in conformity with their own religious and
  philosophical convictions.
• However this is not an absolute right it does
  not create a right to education in any particular
  institution or in any particular manner.
• As long as a child is provided with suitable and
  adequate education there is no infringement of
  Article 2 of Protocol 1

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• HUMAN RIGHTS ACT 1998
• Article 8
• Article 8 gives a right to family life.
• The Courts have held that children of the same
  family attending different schools is a breach of
  Article 8.
• However, Article 8 is not an absolute duty.
• If children of the same family have to attend
  different schools and as a result one of them may
  arrive late this is a factor for the Panel to
  take into account.

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• HUMAN RIGHTS ACT 1998
• Article 8
• However, it is not to be regarded as a
  necessarily determinative factor.
• It is a factor to be considered by the Panel and
  they will decide how much importance to attach to
  it.
• It is for the Panel to decide, having regard to
  the issue of lateness for school and the other
  circumstances of the case if it was perverse to
  refuse admission

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• PROPORTIONALITY
• All decisions have to be proportionate
• This is the fair balance between the protection
  of individual rights and the interests of the
  community at large

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• PROPORTIONALITY
• To decide whether or not a decision is
  proportionate it is necessary to consider-
• Whether relevant and sufficient reasons have been
  given for the decision
• Whether there was a less restrictive alternative
• Whether there has been some measure of procedural
  fairness
• Whether safeguards against abuse exist
• The task of the Panel is to balance the needs of
  the child and of the school and decide which
  outweighs the other.