Appeals

APPEAL DATES & INFORMATION

PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY

Admission Appeals for Year 7, September 2025 Entry

If your child/ward was ‘H’ (high school, rather than ‘G’, grammar assessed from Kent Test), but you wish to apply for a grammar school place at The Norton Knatchbull School, you should name this school as one of your choices on the SCAF.  You will not be offered a grammar school place on National Offer Day (1 March 2025) by Kent Admissions, but you do have the right to appeal this decision.  Kent Admissions will recommend that you accept the school place offered until you hear outcome(s) from appeal hearing(s).

If you have not been offered a place at The Norton Knatchbull School, the law entitles you to appeal against that decision to an Independent Appeal Panel. This panel is completely independent of the school and the Local Authority. All appeals will be heard online, which has the advantage that your appeal can be heard from your home or place of work.

If you wish to appeal, please use this link to complete your appeal online. Please do NOT use ANY other appeal form or send your form to your local authority. It is suggested that you download the explanatory booklet about appeals which you should read before you complete the appeal form – Booklet Link .

You should include any evidence or supporting material with your appeal form and you MUST give the grounds for your appeal at the time you lodge your appeal form. Your appeal form will not be accepted unless you state the grounds for your appeal. You may appeal for more than one school, but on different forms.

Examples of schoolwork your child may have undertaken will not be accepted.  The appeals code is clear that the panel cannot assess a child.  The Panel would not be able to make a proper judgement about its quality. They would have nothing to measure it against and would not know the depth of the work submitted. Also, they would not know whether the work had been carried out unaided.  The panel will give due weighting to academic letters from professionals such as, headteachers, teachers and tutors, plus CAT or NFER test reports.

Any letters or reports that you wish the panel to see should be uploaded at this time.  You are asked to bear in mind that if you later send additional information, the closing date is 5 working days before the STAGE 1 hearing.  All appointed panels have agreed NOT to take any late letters or reports after the 5 working day deadline.  This will be strictly enforced.  For secondary/primary transfer appeals, the hearing will take place at least TWO months after the refusal letter.  This gives you plenty of time to get your evidence together if you act early and take account of school holidays.

Please note that the online form will ask you to download two utility bills dated in the last THREE months.  If you do not have access to a scanner, please take two photographs with a mobile phone and upload the photographic files.

Full details about the hearing will be sent to you with your invitation to the hearing.

If you wish to contact the clerk – email:  clerk@educationappeals.com

The timetable for appeals is as follows:

Last day for lodging appeal forms for a place in Year 7 to start in September 2025	4pm on Wednesday 2 April 2025 to guarantee that your appeal will be heard in the first tranche of appeals.  Appeals lodged later may not be heard until the second tranche which could be in September 2025. You MUST state the reasons for your appeal and supply any documentary evidence at this stage.
The Stage 1 part of the hearing (with other parents present) will take place on	Tuesday 13 May 2025 at 5.00pm.
Stage 2, the individual private hearings will take place on	Wednesday 14 – Friday 16 May 2025 (depending on the number of appeals).
Invitation letter giving details about your hearing will be sent by the Clerk to the Independent Appeal Panel	At least 10 school days before the Stage 1 hearing.
Any additional supporting evidence	Closing date is Tuesday 6 May 2025. You are advised that additional paperwork received on the day of the appeal hearing will not be taken into account. Please provide the Clerk with ONE copy of any new additional evidence BY EMAIL ONLY. These must be sent to clerk@educationappeals.com.
Letter from the Clerk informing you of the decision of the independent appeal panel	Due to the high number of appeals held at this time, this may not be sent until up to 10 working days after the last hearing for the school.

In-Year Admission Appeals for Years 7-11

Timetable for appeals for mid-term applications is as follows:

Last day for lodging appeal forms following a refusal for a place ‘in year’ or ‘mid-term’ excluding Sixth Form.

You must lodge the appeal form within 20 school days upon receipt of your letter of refusal.  You MUST state the reasons for your appeal and supply documentary evidence at this stage. Appeals are held within 30 school days of receipt of the appeal form.

Admission Appeals for Year 12, September 2025 Entry

Timetable for appeals for the Sixth Form is as follows

Last day for Lodging appeals

4pm on Wednesday 27 August 2025 to guarantee that your appeal will be heard on Friday 29 August 2025. You MUST state the reasons for your appeal on the online form and supply any documentary evidence at this stage e.g. a copy of your result sheet. Please note the timetable is very short to enable those appellants who win appeals to start as early into the school year as possible.  Click here for the Sixth Form appeal form. This form will only be available from GCSE Results Day on Thursday 21 August 2025.

Appeal date

Appeals will be heard online on Friday 29 August 2025.