Appeal a school admission decision

You have the right to appeal if your child is not offered a place at a school you have applied for. 

Your appeal will be made to an independent body called an Appeal Panel. 

You can find out more about admission appeals in the School Admissions Code and the Schools Admission Appeals Code.

Deadlines for appeals for this year

Secondary schools 

• National offer day: 2 March 2026
• Deadline to lodge an appeal: contact the school to find out their deadline

Primary and Junior schools

• National offer day: 16 April 2026
• Deadline to lodge an appeal
  • for Sutton community schools: 15 May 2026
  • for all other primary and junior schools: contact the school to find out their deadline

Your appeal will be heard within 40 school days of the deadline to lodge an appeal.

Find contact details for other schools in Sutton:

• Primary and Infant schools contact details
• Junior schools contact details

In-year admissions

Appeals for in-year admissions will be heard within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged.

We only deal with appeals for Sutton Community Schools

If you want to appeal to another school, you’ll need to contact the school directly. 

The community schools in Sutton are:

• Devonshire Primary School
• Hackbridge Primary School
• Robin Hood Infants School
• Robin Hood Junior School

Greenshaw Learning Trust organise appeals for Sutton community schools on behalf of Sutton Council.

Please email us at suttonadmissions@cognus.org.uk to request further information on how you can make an appeal for the community schools named above.

What happens next

Once your form has been received, you will be invited to attend an appeal hearing. You will be given at least 10 school days notice of the date and time of your appeal hearing and advised of the names of the panel members. You will be provided with a 'case statement' which explains why your child was not given a place at the school and a deadline date by which to submit any extra information.

What happens at the appeal hearing

Most appeal hearings take place virtually and the panel chair will advise you what will happen during the hearing. An appeals panel comprises of a minimum of 3 members who are not connected with the local authority or the schools involved with your appeal. They are fully trained volunteers and give their time to assist with the appeals process. The panel will hear from the local authority. Then you or your representative will have the opportunity to provide your reasons for making the appeal, ask questions and respond to the local authority case. 

The Decision

You will be notified in writing of the decision. The appeal panel's decision is binding and can only be challenged via judicial review.

Appeals for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 (infant classes)

Please note that the law limits the number of pupils in an infant class with one qualified teacher to a maximum of 30. This legislation restricts the grounds on which an appeal panel can be considered.

The panel may only uphold the appeal at the first stage where:

1. The admission of an additional child would not breach the infant class size limit of 30 children; or
2. The admission arrangements did not comply with admission law or were not correctly and impartially applied; or
3. The decision to refuse admission was not one which a reasonable admission authority would have made in the circumstance of the case 

Further right to appeal

If you think we or the panel have not followed proper procedure, you can complain to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO). They cannot overturn the decision, but they can ask us to look at your appeal again.

Contact the school admissions team

If you need an more help or information, you can email us at suttonadmissions@cognus.org.uk