Parent appeals for first-choice schools reach record levels
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Your support makes all the difference.Record numbers of parents are appealing after their first choice of school is turned down, figures released yesterday show. Increasingly consumer-conscious parents lodged 85,900 appeals in 1998-99 compared with 77,000 the year before - a rise of 12 per cent.
Record numbers of parents are appealing after their first choice of school is turned down, figures released yesterday show. Increasingly consumer-conscious parents lodged 85,900 appeals in 1998-99 compared with 77,000 the year before - a rise of 12 per cent.
But primary school parents are finding it harder to win an appeal. Though the number of primary appeals rose to 32,200 from 30,900, fewer were successful. Parents' groups suggested that the fall in successful appeals was due to the Government's introduction of class size limits for infants.
Secondary school appeals showed a bigger rise - from 10,800 to 12,600 - and more were successful.
The Advisory Centre for Education said that although the figures pre-dated the enforcement of the Government's limit of 30 on class sizes for pupils aged between five and seven, many areas were already preparing for them. They almost certainly reflected parents' feeling that the new ruling made it hard to win an appeal case for primary schools.
Margaret McGowan, adviser to the centre, said: "A lot of parents are put off from appealing because the local education authority makes it clear that the grounds on which they can appeal are now very narrow and the personal circumstances of the child and the family do not come into it."
She predicted that it would be even more difficult for parents to win primary school appeals in future though the position would vary in different parts of the country. Some councils are building extra classrooms for popular schools.
The rise in secondary school appeals was caused byconsumer-conscious parents who pored over exam league tables and downloaded inspection reports from the internet, Ms McGowan suggested. "Parents are worrying much more about getting their children into high-performing schools. Recent changes have polarised schools. They also study reports to find out about a school's ethos. Attitudes to bullying are very important to parents."
Estelle Morris, the Schools minister, said the Government recognised the importance of parental preference and that a new, fairer and more independent appeals system would operate from September.
Appeals have increased every year since 1994 and account for about 7 per cent of admissions each year.
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