About your right to appeal

Parents have a statutory right to appeal to an independent appeal panel (the Panel) against the decisions of admission authorities.

Admission authorities are responsible for setting and applying a school’s admission arrangements.

The information provided below is a summary of the appeal process. It is not in any way designed to discourage you from appealing, since it is your legal right to do so. The information is provided to enable you to make an informed decision about whether you wish to appeal or not.

If you decide to make an appeal, the admission authority will provide specific information on the circumstances leading to your child being refused a place, such as how many applications were received, how your application was categorised and your child’s position in relation to the last child that was offered a place.

Types of appeal

There are two types of appeal:

Prejudice appeals

This type of appeal is heard when an admission authority refuses the admission of a child because to do so would prejudice the provision of an efficient education or the efficient use of resources for those children already allocated a place at the school. The admission authority must prove this position to the satisfaction of the Panel.

The Panel will also consider your reasons and will balance these against the factors given by the admission authority. If the Panel feel that the reasons you have given outweigh the admission authority’s case, then the Panel can allow your appeal.

Infant class size appeals

The majority of appeals for admission to reception classes in Trafford schools are infant class size appeals. This type of appeal is heard when the admission authority refuses the admission of a child because the admission of that child would contravene the Infant class size regulations. These regulations limit the size of an infant class to 30 pupils per qualified school teacher.

An infant class size appeal can only succeed if the Panel finds that one of the following applies:

  1. The admission of an additional child would not breach the Infant class size limit of 30 children to 1 qualified teacher;
  2. The child would have been offered a place if the admission arrangements had complied with admissions law or if the admission arrangements had been correctly and impartially applied;
  3. The admission authority’s decision to refuse a place was not one which a reasonable admission authority would have made in the circumstances of the case.

If you are appealing under c), you must show that the admission authority has made an unreasonable decision. However, it is not the usual meaning of “reasonable” because, in this situation, it is the legal meaning. The courts have defined an unreasonable decision in this context as being one which is ‘perverse in the light of the admission arrangements’. The word perverse also has a stronger meaning in its legal sense, it means ‘beyond the range of responses open to a reasonable decision maker’ or ‘so outrageous in its defiance of logic or of accepted moral standards that no sensible person who had applied his mind to the question could have arrived at it’.

As the grounds for upholding an infant class size appeal are very limited, they are rarely successful. In considering whether you wish to appeal you must be aware that your personal reasons for wanting a school, however strongly you feel, cannot be taken into account unless one of the three criteria apply to you. Parents are often distressed that their personal reasons, such as the difficulty they face when transporting children to different schools or the difficulty they might face in continuing with their employment, will not be considered due the very limited criteria.

If you wish to exercise your right of appeal, you can download an appeal form from Trafford’s website, or contact Trafford’s Legal and Democratic Services Team on 0161 912 2798.

Appeal timetable

Offer of places
Friday 16 April 2021
Deadline for lodging appeals
Monday 17 May 2021 (All appeals received by this date will be heard within 40 school days)
Deadline for additional evidence for on-time appeals
Monday 24 May 2021
Deadline for admission authorities to submit their evidence
Seven school days before date of the Hearing
Deadline for appeal papers to be sent to all parties
Six school days before date of the Hearing

Appellants will receive:

  • At least 10 school days’ notice of their appeal hearing
  • Decision letters within 5 school days of the hearing wherever possible OR, where appeals will be heard over a number of days, within 5 school days of the last hearing day, wherever possible.

The list below shows the admission authority for each Trafford school and the type of appeal that will be heard for that school.

SchoolAdmission AuthorityType of Appeal
Acre Hall Primary School Academy Trust Infant class size
All Saints' Catholic Primary School Governing Body Infant class size
Altrincham C.E. Primary School Governing Body Infant class size
Barton Clough Primary School Academy Trust Infant class size
Bollin Primary School Academy Trust Infant class size
Bowdon C.E.Primary School Governing Body Infant class size
Broadheath Primary School Trafford Council Infant class size
Brooklands Primary School Trafford Council Infant class size
Broomwood Primary School Trafford Council Infant class size
Cloverlea Primary School Trafford Council Infant class size
Davyhulme Primary School Trafford Council Infant class size
Elmridge Primary School Academy Trust Infant class size
English Martyrs' R.C. Primary School Governing Body Infant class size
Firs Primary School Trafford Council Infant class size
Flixton Primary School Trafford Council Infant class size
Forest Gate Academy Academy Trust Infant class size
Gorse Hill Primary School Trafford Council Infant class size
Heyes Lane Primary School Trafford Council Infant class size
Highfield Primary School Trafford Council Infant class size
Holy Family Catholic Primary School Governing Body Infant class size
King's Road Primary School Trafford Council Infant class size
Kingsway Primary School Trafford Council Infant class size
Lime Tree Primary Academy Academy Trust Infant class size
Moss Park Infant School Trafford Council Infant class size
Navigation Primary School Trafford Council Infant class size
Old Trafford Community Academy Academy Trust Infant class size
Oldfield Brow Primary School Trafford Council Infant class size
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary Governing Body Infant class size
Our Lady of the Rosary R.C. Primary Governing Body Infant class size
Park Road Sale Primary School Academy Trust Infant class size
Park Road Academy Primary School Academy Trust Infant class size
Partington Central Academy Academy Trust Infant class size
Seymour Park Community Primary School Trafford Council Prejudice
Springfield Primary School Trafford Council Infant class size
St. Alphonsus R.C. Primary School Governing Body Infant class size
St. Anne's C.E. Primary School Governing Body Infant class size
St. Ann's R.C. Primary School Governing Body Infant class size
St. Hilda's C.E. Primary School Academy Trust Infant class size
St. Hugh of Lincoln R.C. Primary School Governing Body Infant class size
St. Hugh's Catholic Primary School Governing Body Infant class size
St. Joseph's Catholic Primary School Governing Body Infant class size
St. Margaret Ward Catholic Primary Governing Body Infant class size
St. Mary's C.E. Primary School Davyhulme Governing Body Infant class size
St. Mary's C.E. Primary School – Sale Governing Body Infant class size
St. Matthew's C.E. Primary School Trafford Council Infant class size
St. Michael's C.E. Primary School Governing Body Infant class size
St. Monica's R.C. Primary School Governing Body Infant class size
St. Teresa's R.C. Primary School Governing Body Infant class size
St. Vincent's Catholic Primary School Governing Body Infant class size
Stamford Park Infant School Trafford Council Infant class size
Templemoor Infant School Trafford Council Infant class size
Tyntesfield Primary School Academy Trust Infant class size
Urmston Primary School Trafford Council Infant class size
Victoria Park Infant School Trafford Council Infant class size
Well Green Primary School Trafford Council Infant class size
Wellfield Infant and Nursery School Trafford Council Infant class size
Willows Primary School Trafford Council Infant class size
Woodheys Primary School Trafford Council Infant class size
Woodhouse Primary School Trafford Council Infant class size
Worthington Primary School Trafford Council Infant class size