Guide: School admission appeals
Admission appeals timetable
When are appeals held?
Appeal hearings are held during the working day. They are not held at weekends, in the evening or (usually) during the school holidays.
Generally, we cannot accommodate working patterns and therefore you may need to book time off work. If you know that you cannot attend an appeal on certain dates (for example, you are on holiday) please include this information on the appeal form. If possible, we will try to avoid hearing your appeal on these dates.
Appeal hearings are usually held remotely via Microsoft Teams. They could also be heard at the Council offices on Topsham Road in Exeter, or at other external venues.
You will receive email notification of the date, time and arrangements for your hearing no later than 14 calendar days before the hearing. The notification will include the school’s submission and a deadline for the submission of any further evidence you may wish to provide other than that already included with your initial appeal form.
Appeals timetable for normal round entry
Each year, we will publish an appeals timetable for the normal round admissions by 28 February. We are required to set out the appeals timetable for the normal round of admissions into reception and year 7 in September.
Primary reception class appeals
National offer day is 16 April 2024.
The deadline for lodging appeals is 31 May 2024 (we will aim to hear these appeals within 40 school days of this deadline).
Appeal hearings are scheduled throughout June and July. Appeals not received by the deadline may have to be heard in September.
Junior transfer appeals
National offer day is 16 April 2024.
The deadline for lodging appeals is 31 May 2024 (we will aim to hear these appeals within 40 school days of this deadline).
Appeal hearings are scheduled throughout June and July. Appeals not received by the deadline may have to be heard in September.
Secondary transfer appeals (year 7) and appeals for normal round transfers to studio schools and university technical colleges (year 10)
National offer day is 1 March 2024.
The deadline for lodging appeals is 31 March 2024 (we will aim to hear these appeals within 40 school days of this deadline).
Appeal hearings are scheduled throughout May and June. Appeals not received by the deadline may have to be heard in September.
Sixth form appeals (year 12)
Each sixth form sets its own offer day during the academic year. This will generally be in the spring or summer term.
The deadline for lodging appeals is no less than 20 school days from a refusal (we will aim to hear these appeals within 40 school days of this deadline).
Appeal hearings are scheduled throughout May and June. Appeals not received by the deadline may have to be heard in September.
Where an appeal is on the grounds that academic criteria were not met when exam results were published during the summer holidays, they will be within 30 school days of confirmation of those results.
In-year admission appeals
For in-year admissions into any academic year group, we will aim to hear these within 30 school days of being received by the appeals office.