• Contact us
  • About us
  • Digital edition
  • Online archive
Friday, July 4, 2025
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald
  • News
    Man fined £100 for using cashpoint in car park

    Man fined £100 for using cashpoint in car park

    Honour for man who devoted his life to Greystoke

    Honour for man who devoted his life to Greystoke

    Sheep breeder’s successful debut at Royal Highland Show

    Sheep breeder’s successful debut at Royal Highland Show

    Global engineering firm Babcock supports Eden charity

    Global engineering firm Babcock supports Eden charity

    Penrith Lions mark 50 years of serving community

    Penrith Lions mark 50 years of serving community

    £8,000 for two new nature reserve projects

    £8,000 for two new nature reserve projects

    Fun day in Penrith to celebrate community spirit

    Fun day in Penrith to celebrate community spirit

    Arrests after shoplifting incidents in Penrith

    Arrests after shoplifting incidents in Penrith

    Anti-social residents move out after threatened with police order

    Anti-social residents move out after threatened with police order

  • Sport
    Penrith skipper Nicky Burns calls on team to keep winning

    Penrith skipper Nicky Burns calls on team to keep winning

    £100,000 target for new changing rooms extension

    £100,000 target for new changing rooms extension

    Medal success for Upper Eden tug-of-war team

    Medal success for Upper Eden tug-of-war team

    Eden man competes in Hyrox World Games

    Eden man competes in Hyrox World Games

    Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

    Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

    Patterdale’s Eden Eagles make history

    Patterdale’s Eden Eagles make history

    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

    Penrith gymnasts represent North of England in finals

    Penrith gymnasts represent North of England in finals

    New boss revealed for Penrith AFC

    New boss revealed for Penrith AFC

  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Online archive
  • Buy Photos
  • Buy your paper
  • North Lakes Living
No Result
View All Result
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald
  • News
    Man fined £100 for using cashpoint in car park

    Man fined £100 for using cashpoint in car park

    Honour for man who devoted his life to Greystoke

    Honour for man who devoted his life to Greystoke

    Sheep breeder’s successful debut at Royal Highland Show

    Sheep breeder’s successful debut at Royal Highland Show

    Global engineering firm Babcock supports Eden charity

    Global engineering firm Babcock supports Eden charity

    Penrith Lions mark 50 years of serving community

    Penrith Lions mark 50 years of serving community

    £8,000 for two new nature reserve projects

    £8,000 for two new nature reserve projects

    Fun day in Penrith to celebrate community spirit

    Fun day in Penrith to celebrate community spirit

    Arrests after shoplifting incidents in Penrith

    Arrests after shoplifting incidents in Penrith

    Anti-social residents move out after threatened with police order

    Anti-social residents move out after threatened with police order

  • Sport
    Penrith skipper Nicky Burns calls on team to keep winning

    Penrith skipper Nicky Burns calls on team to keep winning

    £100,000 target for new changing rooms extension

    £100,000 target for new changing rooms extension

    Medal success for Upper Eden tug-of-war team

    Medal success for Upper Eden tug-of-war team

    Eden man competes in Hyrox World Games

    Eden man competes in Hyrox World Games

    Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

    Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

    Patterdale’s Eden Eagles make history

    Patterdale’s Eden Eagles make history

    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

    Penrith gymnasts represent North of England in finals

    Penrith gymnasts represent North of England in finals

    New boss revealed for Penrith AFC

    New boss revealed for Penrith AFC

  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Online archive
  • Buy Photos
  • Buy your paper
  • North Lakes Living
No Result
View All Result
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald
No Result
View All Result
Home Latest

Parents in Cumbria benefit from postcode lottery over school admission appeals

by CWH
27 August 2021
in Latest, News
A A
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Picture: PA

Parents in Cumbria are much more likely to win an appeal over their child’s selected school than in those in other parts of the country, figures reveal.

With children about to start the new school year, Department for Education data for last year shows a wide variation in school admission appeal success rates between local authorities across England.

In Cumbria, parents took 116 cases against their child’s school placement for the 2020-21 academic year to an appeal hearing, with 37 successful – a win rate of 32 per cent.

The success rate was up from the year before, when it was 31 per cent, and far higher than the national average of 19 per cent.

In contrast, the appeal success rate was just three per cent in Kensington and Chelsea, in London, and five per cent in Solihull in the West Midlands.

