School Admission Appeals

Before submitting a school admission appeal, please read the following pages, as theses contain important information with regards to your potential appeal.

Submit a School Admission Appeal

Submitting an Appeal

School Admission Appeals are heard throughout the year and we encourage you to submit your appeal as soon as possible after receiving your refusal letter. 

We also strongly encourage you to upload your supporting evidence when you first submit your appeal as stated below. In addition, please ensure you read the Admissions Guide, to note what can and cannot be accepted by the Appeals Panel.

To make an appeal you will need to login or register for My Account.

Please ensure that you have to hand & upload:

  • a full copy/scan of your refusal letter (we are unable to accept a screenshot of part of the letter & require the whole document please)
  • any supporting documentation ready to upload, eg. proof of residency, if moving house is the reason for your appeal,
  • supporting documentation if appealing on medical, social or welfare grounds,
  • a pre-prepared statement outlining your reasons as to why you wish your child to attend your preferred school and the grounds for your appeal.

Please note: We are unable to accept statements/letters of support from schools for individual appeals as per Section 2.14 of the School Admission Appeals Code 2022. You should also not share waiting list positions of your child with the Panel, as this cannot be taken into account or acknowledged during your appeal. 

In-Year Appeals

School appeals for application to schools during the academic year are heard monthly and within 30 school days of the appeal being submitted (excluding bank holidays, weekends and school holidays).

Any school appeal received in late-July and August 2024 would need to be heard when schools re-open from Tuesday 3 September 2024 onwards.

Below is the schedule for in-year appeals during the next academic year 2024/25, subject to any changes.  These will be held at the Town Hall, St Ives Road, Maidenhead, SL6 1RF.

Appeal dates:

  • Thursday 12 September 2024
  • Tuesday 1 October 2024
  • Tuesday 15 October 2024
  • Thursday 7 November 2024
  • Thursday 28 November 2024
  • Thursday 12 December 2024
  • Wednesday 22 January 2025
  • Thursday 6 February 2025
  • Thursday 27 February 2025
  • Tuesday 18 March 2025
  • Tuesday 29 April 2025
  • Tuesday 10 June 2025
  • Wednesday 16 July 2025

Summer Appeals

Our main round of appeals is heard primarily during the late Spring and Summer months. These are split into Secondary and Primary school appeals.

The deadlines for lodging appeals for this main round of summer appeals for entry into schools in September 2025, are as follows:

  • Secondary appeals - Monday 24 March 2025 at 5pm - Appeals submitted before this date will be heard in the main round by Tuesday 10 June 2025.
  • Primary appeals - Monday 19 May 2025 at 5pm - Appeals submitted before this date will be heard in the main round by Monday 21 July 2025.
  • You will be notified of the date and time of your appeal at least 10 school days before the appeal.

Appeals received after the above deadlines will be heard within 30 school days of receipt, however this may not be before September 2025 in accordance with the School Admission Appeals Code 2022.

The main round of Secondary School appeals will be heard in the following weeks:

  • week commencing Monday 5 May 2025
  • week commencing Monday 12 May 2025
  • week commencing Monday 19 May 2025
  • week commencing Monday 2 June 2025

The main round of Primary School appeals will be heard in the following weeks:

  • week commencing Monday 16 June 2025
  • week commencing Monday 23 June 2025
  • week commencing Monday 30 June 2025
  • week commencing Monday 7 July 2025

Infant-class size appeals

If you are appealing for a place in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2, please note that Government regulations limit class sizes to 30 pupils per class teacher in these year groups. Therefore, there are very limited grounds on which appeals to these year groups can be allowed. Examples of how the panel could allow an infant-class size appeal are if:

  • the infant-class size limit would not be breached if your child were admitted to the school,
  • the admissions arrangements were not correctly and impartially applied in your particular case,
  • the decision to refuse your child a place at the school was unreasonable.

Please do carefully consider which of the above apply to your case before submitting an infant-class size appeal.

Submit an appeal