Appeals

If you have not been offered a place at Dame Alice Owen’s School following an application, the law entitles you to appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel. This panel is completely independent of the school and the Local Authority. In accordance with the 2022 School Admission Appeals Code Appeals, the Admission Authority and panels have elected for all admissions appeals to be held online.

 Information on the appeal process can be viewed on the Hertfordshire County Council website here.

SCHOOL ADMISSION APPEALS IMPORTANT INFORMATION

All parents now need to set up an appeals account in order to appeal. 

The online appeals portal is the same for all parents and can be found here.  In order to create an account, the following information is needed:

• Application Reference Number
• Child ID

Secondary Transfer Appeals 

Hertfordshire parents/carers can access the codes they need in order to set up an appeals account via their admissions account. These codes are displayed on the same page as their allocation information.

Parents/carers who live outside of Hertfordshire OR  who applied on paper will need to contact Hertfordshire County Council’s Customer Service Centre on 0300 123 4043 to receive their registration details to gain access. These details will be sent via automated email.  (Any Hertfordshire parents/carers having difficulty finding their codes in their admissions account can also follow this process.)

In Year appeals

Appeals resulting from in year admission applications will be heard within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged.

September 2026 entry

Appeals resulting from a secondary transfer application for September 2026 will be heard according to the following timetable:

 

	Allocation day	Appeals lodged by	Appeals to be heard between
Secondary  Transfer	2 March 2026	4pm on 27 March 2026	29 April – 15 June 2026 (excluding 4 May and 25 May – 29 May)

 

• Appeals lodged after these dates will be heard within 40 school days of the appeal deadline or 30 school days of being lodged, whichever is the later date. 
• Appellants will be sent notification of their appeal hearing at least 10 clear working days in advance of the hearing. 
• Appellants will be sent a copy of the school’s case 7 working days in advance of the hearing. 

Additional supporting information for all appeals

Any appellant wishing to submit supporting evidence after lodging their appeal must submit it to the Appeals Team at least 7 working days before the hearing.

Please remember that any confidential medical or social evidence submitted to the Admission Authority (AA) in support of an application will not be shared with the appeal panel.  Any appellant who intends to use this evidence in their appeal must submit it separately to the Appeals Team.

Short documents, such as a doctor’s letter that was not previously available, will be accepted up to 4 working days before the hearing. Any additional evidence received after this deadline will only be accepted at the discretion of the panel.