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New data shows that Suffolk parents lodged 294 appeals over school placement decisions for the 2023-24 academic year, successfully appealing 1.6 times more often than the rest of the country.
The big picture: The Department for Education reports 56,684 school admissions appeals were lodged across England for 2023-24 places, a 7% increase from the previous year. The number of appeals in Suffolk remained steady, but the percentage of successful appeals was 1.6 times higher than the national average.
By the numbers:
294 appeals were lodged in Suffolk for 2023-24, up slightly from 290 the year before
230 of these appeals were heard by an appeals panel
73 (32%) of the heard appeals in Suffolk were successful, compared to a national average of just 20%
Why it matters: The appeals process allows parents to challenge school placement decisions when they don't receive their first preference. Data shows that parents in Suffolk were 1.6 times more likely to be successful when appealing than parents in the rest of the country.
What they're saying: Pepe Di'Iasio, Association of Secondary and College Leaders general secretary said, "The number of appeals lodged by parents reflects pressure on places in oversubscribed schools which fluctuates because of things like new housing in popular catchment areas."
Between the lines: School leaders highlight several challenges:
Local authorities retain responsibility for ensuring sufficient school places but lack the necessary powers and resources
Place planning can appear haphazard due to fragmented decision-making
Demand is often driven by Ofsted ratings, leaving some schools undersubscribed and some oversubscribed
What's next: The government has committed to scrapping single-word Ofsted judgements and providing more support to schools where needed. However, introducing VAT to private schools could increase competition for the best-performing state schools.
The bottom line: While Suffolk parents see higher appeal success rates, the increase in appeals nationally points to ongoing challenges in school place allocation. How the VAT increase for independent schools will impact this in the future is yet to be seen.
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