Placing Request Appeals

When your request has been turned down 

When the Council are not able to give your child a place in the school you want, you are provided with the reason for this in your letter.

The reason is one of those explained below and allowed by law.

(There is a copy of the law detailed in the extract from Section 28c of the Education (Scotland) Act which is also enclosed with your letter)

The Council does not have to admit your child to the school of your choice if any of the following apply:-
 

Pupil numbers in the school would exceed the capacity agreed for the school by the council

• If accepting the request would mean that there would be too many children for the size of the school.

The authority would require to employ another teacher

• If accepting the requests means the Council would have to employ an additional teacher, or spend a lot of money, for example, where they would also have to provide an additional classroom.

The accommodation at the school would need to be altered or significant money spent

• If accepting the request means the Council would have to spend a lot of money on the school making alterations to accommodate more children.

At a later stage in the school another class would have to be created or another teacher employed

• If accepting the request would mean that the Council will have to spend a lot of money to create an additional class and / or employ an additional teacher at a future stage of your child's primary education.

The child does not have the additional support needs requiring education or special facilities normally provided at a special school

• If the school you want has been provided specially for children with special needs, and the Council thinks that your child does not need the special equipment or specially trained staff they have provided in that school.

Likely to be detrimental to order and discipline in the school

• The Council can refuse to provide a place if they think that your child has been very troublesome and would be likely to disturb the order and discipline in that school.

Likely to be seriously detrimental to the education and wellbeing of pupils attending the school

• If your child's education would suffer from moving school.

• The Council can refuse to provide a place if they think for some reason the wellbeing of children attending the school will be affected.

The education normally provided at the specified school is not suited to the age, ability or aptitude of the child

• This might apply if you want your child to be admitted to a stage of education for which the child is not yet ready, or to a school which cannot meet your child's needs.

Placing the child in this school would prevent the education authority from retaining reserved places for catchment children

• If accepting the request would prevent the Council reserving a place at the school for a child likely to move into the catchment area of the school during school year.

The specified school is a single sex school (with meaning given to expression by the Section 26 of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975) and the child is not of the sex admitted or taken (under that section) to be admitted to the school.

• If you want your daughter to go to a boy's school or your son to go to a girls school.

Making an appeal against refusal to place your child in the school of your choice 

Under Section 28C(1) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 parents whose placing request has been refused are entitled to appeal against this decision to an appeal committee set up by the City Council. Appeal committee members are drawn from representatives of the City Council and from local attendance councils.  (The local attendance council consists of representatives from school boards).   

The  Make an Appeal [272kb] document outlines in general terms how to lodge an appeal and gives background information on how an appeal should be handled.