Appeals

APPEAL DATES AND INFORMATION

PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY

If you have not been offered a place at Dame Alice Owen’s School, the law entitles you to appeal against that decision to an Independent Appeal Panel. This panel is completely independent of the school and the Local Authority. All appeals will be heard online which has the advantage that your appeal can be heard from your home or place of work.

If you wish to appeal, please use this link to complete your appeal online. Please do NOT use ANY other appeal form or send your form to your local authority. It is suggested that you download the explanatory booklet about appeals which you should read before you complete the appeal form. Booklet Link

You should include any evidence or supporting material with your appeal form and you MUST give the grounds for your appeal at the time you lodge your appeal form. Your appeal form will not be accepted unless you state the grounds for your appeal. You may appeal for more than one school, but on different forms.

Any letters or reports that you wish the panel to see should be uploaded at this time.  You are asked to bear in mind that if you later send additional information, the closing date is 5 school days before the STAGE 1 hearing.  All appointed panels have agreed NOT to take any late letters or reports after the 5 school day deadline.  This will be strictly enforced.  The hearing will take place at least TWO months after the refusal letter.  This gives you plenty of time to get your evidence together if you act early and take account of school holidays.

Examples of school work your child may have undertaken will not be accepted.  The appeals code is clear that the panel cannot assess a child.  The Panel would not be able to make a proper judgement about its quality. They  would have nothing to measure it against and would not know the depth of the work submitted. Also, they would not know whether the work had been carried out unaided.  The panel will give due weighting to academic letters from professionals such as, headteachers,  teachers and tutors, plus CAT or NFER test reports.

The same applies to those appellants who took the aptitude test for music. As the Appeals Codes does not allow the panel to assess a child they cannot view a performance video or photographs. However, the panel will give due weighting to letters from music professionals.

Please note that the online form will ask you to download two utility bills dated in the last THREE months.  If you do not have access to a scanner, please take two photographs with a mobile phone and upload the photographic files.

Full details about the hearing will be sent to you with your invitation to the hearing.

If you wish to contact the clerk – email :  [email protected]

 

The timetable for appeals is as follows: –

 

Last day for lodging appeal forms for a place in year 7 to start in September 2024	4pm on Tuesday 2 April 2024 to guarantee that your appeal will be heard in the first tranche of appeals.  Appeals lodged later may not be heard until the second tranche which could be in September 2024.   You MUST state the reasons for your appeal and supply any documentary evidence at this stage.
The stage 1 part of the hearing (with other parents present) will take place on	Tuesday 7 May 2024 (morning)
Part 2, the individual private hearings will take place on	Tuesday 7 and Wednesday 8 May 2024 (depending on the number of appeals)
Invitation letter giving details about your hearing will be sent by the Clerk to the Independent Appeal Panel	At least 10 school days before the stage 1 hearing.
Any additional supporting evidence	Closing date is 30 April 2024. You are advised that additional paperwork received on the day of the appeal hearing will not be taken into account. Please provide the Clerk with FIVE copies of any new additional evidence BY POST ONLY. All such evidence to be submitted in A4 format and NOT bound, but may be stapled on the top left hand corner.  Paperwork submitted with your appeal form does not need to include 5 copies.  These must be sent to EdAp, Sopers House, Sopers Road, Cuffley, Herts, EN6 4RY.
Letter from the Clerk informing you of the decision of the independent appeal panel	Due to the high number of appeals held at this time, this may not be sent until up to 10 school days after the last hearing for the school.

Timetable for appeals for mid-term applications is as follows:

Last day for lodging appeal forms following a refusal for a place ‘in year’ or ‘mid-term’, excluding 6th Form.

You must lodge the appeal form within 20 school days upon receipt of your letter of refusal.  You MUST state the reasons for your appeal and supply documentary evidence at this stage. Appeals are held within 30 school days of receipt of the appeal form.

Timetable for appeals for the 6^th form is as follows

Last day for lodging all 6th form appeals

4pm on Monday 2 September 2024 to guarantee that your appeal will be heard within the first weeks of September. You MUST state the reasons for your appeal on the online form and supply any documentary evidence at this stage e.g. a copy of your result sheet. Please note the timetable is very short to enable those appellants who win appeals to start as early into the school year as possible. Click here for the 6th form appeal form

Appeal date where a conditional offer was made

Hearings will be heard in the first weeks of September 2024

 

We would appreciate if you could refer to our comprehensive list of Admissions FAQs before contacting the school with any queries, as you may find the answer to your question here. This will enable our Admissions Officer and general office staff to deal with priority calls – thank you for your consideration.