Appeal Against a School Place Decision for Schools within Bedford Borough
The arrangements relating to school admission appeals covering
the Bedford area are set out below.
Admission Appeals for all Community and Voluntary Controlled
Schools in the Bedford area are arranged by the Clerk to the
Appeal Panel at Bedford Borough Council. The Clerk also arranges
and clerks appeals for Academies (where necessary), Foundation and
Voluntary Aided Schools in the area indicated.
If you would like more information about the admission
appeals process please see the guidance booklet
below. You can also contact the Office of the Clerk to
the Appeal Panel on (01234)
228523 or by email School.Appeals@bedford.gov.uk
if you have any questions or concerns.
The
School Admissions Service covering the Bedford Borough
Council area can provide you with advice on the admissions process
and can let you know which schools in these areas have places
available. They can also advise you with regards to the allocation
of places and your child's position on a waiting list.
To contact School Admissions for the Bedford Borough area,
telephone (01234) 718120 or by email admissions@bedford.gov.uk
Appeal statistics
The Department for Education (DFE) collects information from all
Local Authorities about appeals each academic year.
These figures are provided as part of the Department’s Survey of
Admission Appeals for all Community and Voluntary Controlled
schools. The data for Academies, Voluntary Aided and
Foundation schools are derived from School Census returns made by
schools to the DFE each year.
For further information please go the DFE website
http://www.dfe.gov.uk/ (opens in
new window)
Transfer to Upper School 2013
Parents of children due to transfer to Upper
School (Year 9) in September 2013 will be sent a letter on 1st
March 2013 advising them of the school at which a place has been
offered.
You can appeal against this decision if you
have not been allocated a place at each of the schools you applied
for. You can also accept a place at one school and appeal for
another school that your child would rather go to.
Your appeal must be received by the deadline of 16th April
2013. If your appeal is received after this date it might not
be possible to hear your appeal within the normal admissions
round. Upper School appeals have to be heard by Wednesday
19th June 2013 (within 40 school days after the deadline for
appeals being lodged). If you would like to appeal online
please use the Transfer to Upper School online appeal form
below.
You will receive confirmation that your appeal has been received
and we will write to you after 16th April 2013 to tell you the
date, time and venue of your appeal hearing. You will be
given at least 10 school days' notice of your appeal hearing.
You can also appeal by contacting the School Appeals Automated
Telephone Line on (01234) 228523 and pressing Option 1.
Online Appeal Form
guidance
booklet
Transfer to Middle School 2013
Parents of children due to transfer to Middle School (Year 5) in
September 2013 will be sent a letter on 28th March 2013 advising
them of the school at which a place has been offered.
You can appeal against this decision if you have not been
allocated a place at each of the schools you applied for. You
can also accept a place at one school and appeal for another school
that your child would rather go to.
Your appeal must be received by 13th May 2013. If your
appeal is received after this date it might not be possible to hear
your appeal within the normal admissions round. Middle School
appeals have to be heard by Monday 15th July 2013 (within 40 school
days after the deadline for appeals being lodged), although we will
try to have them heard by the beginning of July. If you would
like to appeal online please use the Transfer to Middle School
online appeal form below.
You will receive confirmation that your appeal has been received
and we will write to you after 13th May 2013 to tell you the date,
time and venue of your appeal hearing. You will be given at
least 10 school days' notice of your appeal hearing.
You can also appeal by contacting the School Appeals Automated
Telephone Line on (01234) 228123 and pressing Option 2.
Online Appeal Form
guidance
booklet
Starting School - First Admission to Lower School
Appeals 2013
Parents of children due to start lower school in September 2013
will be sent a letter on 30th April 2013 advising them of the
school at which a place has been offered.
You can appeal against this decision if you have not been
allocated a place at each of the schools you applied for. You
can appeal for each school at which you have been refused
admission. You can also accept a place at one school and
appeal for another school that your child would rather go to.
Your appeal must be received by 4th June 2013. Lower
school appeals have to be heard within 40 school days after the
deadline. We will try to ensure that the majority of lower
school appeals are heard by the end of the summer term 2013.
If you would like to appeal online please use the Transfer to Lower
School online appeal form below.
You will receive confirmation that your appeal has been received
and we will write to you after 4th June 2013 to tell you the date,
time and venue of your appeal hearing. You will be given at
least 10 school days' notice of your appeal hearing.
You can also appeal by contacting the School Appeals Automated
Telephone Line on (01234) 228123 and pressing Option 3.
Online Appeal Form
guidance
booklet
All other applications
If you have applied for a place in a year other than in the
intake year (when children would normally start Lower, Middle or
Upper School) and have not been offered a place, you can appeal
against this decision. You will have been sent a letter advising
you that a place can not be offered at your preferred
school(s).
The clerk will contact you to acknowledge that your
appeal form has been received and will write to you in due course
letting you know the date, time and venue of your appeal. You will
be given at least 10 school days' notice of your appeal. We aim to
hear all appeals within 30 school days.
You can also appeal by contacting the School
Appeals Automated Telephone Line on (01234) 228123 and pressing
Option 4.
In Year Online Appeal Form
Schools
Admission Appeals Guidance (pdf document opens in new
window)
If you have any questions on the appeal process please contact
Tracey Johnston on (01234) 228523 or by email tracey.johnston@bedford.gov.uk.
Equality Questions Monitoring Form
Please find below a monitoring form for completion,this does not
form part of the appeal process but it will help us to ensure that
we are listening to the views of all sectors of our community.
Please click
here to download an Equality Questions Monitoring Form
Appeals against permanent exclusion
You can appeal against a schools decision to permanently exclude
your child. The Governing Body will meet within fifteen school days
of the exclusion and if they do not over-turn the permanent
exclusion you can appeal to the Independent Review Panel. The
Independent Reviews are arranged and clerked by Committee
Services in Bedford Borough Council.
The Inclusion Support Officers can provide you with advice on
the exclusion process including information about appeals against
permanent exclusion, please contact:
David Roberts (01234) 408453 or email David.Roberts@bedford.gov.uk
Frances Cox (01234) 276884 or email frances.cox@bedford.gov.uk