Junior school admissions appeals

What you can appeal and how to make an appeal.

Right to appeal

You've a right to appeal to an independent appeal panel against the decision to refuse your child a place at your preferred school.

Appeals for the academic year 2025/2026 must be made by 6 June 2025.

Appeals are heard in July.

How to appeal

The last date to appeal for Summerhill Academy and community schools in Bristol is 6 June 2025. The deadline for other schools may be different.

To find out if your preferred school is a community school see Bristol junior school places and admissions policies.

The preferred method of sending written grounds of appeal to school admissions is in the Parent Portal Go to https://parent.bristol.gov.uk/web/portal/pages/parents/admissions (opens new window).

You can upload your grounds of appeal for your preferred school with other supporting information or email grounds of appeal to school.admissions@bristol.gov.uk

School appeal template letters for Bristol academy and voluntary aided schools are attached to the allocation statement for each school.

We cannot return or forward written grounds of appeals received by post that were sent to school admissions by mistake. Keep a copy of your grounds of appeal and ensure you send them to the correct school or local authority by the requested date.

Appeal guidance

Read the junior school admissions appeal procedure for information on presenting your case to the appeals panel.

To make a junior school appeal for a Bristol community school use letter of appeal for Bristol Community Junior Schools (26 KB) .

Appeal hearing

You'll get at least 10 school days notice of the date and time of the appeal hearing. You are encouraged to attend and speak at the appeal hearing.

You'll find out the result of your appeal hearing within five days of the school's last appeal hearing.

What the appeal panel takes into account

The independent appeal panel takes into account the:

preference you expressed
reasons for your school preference
admission authority's published admission arrangements
admission authority's reasons for refusing a place
personal reasons for your school preference

The independent appeal panel is not bound by the admission authority's published criteria and has the power to make a place available even if the year group is full. The appeal panel will be able to take your reasons for wanting your child to attend the school or academy into account.

If an appeal is upheld

The decision of the independent appeal panel is binding on the admission authority. This means your child will be admitted to the school, even if the year group is full. The decision of independent appeal panel can only be overturned by the courts.

If an appeal is dismissed

When an appeal is dismissed there is no automatic right to a second appeal. A second appeal can only be granted if a significant change of circumstances has occurred since the original appeal was heard. A significant change in circumstances would include:

where a sibling has started at the preferred school since the original appeal hearing took place
change of address, now living significantly closer to the preferred school, or now reside within the area of first priority for the school
where new evidence which could not have been introduced at the time of the original appeal has become available and supported by a letter from a doctor, psychologist or social worker

If your child is on the waiting list for the school, they will remain on the waiting list until 31 December 2025.

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