School placement appeals

It can be really difficult to find out that a request for your child to go to a specific school has been turned down. Your options for what you can do next depend a bit on how the request was made, but in any situation there are things that you can try if you disagree with the decision.

It’s also important to know that at any school your child goes to, they have the right to get the support that they need. There are many ways in which they can be supported, and there are steps you can take if you aren’t happy with their support at any point.

A school placement request was refused. What can I do?

If your placing request was refused, you have a few different options, including appealing the decision.

One option is to accept the local authority’s decision and for your child to attend the school that the local authority has proposed. You can focus on working with the school to make sure your child will have the support your child they need to attend that school. It is important to remember that the local authority must keep your child’s support under review. This means that if any issues arise, there will still be ways for you to raise your concerns. You can request changes to your child’s support or school placement at any time if you feel the support the school is providing is not adequate. You can also request mediation with the local authority to try and reach an agreement about the best way forward for your child. Find out more on our page on Mediation.

Female sharing experience during therapy session. Group is listening to woman during discussion.

Mediation

Mediation can be a good way of resolving disagreements about your child’s support or school placement. The mediation process allows you and your child to take part in decision making,

If you wish to appeal the decision, read on below to understand your rights and what you can do next.

Do I have a right to formally appeal?

Your next options depend a bit on how the request for your child to go to a different school or support base was made. You have different options depending on if you made a ‘parental placing request’ yourself, or if a request was made by your child’s school.

If a request was made on your child’s behalf by someone from their school or nursery (or another professional like an educational psychologist)

When you were told the outcome of the local authority’s decision, they may have told you whether there is an option to appeal. If there is, they should have told you how to do this. If you aren’t sure, get in touch with your local authority’s contact for additional support for learning and ask if they’d be willing to reconsider their decision.

If this isn’t successful or if you’re told you can’t appeal:

You have the right to ask for independent mediation with your local authority. This is when someone neutral meets with you and the local authority, to try and help you agree on a way forward.
You can make a placing request to the local authority yourself, to ask for a place at the school of your choice. While the same people might consider the request and it’s possible it will still be refused, it’s a slightly different process, and you would have the legal right to appeal the decision to the Additional Support Needs Tribunal. You can read about how to do this on our webpage Placing Requests.

If you made a ‘placing request’ yourself directly to the local authority

If you formally applied to your local authority for your child to get a place in a different school yourself by making a ‘placing request’ you have a legal right to appeal the decision.

You also have the right to ask for independent mediation. This is where you meet with an independent mediator and someone from the local authority to try and agree about your child’s school placement. It can be fairly quick to set up a mediation meeting, and is an opportunity to see if everyone can agree without needing to go through the full formal appeal process. You can ask for mediation at the same time as starting an appeal, and it won’t change your rights to go through the full appeal process if you still wish to. Read more on our webpage Mediation

I made a placing request for a special school or base. How can I appeal the decision?

If you applied yourself for your child to have a place at any type of special school, including a support unit or base, then you should send your appeal to the Additional Support Needs Tribunal.

You must submit your appeal to the tribunal within two months of receiving the refusal letter, (or, if the local authority did not respond to your placing request by the deadline, within two months of the missed deadline).

This appeal is called making a ‘reference’ to the Additional Support Needs Tribunal. You can read more about the Additional Support Needs Tribunal, how to make a reference, and what to expect on our webpage the ASN Tribunal.

I made a placing request for a mainstream school. How can I appeal the decision?

If you made a ‘placing request’ yourself to a mainstream school, you should send your appeal to the local authority’s education appeal committee.

The only exception is if your child has a co-ordinated support plan (CSP), is being assessed for a co-ordinated support plan, or you are appealing a decision about a co-ordinated support plan. In these cases, appeals for mainstream schools should be made to the Additional Support Needs Tribunal instead.

You must submit your appeal within 28 days of receiving the refusal letter, (or, if the local authority did not respond to your placing request by the deadline, within 28 days of the missed deadline). The committee may still hear your appeal if you miss this deadline, but only if you had a good reason for not being able to submit it on time.

Read our page on Education Appeal Committees to learn more about how to appeal and what to expect.

If your appeal is successful, the local authority must send your child to the school or nursery that you asked for in your placing request.

You can only make one placing request appeal to the committee within a 12-month period.

What can I do while I wait for the outcome of my appeal?

The appeal process can be quite lengthy, so it is a good idea to have a backup plan in place. We recommend asking for a meeting with the school the local authority want your child to go to as soon as possible to find out some more information about what your child’s support would look like if they did go there.

Even if you are appealing your placing request for somewhere else, it can still be really helpful to have this meeting. It can help you understand in more detail what things might be like for your child if they did attend the school. And it means if you do not get the decision you are hoping for or if there is a delay, you will have already started planning and relationship building with the school, so they are ready to welcome your child with support arrangements in place.

At the meeting you might want to talk about:

Your child’s additional support needs and the parts of school they might find difficult.
The support your child currently has in place to support them at home and at school / nursery.
What support could the school put in place if your child went there? You and your child can share your ideas about what kind of support might help, and these must be listened to. The school might also have their own suggestions of what kind of support they can put in place for your child.
What arrangements will be in place for keeping your child’s support under review.

If after this you change your mind about your appeal and want your child to try this school, you can stop the appeal process at any point. If you continue with the appeal, you will have a back up plan in place for your child which will be hopefully be reassuring and helpful, even if your appeal is successful