You will need to know why your application was unsuccessful. Was it because your child passed the 11+ tests but missed out due to the admission criteria or they didn’t pass the 11+ tests? If it was due to the former then the appeal will be dealt with as a normal prejudice appeal, which will be covered in the next newsletter. If it was due to not passing the 11+, what can you do to improve your chances of a successful appeal?

First of all you will need to obtain the unqualified written support of the Head teacher at your child’s primary school.

Secondly, you will need to obtain your child’s anticipated SATs scores showing a prediction of at least level 5 in the core subjects of English and Mathematics.

Thirdly, and lastly, you can put forward any mitigating circumstances that were prevailing at the time of the tests that may have adversely affected the outcome of the tests. Any mitigating circumstances will need to be fully evidenced in writing and to have been reported to the school at the time of the tests. Any evidence obtained retrospectively is unlikely to convince an appeal panel.

You can provide examples of your child’s class work and also school reports to demonstrate academic progress.

If your child missed the pass mark by a few marks you may be offered the opportunity to take part in an internal review, which understandably most parents are very quick to agree. However, be warned that if you do, and the review is unsuccessful, this will limit the chances of a successful appeal since the appeal panel will only be able to consider if the review was carried out correctly and not the full merits of your case.

The appeals panel will have pre-read your documents in advance, so prepare a succinct presentation and adhere to this, whilst controlling your emotions. You will be questioned following your presentation of your appeal, so do make sure that you can support everything you have said.

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