Common Mistakes in School Admission Appeals

Mistakes that apply to almost every ground

• Arguing general preference or unfairness, rather than a specific, evidenced point the panel can actually check against a policy or a document
• Treating a single strong circumstance as automatically decisive, rather than one part of a case the panel weighs as a whole
• Submitting evidence for the first time at the hearing, rather than by the evidence deadline — see our deadlines and late evidence guide
• Writing an emotional account of why the school matters, without the specific, checkable facts that back it up

Distance and catchment

Estimating distance with a general mapping app instead of the school’s own published measuring method, and not requesting the school’s own calculated distance before appealing. See the full guide.

Sibling priority

Assuming the school’s definition of ‘sibling’ matches what you’d expect, rather than reading its actual published wording, and not confirming the older child will still be on roll on the relevant date. See the full guide.

Faith criteria

Submitting faith-practice evidence after the deadline, or arguing the school’s definition itself should be different rather than showing your evidence met it. See the full guide.

Grammar school tests

Raising a test-day issue for the first time at the appeal instead of reporting it at the time, and arguing general ability rather than a specific, evidenced problem with the test itself. See the full guide.

Procedural error

Assuming any delay is itself an error, and confusing a correctly-applied outcome you disagree with for a genuine procedural mistake. See the full guide.

Medical need and exceptional social circumstances

A letter that confirms a diagnosis without explaining why this specific school is needed, and evidence that’s gone stale rather than written close to the appeal. See the full guide.

Unsuitability of the offered school

Describing the offered school in purely comparative terms (results, reputation) rather than pointing to a concrete, child-specific issue. See the full guide.

EHCP vs ordinary admission appeals

Starting an ordinary admissions appeal when the real dispute is actually about EHCP content or which school is named in it. See the full guide.