Fewer successful school place appeals in Wigan

A teaching union warned many families "are still at the mercy of a post code lottery" when trying to get their child into their preferred school.

Most appeals are made when an applicant has been offered a place at their first preference school, but appeals relating to other transfers at the start of the school year are included in the data.

Figures from the Department for Education show there were 391 admission appeals lodged relating to school entry in Wigan this year.

Of these, 292 were heard and 56 were successful (19 per cent).

A year earlier 333 appeals were heard and 76 were successful, a success rate of 23 per cent.

But the area was in line with the 19 per cent of successful appeals across England.

Nationally, 7,498 of 38,639 appeals heard were approved – down from 20 per cent the year before.

The figures show a significant gap in the rate of successful appeals across the country.

In both Solihull and Reading, just two per cent of the 266 and 98 appeals heard respectively were successful.

Sunderland had the highest rate of successful appeals, with 53 (86 per cent) of 62 appeals heard approved.

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said turning children away was "the last thing that schools want".

"But the reality is that some schools are oversubscribed and have to prioritise places," he added.

"This is done according to agreed criteria which are carefully considered and applied, and independent appeal hearings are also taken very seriously.

"The solution is that we have to reduce these pressure points by ensuring that all families have access to good school places in their local area."

In Wigan, there were 26 successful appeals lodged over primary school places and 30 for secondary.

Nationally, 1,595 primary appeals were approved, representing 18 per cent of those heard.

For secondary places, 5,903 appeals were successful, 20 per cent of those heard.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: "Nationally we are seeing a pupil population bulge moving through secondary and falling rolls in many areas for primary.

"This could mean that admissions appeals are lower as demand for primary places drops somewhat.

"However, there is quite a big regional variation in pupil numbers. This means that in some schools, demand for places can be very high – for example in areas with large amounts of new house building."

He said the Government's move to give local authorities the power to open new schools where they are most needed would address this, but “more needs to be done to shield schools from demographic fluctuations and protect their funding”.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: "We understand this situation can be concerning for parents. However the rate of children getting a place at one of their preferred primary schools is the second highest on record, and the highest since 2016 for those going into secondary school.

"Councils are legally responsible for ensuring there are enough school places for their communities and should work in collaboration with academy trusts and other partners to balance the supply and demand of school places, in line with changing demographics."