If you have applied as part of the normal round of admissions, and been refused a place, you will automatically be placed on the school’s oversubscription (waiting) list.
Oversubscription List (OSL)
The position your child will appear on the Oversubscription List will depend on how closely they meet the school’s admissions priority criteria - see Your Guide to Education for more details.
If a place becomes available, and your child is at the top of the list, you will be contacted automatically to offer you the place.
The majority of OSLs are maintained by Leicestershire County Council’s School Admissions Service. Voluntary Aided schools and some Academies maintain their own.
Check school waiting list (OSL) online
You can use this waiting list if you have applied for:
- First time admissions (4+ children starting reception)
- Infant to Junior Transfers (Year 3 children refused for a Junior school place)
- Secondary Transfers (Year 6 children transferring to Year 7)
If you have applied for a mid-term transfer, the majority of schools in Leicestershire do not hold in-year waiting lists so your child will not usually appear on this list.
Please note that the waiting lists will only last until the end of the autumn term i.e. 31 December 2022.
Please have your child's student ID number ready ('Your Reference' on your offer letter)
Check waiting list position online
- If your child doesn't reside in Leicestershire you will need to contact the School Admissions team using the Admissions contact form
- If your child is on the waiting list for Loughborough De Lisle, Market Bosworth High School or Stoke Golding St Martins School please contact the school directly
Please note: this form uses information from the Synergy Portal, so when the portal is undergoing maintenance you won’t be able to access it.
Appeals
Before you can appeal, you must have applied and been refused a school place – please wait until you have received a refusal letter or email before you submit your appeal.
October 2022 update
How we hold appeals has changed for appeals received on or after 1 October 2022.
The information on this page is a summary of our School Appeals Guidance document:
Appealing for a School Place
If you have been refused a place at a school, you can appeal. You cannot appeal against a school you have been given a place at.
- Example: if you applied to multiple schools and were offered a place at your third choice school only, you may not appeal that place, but you may appeal for a place at your first or second choice school.
Rather than risk having no place at all, you should secure a school place for your child in case your appeal isn’t successful.
The appeals process is run by the Legal Services Team on behalf of the Director of Law and Governance, who are a separate department to and independent of the Admissions Team.
When we have received your appeal we will arrange your appeal hearing as soon as we can. It may be a while before we contact you as it takes time to set up a hearing. Deadlines and the school appeal timetable is shown further down this page.
Your appeal will be heard by a panel of three or five members (the appeal panel). They will look at how the places at the school were given and why you could not be offered a place, including any relevant law (the admission authority’s case). The appeal panel will also consider your individual circumstances (your case).
The decision of the appeal panel is binding on both parties which means that this is your only appeal against the original decision. The decision of the appeal panel will be final.
Appealing for more than one school
You may want to appeal for more than one school. Please submit an appeal form for each school you are appealing for. You will get a different appeal hearing for each appeal which may be on different days sometimes a few weeks apart.
The majority of schools in Leicestershire (apart from Voluntary Aided Schools) use Leicestershire County Council’s appeals service to conduct their appeals. So you must use the council’s procedure to make your appeal, unless told otherwise.
Making an appeal
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Read: How to appeal
When making an online appeal on our system, if the school you want to appeal for isn’t on the drop down list it means we don’t run the appeals for them and you should contact the school directly.
- Your completed appeal form is your case to the appeal panel for wanting a place at the school, so everything you include on it will be seen by those at the appeal hearing.
- You will be asked how you would like to attend your appeal – via video call / face to face / not attend (heard as a written appeal). If, during the process, you change your mind about how you would like to attend your appeal, we may need to rearrange your appeal hearing to a later date.
- If you move home during the appeal process remember to let both the Education Appeals Team and the Admissions Team know: school.appeals@leics.gov.uk
- There is space in the form for you tell the appeal panel why you want a place for your child at the school. Include anything you think the appeal panel should know about. You can upload supporting documents if you have any, for example a doctor’s letter.
- Have ready all the information you need and any files for uploading before starting the form, as you can’t save it.
- You can add supporting documents to the form and send further supporting material afterwards, up to 10 working days before your hearing.
- When ready, complete the Online School Admissions Appeal form.
Or you can download and print out a PDF version to send in by post:
To have a paper copy posted to you, contact the Admissions Service using the Admissions contact form.
For appeals using the PDF or paper form, return it to the Director of Law and Governance by the closing date - check the appeals timetable.
What happens next
- The Director of Law and Governance will let you know when your appeal hearing will take place. You are encouraged to attend the appeal hearing yourself or with a friend. You may ask a representative to speak for you or you can send a written submission
- Your appeal will be considered by an Independent Appeals Panel, that is independent of the school and Leicestershire’s Children and Family Service
- Appeal decision letters will be sent within 5 working days of the last appeal heard, wherever possible.
Please note:
- Repeat appeals in the same academic year will not be allowed unless there has been a significant change in your circumstances, eg a house move
- The panel can only allow an appeal for a place in an infant class that already has 30 children if
- an error was made in the processing of your application form
- the policy or admissions arrangements were applied incorrectly or
- the decision to refuse the place was unreasonable – see the School Appeals Guidance for more information.
School Admission Appeals Timetable 2023/2024
September 2023 entry
Appeals for year of entry (Reception) or transfer applications for admission in September 2023 will be heard according to the following timetable where the appeal is submitted on time:
| |
Offer Date |
Appeals lodged
by |
Appeals to be heard
by |
|---|
| Secondary schools |
Wednesday 1 March 2023 |
Wednesday 29 March 2023 |
Friday 16 June 2023
(40 school days) |
|---|
| Primary schools |
Monday 17 April 2023 |
Tuesday 16 May 2023 |
Friday 1 September 2023
(40 school days) |
|---|
Appeal Hearing Dates
Appeals received after the deadlines will be heard within 40 school days of the deadline date (above) or within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged, whichever is later.
Secondary School on-time applicants: the hearing window for appeals to take place is 26 April 2023 to Wednesday 16 June 2023. You will receive notification of your hearing date during this time.
Primary School on-time applicants: the hearing window for appeals to take place is 6 June 2023 to 1 September 2023. You will receive notification of your hearing date during this time.
You will receive notification of any changes prior to your hearing.
As necessary, school appeals will be conducted in accordance with the School Admissions (England) (Coronavirus) (Appeals Arrangements) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 as amended.
You can download the Appeals Timetable and information here:
Late Applications and Appeals
Applications for a school place received after the closing dates are classed as late.
If your application was late, you must appeal within 20 school days of being refused the place. Your appeal will be heard within 40 school days of the deadline for lodging appeals, where possible, or 30 school days from the date the appeal was lodged.
Mid-term or in-year Transfers
If you have applied for a school place outside the normal round, such as mid-term, and been refused, then you must lodge an appeal within 20 school days of being notified that your application was unsuccessful.
Your appeal will be heard within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged.
