Appeals for a place to start school in September

There are 2 types of appeal, infant class size appeals and standard appeals

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There are 2 types of appeal, ‘infant class size appeals’ and ‘standard appeals.’ It is very important that you know which type of appeal yours will be. We have grouped the schools according to which type of appeal they will have.

To find out which schools are included in which type of appeal, please use the ‘Schools that will have ‘infant class size appeals’ section of this page or the ‘Schools that will have standard appeals’ section.

You can appeal online at our ‘Refused a place at your preferred school‘ page, and select ‘How to appeal’.

If you want to appeal for more than one school please use an appeal form for each school you wish to appeal for.

Please read the Primary Appeals Timetable 2024 in the downloads section of our cyclical refusal webpage – Refused a place at your preferred school. The timetable provides information on the deadlines for the appeals process.

If you have been refused a place in a school outside Somerset, please see “School Admissions Teams in Somerset’s neighbouring local authorities“.

Schools that will have ‘infant class size’ appeals


School Admission Appeals Code – 4.12 Admission authorities must provide parents with information on the limited circumstances in which an infant class size appeal can be upheld in order that they can make an informed decision about whether to submit an appeal.

If you are considering appealing for a school where the appeal will be considered under the provisions of the Infant Class Size Regulations, then please be aware that the Appeal Panel has to follow a different decision making process for infant class size appeals than for non-Infant Class Size appeals.

In considering an infant class size appeal, the Appeal Panel is reviewing the Admission Authority’s decision to refuse your child a place at the school. There are only limited circumstances in which an infant class size appeal can be allowed, and as such, only a limited chance of your appeal being successful. The Appeal Panel is not permitted to balance your case against the school’s case as it would in a non-Infant Class Size appeal.

The Appeal Panel may consider allowing the appeal if it finds any of the following:

  • The admission of an additional child would not breach the infant class size limit;
  • The school’s published admission arrangements do not comply with the legal requirements and your child would have been offered a place if the published admission arrangements had complied with the legal requirements;
  • The school’s published admission arrangements have not been correctly and impartially applied in your child’s case, and if they had been, your child would have been offered a place;
  • The decision to refuse admission was not one which a reasonable admission authority would have made in the circumstances of the case.

In considering whether the Admission Authority has made an unreasonable decision, the Appeal Panel must determine whether the decision was one no reasonable Admission Authority would have reached in the circumstances of the case, and the threshold for finding this is high. In this context, it is the legal meaning of “reasonableness” that applies, which means that to be unreasonable, the decision to refuse to admit the particular child is irrational or perverse.

The courts have already established in previous cases that a decision that makes it impossible for you to transport all your family to school on time, or even impossible for you to continue working, is very unlikely to be considered a perverse decision.

It’s important to know that you have the legal right to appeal, but please do be aware of the limited circumstances under which infant class size appeals can be upheld.

The following schools, listed alphabetically, will have ‘infant class size’ appeals.

The schools are listed alphabetically by district.

Brookside Primary School
Hayesdown First School
St Joseph’s and St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School
St Vigor and St John Church School
West Pennard Primary School
Wookey Primary School

Mark First School
Northgate Primary School
Somerset Bridge Primary School

Birchfield Primary School
Huish Primary School
Kingfisher Primary School
Manor Court Primary School
Martock Primary School
Oaklands Primary School
Preston Primary School
Primrose Lane Primary School

Blackbrook Primary School
Lyngford Primary School
Nerrols Primary School
North Town Primary School
Parkfield School
St Michael’s First School, Minehead
Thurlbear Primary School
West Monkton Primary School

If you are appealing online and the school you are appealing for is in the list above, return to the online form and answer ‘yes’ when asked if this is an infant class size appeal.

If you are not using the online appeal form and the school you wish to appeal for is in this list you must use an infant class size appeal form.

Schools that will have standard appeals

The following schools, listed alphabetically, will have standard appeals.

The schools are listed alphabetically by district.

Bowlish Infants
Chewton Mendip Primary School
Horrington Primary School

Enmore Primary School
Kingsmoor Primary School
Nether Stowey Primary School
St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Burnham-On-Sea
Westonzoyland Primary School

Charlton Mackrell Primary School

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Primary School
Stogumber CofE Primary School
St Dubricius Porlock First School
Trull CofE Primary School
West Buckland CofE Primary School

If you are appealing online and the school you are appealing for is in the list above, return to the online form and answer ‘no’ when asked if this is an infant class size appeal.

If you are not using the online appeal form and the school you wish to appeal for is in this list you must use this form. 

Last updated: September 10, 2024

Next review due: March 10, 2025

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