Matt Richards, founder of law firm schoolappeals.com, said the urban landscape of an area could be a factor in the variation in success rates.

He said cases in urbanised areas of London were more likely to feature parents simply wanting their child to be placed in a better school, but in rural areas with schools more than five miles apart, it could be down to logistical reasons.

But he added: “It can also be down to the training and advice given to independent panel members which they stick to for their decisions.”

Schools follow the Government’s admission code when deciding which pupils to allocate places to each year.

When a parent is unhappy about an allocation, such as not achieving their first-place preference, an appeal can be submitted to the school’s admissions authority.

That can go to an independent appeal panel which then assesses whether the school was right to turn down the application.

In Cumbria, 95 per cent of pupil applicants were offered a first-choice school place last year.

The number of appeals heard equated to 0.9 per cent of all admissions, down from 1.1 per cent the previous year.

Of the outcomes, parents of secondary school-age pupils were more likely to win than those of primary school pupils, with a success rate of 35 per cent compared to eight per cent.

Across England, the number of appeals heard fell sharply last year, from 48,100 in 2019-20 to 41,100 in 2020-21.

The DfE said measures were put in place to let parents to appeal during the pandemic.

These included allowing appeals hearings to be held by telephone or video conference, or be decided on the basis of written submissions.

The Local Government Association said it could not comment on specific appeal hearings.

But a spokesman said: “Every child should have a fair chance of getting into their parents’ preferred school and councils and schools work extremely hard to try and ensure that as many pupils as possible are allocated their first preference.”

A Department for Education said with an increase in schools found to be “good” or “outstanding” by Ofsted inspectors since 2010, parents could be “confident their child will get the high-quality education they deserve”.

A spokesperson added: “School admissions appeal panels are independent bodies and make decisions on an individual basis, without admission authority involvement in the decision.

“The number of appeals heard in each area varies widely, so the number of successful appeals cannot be meaningfully compared as the volume can impact the success rate of appeals.”

Related Posts

Man fined £100 for using cashpoint in car park
News

Man fined £100 for using cashpoint in car park

4 July 2025
Honour for man who devoted his life to Greystoke
News

Honour for man who devoted his life to Greystoke

4 July 2025
Sheep breeder’s successful debut at Royal Highland Show
Farm and Countryside

Sheep breeder’s successful debut at Royal Highland Show

4 July 2025
Global engineering firm Babcock supports Eden charity
News

Global engineering firm Babcock supports Eden charity

4 July 2025
Penrith Lions mark 50 years of serving community
News

Penrith Lions mark 50 years of serving community

4 July 2025
£8,000 for two new nature reserve projects
Latest

£8,000 for two new nature reserve projects

3 July 2025
No Result
View All Result

Stay connected

Facebook Twitter Instagram

Most popular

Partnership vs company: Choosing the right structure for your farming business

Partnership vs company: Choosing the right structure for your farming business

29 June 2025
Sheep breeder’s successful debut at Royal Highland Show

Sheep breeder’s successful debut at Royal Highland Show

4 July 2025
Illegal vapes seized from Eden shop

Illegal vapes seized from Eden shop

3 July 2025
Honour for man who devoted his life to Greystoke

Honour for man who devoted his life to Greystoke

4 July 2025
Anti-social residents move out after threatened with police order

Anti-social residents move out after threatened with police order

3 July 2025
Arrests after shoplifting incidents in Penrith

Arrests after shoplifting incidents in Penrith

2 July 2025
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald Logo

33 Middlegate
Penrith
Cumbria
CA11 7SY

Phone: 01768 862313
Email: news@cwherald.com

Registered in England as Barrnon Media Limited. No: 12475190
VAT registration number: 343486488

Explore

  • News
  • Sport
  • Farming
  • Property
  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Your view

Useful links

  • Contact us
  • Photosales
  • Online archive
  • Buy your paper
  • Digital edition
  • North Lakes Living
  • Advertise
  • About us

Follow us on

© Barrnon Media Limited 2025

Terms & Conditions / Privacy Policy / Cookie Policy

This website and its associated newspaper are members of the Independent Press Standards Organisation
Review Your Cart
0
Discount
Add Coupon Code
Subtotal
Total Installment Payments
Bundle Discount
Checkout

 
0
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Online archive
  • more
    • North Lakes Living
    • Buy Photos
    • Buy your paper
    • About us
    • Contact us

© 2020 Cumberland & Westmorland Herald