Admissions Appeals

Parents/Sixth Form applicants whose applications for places are unsuccessful may appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel set up in accordance with sections 84 and 94 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.

How to appeal

Contact the Compliance Manager (John Eady jeady@ndhs.org.uk) at the school, indicating your intention to appeal. At this point you do not need to explain your reasons for appealing. You will be sent a 'Notice of Appeal' to complete, where you can explain your reasons for your appeal. You may also include any supporting information you wish to be considered.

Appeals should be sent to the Compliance Manager at the address above. Appellants have the right to speak with the Appeal Panel at the hearing.

 

Appeals Timetables

In-year or immediate entry appeals for places in Years 7 to 11 (appeals outside the main Year 7 Common Application Process)

If you made a formal application (through the Local Authority) for your child to change high school during the school year and the application was refused, the appeal hearing will take place within 30 school days of the date you lodged your appeal (i.e. the date the completed Notice of Appeal form was returned).

 

September 2025 Year 7 Entry appeals

If your child is due to start secondary school in September 2025 and your application to Notre Dame has been unsuccessful, you can appeal against this decision. You can submit your intention to appeal between 3rd March and 28th March 2025 to guarantee that your appeal will be heard by the end of June 2025.

For applications made in the normal admissions round, appeals must be heard within 40 school days of the deadline for lodging appeals.

For late applications, appeals should be heard within 40 school days from the deadline for lodging appeals where possible, or within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged.

 

September 2024 Year 12 entry (Sixth Form) appeals

For applications to the Sixth Form:

i. where the offer of a place would have been conditional upon exam results, appeals must be heard within 30 school days of confirmation of those results;

ii. where the offer of a place would not have been conditional upon exam results, appeals must be heard within 40 school days of the deadline for lodging appeals.

Appellants will be sent notification of their appeal hearing together with a copy of the school’s case at least 10 clear school days in advance of the hearing.

 

If you wish to submit further evidence which was not included with your initial Notice of Appeal, you must make sure that it is received at least 5 clear school days prior to the hearing date. Any information or evidence not submitted by the deadline might not be considered at the appeal. Parents may waive their right to 10 school days’ notice of the hearing.

 

Before the appeal hearing

You will receive a written summary of the school's case for refusing your child a place.

The Local Authority will tell you when and where the appeal will be heard 14 days before the hearing, and will send links to the hearing if it is conducted remotely.

Your individual appeal will be heard in private, when you may discuss the reasons why you are appealing for a place for your child. You can bring a friend, relative or representative to support you if you wish. You can also decide whether to bring your child to the hearing or not.

It is best to attend the hearing in person, so that the panel can ask questions and get a fuller picture of your child and the reasons for your appeal. However, if you cannot or do not wish to attend the hearing, the panel will consider a written appeal case.

The appeal hearing

At present, appeal hearings may take place by video conferencing (using MicroSoft Teams), by telephone or in writing.

At the hearing the panel consists of three people who decide whether your appeal is successful or not. The panel members are volunteers and are independent of the school and the local authority.

There will also be a clerk who will record the proceedings, and advise on law and procedure.

The school will be represented by a presenting officer who will give the reasons for refusing your child a place.

The panel will firstly decide whether the admission authority (Notre Dame High School) has shown why it cannot admit more children (Stage 1 of the appeals process). If they agree that the case has been made, they will then consider all the points you have made (Stage 2 of the process, which is held in private). You will be given the opportunity to explain to the panel why you want your child to be admitted to the school.

The panel’s decision is based on balancing the needs of your child against the effect of admitting another child to the school.

After the hearing

Wherever possible you will be informed of the decision by the next working day after the hearing. This will be a straight 'yes, your appeal has been successful' or 'no, your appeal has not been successful'.

Within seven days you will also be sent a formal letter from the panel, explaining their decision and giving reasons for it.

Decisions of the appeal panel are binding on both the parents and the school.

You have no further right of appeal in the same academic year unless there is a significant change in circumstances. This may include for instance, a new medical problem, or a house move, where this was not known about and considered at the original appeal hearing.

If you wish to complain about how your appeal was conducted you can complain to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).

Guidance about how to complain is contained within the ESFA appeals complaints factsheet.

Further Information 

DfE School admissions appeal code  

NCC admission appeals 

SCC admission appeals 

The Governing Body undertook a formal consultation on the school's proposed admission arrangements for 2024/25 entry, from 9th December 2022 until 27th January 2023. 

No changes were proposed to the main school admissions policy from last year's policy.

The only proposed change was to the general criteria for entry to the Sixth Form, where the academic threshold for entry would be a combined minimum GCSE points score of 42 points over 8 subjects (with minimum grade 4 in Maths and English, and individual subject requirements unchanged).

The 2024/25 admissions policy can be found on the policies page of the website.