Appealing for a place in a grammar school or selective school

Designated grammar schools are permitted to select students for admission based upon academic ability and may leave places unfilled if there are insufficient eligible applicants.

The scores attained by your child in their 11+ exams will determine if they meet the required academic standard for a place at a selective school.

If your child was not offered a place at your preferred school, you are able to appeal this decision.

Local review process

Some grammar schools also operate a ‘local review’ process to determine whether children who have not quite met the required pass mark should be considered as being of grammar school standard. This is sometimes also referred to as the Border Zone Panel. Such a review will be completed before the allocation of places so that children who are consequently deemed to be of grammar school standard can be considered at the same time as others. The local review process does not replace your right of appeal against the refusal of a place at the school you have applied to. 

What factors does the Panel have to consider to allow an appeal?

To allow an appeal, the Panel must determine whether a local review process was applied to your child’s 11+ results. Not all selective schools undertake a local review process. Please contact the school you are appealing for to find this out.  

Where a local review has not been followed

Where a local review process has not been applied the Panel must only uphold your appeal if:  

1. there is evidence to demonstrate that your child is of the required academic standard. This can be shown, for example, by submitting evidence such as: 
   • recent school reports,  
   • SAT results, 
   • a letter of support from their current school clearly indicating why your child is of grammar school ability.  
2. the reasons for your child to attend the school outweigh the admission authority’s argument that admitting your child would cause prejudice (difficulties for the school).

Consideration of ‘prejudice’

The Panel must not reassess the capacity of the school but must consider the impact on the school of admitting more children. In deciding whether or not there would be prejudice, the Panel might consider the following factors:

1. the effect an additional child would have on the school in the current and following academic years as the year group moves through the school;  
2. whether any changes have been made to the school’s physical accommodation or organisation since an admission number was originally set for the relevant year group;  
3. the impact of the locally agreed Fair Access Protocol; and/or 
4. the impact on the organisation and size of classes, the availability of teaching staff and the effect on children already at the school. 

Where a local review process has been followed

Where a local review process has been applied, the Panel must only uphold your appeal if it is satisfied that the local review process was carried out in a fair, consistent and objective way. 

If there is no evidence that this has been done, the panel must follow the process outlined above in points 1 and 2. 

In either case the Panel must not follow its own methods to assess your child’s academic ability. They can only consider the evidence provided. 

Selective School or Grammar School appeal process

School case

The school representative will present the case, explaining why a place could not be offered for your child at your preferred school.

You and the panel may question the school representative on what has been said.

The panel will, separately from any other party except the clerk, consider whether

• the admission arrangements comply with the School Admissions Code the School Standards and Framework Act 1998,
• whether arrangements were correctly and impartially applied and
• whether additional children would ‘prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources.’

If the panel decides that the arrangements did not comply or were not correctly applied in your case, or that the year group is not full, the hearing will not go on any longer.

If yours is the only appeal for the school, your child will be admitted and the hearing will conclude at Stage 1.

Where there are multiple appeals for the same school and some but not all of the applicants could be admitted, the hearing would move to stage 2 to consider which children should be admitted.

Your personal circumstances

You will be invited to present your case independently of any other parents who are appealing and explain why you are appealing against the school’s decision.

You should mention all the reasons why you feel the school you are appealing for is the best option for your child, and what extenuating factors justify your child getting a place even though the panel has agreed that there was a good reason for turning you down. 

You should include all relevant information and where possible provide supporting written evidence with your written application.  Remember everything you say is confidential and it is important that the panel fully understands your reasons for appealing!

The panel and school representative may question you about what you have said.

All parents will be interviewed individually before any final decisions on admission are made.

Submit an appeal

If you have read and understood the selective or grammar school appeal guidance and wish to proceed, please complete the school appeals form to begin your appeal.