Appeals

Parents have the right to appeal to an independent panel against the decision of the school not to offer their child a place.  In the normal admissions round, most appeals are heard during the summer term, in time for the new academic year.  Appeals should be sent to the Clerk to the Appeal Panel, via the school. Parents are strongly advised to read the Guidance Notes before preparing their appeal.

NOTE: While these arrangements give you the right to appeal against decisions of non-admission, the School Standards & Framework Act 1998 does not give you the right to a place at a particular school. Even if you are appealing for a place at your preferred school you should make arrangements with another school in case your appeal is unsuccessful.

Year 7 Appeals

You have the right of appeal to an independent appeal panel if your child has been refused a place at William Hulme’s Grammar School.  Parents will be told of their right to appeal via their Local Authority on National Offer Day (3 March 2025). If you choose to exercise this right, you will need to complete an appeal form which can be downloaded from the school website or obtained from the school.

Completed forms should be emailed to admissions@whgs-academy.org or handed in on paper not later than Friday 28 March 2025 (20 school days from 3 March 2025).

Appeals received after this date will not be heard in May, unless the Clerk to the Appeals Panel considers that there is an exceptional and unavoidable reason why the appeal is late, and the appeal is received in time for all parties to give proper consideration to all documents.  Any other late appeals will be heard later in the year. 

Appeals lodged on time for Year 7 2025 will be heard via an online platform, on the dates below:

Stage One grouped hearing for the school’s case: Monday 19 May from 1:00pm to 3:30pm. All appellants will receive an invitation to this well in advance of the meeting.

Stage Two Individual Parents’ Cases will be heard from Tuesday 20 May to Friday 23 May 2025.

You will receive an invitation to your individual hearing. This is in addition to the Stage One grouped hearing.

Late Year 7 appeals will be heard in the week beginning Monday 16 June 2025. Appeals lodged after 15 May 2024 may not be heard until September 2024.

Reception Appeals

You have the right of appeal to an independent appeal panel against the decision not to offer your child a place at William Hulme’s Grammar School. If you choose to exercise this right, you must complete an appeal form which can be downloaded from the school website or obtained from the school. Completed forms should be sent or handed in personally, to be received by the Clerk to the Appeals Panel c/o the school no later than 4.00pm on Friday 16 May 2025.  

Reception appeals will be heard via an online platform in the week beginning Monday 16 June 2025.

Appeals received after the above date will not be heard in June, unless the Clerk to the Appeals Panel considers that there is an exceptional and unavoidable reason why the appeal is late, and the appeal is received in time for all parties to give proper consideration to all documents. Any other late appeals will be heard later in the year.

We have a duty to make parents aware that appeals for Reception are classed as Infant Class Size appeals.

Section 1 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 limits the size of an infant class to 30 pupils with a single school teacher. Where an infant class will have admitted 30 pupils, panels can only uphold appeals in very limited circumstances which are set out in the School Admissions Appeals Code (paragraph 2.15).

There have been no successful Infant Class Size appeals for William Hulme’s Grammar School Reception class in recent years.

In Year Appeals

Parents who wish to appeal for an In Year place should submit their appeal form, together with all the supporting documents they wish the panel to consider.  Appeals should be sent to the Clerk to Appeals c/o the school. Any In Year appeals will be heard by the independent panel within 30 school days of their receipt. 

Complaints About Appeal Procedure

If an appellant is considering making a complaint about the school's handling of their appeal, they should refer in the first instance to the government's guidance about making an online complaint and the grounds for complaint which the government is allowed to consider.