Appeals Secretariat

The Appeals Secretariat, based at County Hall in Worcester, make arrangements for appeals where the Local Education Authority (LEA) has not met a parent’s preference for a particular school. The Appeals Secretariat also deals with appeals where a pupil has been excluded from a school on a permanent basis.

The Appeals Secretariat is separate from the LEA and as much as they may want to help, cannot answer questions about the initial allocation of school places, school waiting lists, transport allocation or any of the day to day school questions.

All requests for appeals should be made to the LEA School Admissions Team, either in writing to :- School Admissions Team, Children's Services Directorate, PO Box 73 Worcester, WR5 2YA or by email:- schooladmissions@worcestershire.gov.uk.

In addition to school appeals, the Secretariat also makes the administrative arrangements for hearings convened as part of the Council’s Representations Procedures (Social Services Review Panels and Corporate Representations Panels).

In respect of all appeals hearings, the Secretariat is responsible for recruiting and maintaining a list of persons who serve on Appeals Panels. At panel meetings, staff from the Appeals Secretariat act as usher, adviser and facilitator, remaining with the Panel when they come to make their decisions. After the Appeal hearing, these staff also make sure all parties know what decisions have been made.

A number of guidance leaflets giving further information about the appeals process have been produced.
Further information about School Admission Appeals for Pupils in Infant Classes.  (189.59 KB)  
Further information about all other School Admission Appeals.  (152.82 KB)

Parents can also contact the Advisory Centre for Education (ACE), which is an independent national advice centre.  They offer free telephone advice on many subjects, including exclusion from school, bullying, special educational needs and school admission appeals.

ACE General advice line: FREEPHONE 0808 800 5793

ACE Website: http://www.ace-ed.org.uk

ACE Exclusion information line: 020 7704 9822

Should you need to contact a member of the Secretariat, details are as follows

Julian Pugh – Committee and Appellate Manager
Jpugh2@worcestershire.gov.uk
01905 728753

John Higginbotham – Committee and Appellate Officer
Jhigginbotham@worcestershire.gov.uk
01905 766607

Nichola Garner – Committee and Appellate Officer
Ngarner@worcestershire.gov.uk
01905 766626