Appeals

If you are not allocated a place at a school of your preference, you have the right of appeal to an independent School Appeals Panel. The Panel considers each case individually. All secondary schools in Bexley are Academies so request for an appeal should be made to the relevant school and not the Local Authority.

Appeals Panels are independent of the Council and the school and are set up in accordance with the Department for Education’s Code of Practice on School Appeals. Panels include people with experience of education and ‘lay members’. None of them will have been involved in making the original admission decisions nor will they have any connection with the school for which you are appealing.

The following is a summary of the current procedures:

  • an appeal must be submitted in writing setting out the grounds on which it is made
  • an Appeals Panel must give parents an opportunity to attend and speak at the meeting. They may allow parents to be accompanied by a friend or to be represented
  • the matters to be taken into account by an Appeals Panel in considering an appeal will include:
    • any preference expressed by parents in respect of the child’s admission to schools; and
    • the arrangements for the admission of pupils published by the Admission Authority
  • the conduct of the Appeals Panel will accord with the DfE Code of Practice on School Appeals
  • the appeal will be held virtually via Microsoft Teams and in accordance with the principles of natural justice
  • the Appeals Panel’s decision is binding on the admission authority for the school
  • the appeal process and rules are the same for all types of schools. You should contact the admission authority for the school you wish to appeal to, for further information

If you have been offered a place at another school, and you accept that place, it does not affect your right of appeal for your preferred school and will not influence the Panel’s decision.

The appeals procedure may also be used if a parent has requested a transfer from one secondary school to another and the request has been refused.

Secondary School Appeals Timetable 2025

31 March 2025Deadline for lodging Appeals against a decision not to offer a place at your preferred school
April to June 2025Appeals will be heard up to 40 school days after the deadline
Appellants will receive at least 10 days notice of their appeal hearing
Decision letters will be sent within 5 school days of the hearing wherever possible
Late applicants/appeals lodged after 31 March 2025Appeals will be heard within 40 school days of the deadline for lodging appeals – where possible, or within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged.
In-Year AppealsWill be heard within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged
Post 16 AppealsWhere the offer of a place would have been conditional on exam results, appeals will be heard within 30 school days of confirmation of those results
Where the offer of a place would not have been conditional on exam results, appeals will be heard within 40 school days of the deadline for lodging appeals

The table below shows the number of appeals heard and the numbers allowed for the past three years for pupils due to start in secondary school.

Number of appeals head and upheld for Bexley secondary schools (as of July 2024)
School2024 HeldUPHELD2023 HELDUPHELD2022 HELDUPHELD
Beths Grammar School (Boys)311190280
Bexley Grammar School251210260
Bexleyheath School005000
Blackfen School for Girls000010
Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School210180340
Cleeve Park School000000
Haberdashers’ Aske’s Crayford Academy300010
Harris Academy Falconwood457306223
Harris Garrard Academy61154101
Hurstmere School (Boys)000000
Leigh Academy Bexley wef June 2023 previously King Henry’s School000000
St Catherine’s Catholic School for Girls000000
St Columba’s Catholic Boys’ School000000
Townley Grammar School13070190
Trinity School70UnknownUnknown50
Welling School000000