About John Chard, School Appeals Principal

School Appeals was established by its Principal, John Chard, in response to the distress he saw caused to parents/guardians and their children as a result of unsuccessful admission appeals.

John Chard has worked in local government for over 25 years, for the last 10 working exclusively on school appeals. In the course of organising over 2000 appeals he has given advice and guidance to both sides of the appeal: to the Admissions Authority and to parents/guardians. He has also given advice to Appeal Panels in his capacity as clerk. As a result, he has obtained a unique insight and extensive knowledge of the legislation and the evidence requirements that contribute to a successful appeal. He has also gained considerable insight into the way in which appeals can fail because parents/guardians are inadequately prepared for the appeals process, and because they don't have the know-how or confidence to give themselves the best chance of success.

It was this experience that prompted John Chard to devise a simple, low cost, and effective way of guiding parents/guardians through the appeals process.

He has set up School Appeals specifically to improve your chances of appealing successfully against admissions refusals by helping you meet the criteria for success.

School Appeals is the only organisation which has been set up with the specific aim of using years of first-hand experience for the benefit of children and their parents/guardians in helping them obtain the education they want through successful appeals. All School Appeals' staff and volunteers are highly experienced and committed to achieving excellence and social inclusion in education.

And, while School Appeals cannot guarantee success in all cases as this depends on the individual circumstances, using the School Appeals Comprehensive Admission Appeal Guide will give you the best possible chance of winning your appeal.

School Appeals continues to respond to parents' needs and wishes. As a result, review and counselling services have been introduced. In addition a Members Area has now been introduced providing access to more information and web sites along with a Members Forum where you can share common concerns and discuss issues of mutual interest with other parents.

School Appeals has introduced a regular newsletter for its Members and, for everyone, News pages that are constantly updated to respond to topical matters concerning education and particularly school admission issues.

School Appeals is dedicated to providing support to you in your quest to achieve what you want for your child. School Appeals has achieved a 75% success rate from those parents that have notified School Appeals of the outcome of their appeals.

John Chard is regularly approached by BBC Breakfast to contribute to their programmes on Chasing Places which has featured over the last three years. He has been interviewed by Bill Turnbill and Sian Williams, Julia Botfield and, most recently, by Dermot Murnaghan and Natasha Kaplinsky. He is often approached by radio programmes, researchers for television programmes and journalists seeking information about the appeals process.