164 appeals by parents over school places in Kirklees

May 18 2009 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

DOZENS of Huddersfield families face a fight to get their child into the school of their choice.

They have had their requests rejected by Kirklees Council education chiefs.

Now a series of school admission appeal hearings are set to be heard.

The hearings, dealing with parents whose child has not got into the Kirklees school of their choice, will be heard over the next few weeks.

The authority today confirmed that 164 appeals have been lodged by parents unhappy with the authority’s decision about the choice of primary, middle or secondary school choice.

Fifty-two of those appeals have been heard or are due to be heard for admission to secondary schools in September, 28 for junior and middle schools and 84 for reception (primary) schools.

There are no figures available for appeals lodged with aided and foundation schools as the governors are the admission authority and are responsible for ensuring appeals take place.

The flood of appeals follows letters which were sent out last month to parents for school admissions in September.

When there are more applicants than there are places available at popular schools, specific admissions criteria is used to allocate places.