Admission appeals timetable: what to publish on your school website
If your school is its own admission authority, your website needs your appeals timetable each year, from the deadline to lodge an appeal to when decisions are sent.
Check this on my websiteWho it applies to
- Published on
- The school's own website
- School type
- Academies and maintained schools
- School stage
- All stages, from early years to sixth form
- Only applies to
- Schools that are their own admission authority: academies, foundation and voluntary-aided schools
- Does not apply to
- Nursery schools, sixth-form only providers and alternative provision
When it's due
By 28 February each year
What's needed
Publish your admission appeals timetable on the admissions page on your website by 28 February each year, with the deadlines for lodging an appeal and sending evidence, the notice given for hearings and when decisions are sent.
What it must contain
7 parts- Publishes a timetable for how it will organise and hear admission appealsMust: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.
- Gives the deadline to lodge an appeal, at least 20 school days after notificationMust: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.
- Gives a deadline for the clerk to send appeal papers to the panel and partiesMust: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.
- Gives appellants at least 10 school days' notice of the hearingMust: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.
- Says decision letters are sent within 5 school days of the hearingMust: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.
- Gives the deadline for a parent or carer to submit additional evidenceMust: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.
- Gives the deadline for the admission authority to submit its evidenceMust: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.
What the official sources say
Set out in 4 official sources:
What maintained schools must publish online
By 28 February each year, the school must publish a timetable setting out how it will organise and hear admission appeals.
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ Admission arrangements > Admission appeals
This timetable must: – include a deadline that allows a parent or carer at least 20 school days from the date of notification that their application was unsuccessful to prepare and lodge a written appeal – include reasonable deadlines for: – a parent or carer to submit additional evidence – admission authorities to submit their evidence – the clerk to send appeal papers to the panel and parties – ensure that a parent or carer lodging an appeal receives at least 10 school days’ notice of their appeal hearing – ensure that decision letters are sent within 5 school days of the hearing, wherever possible
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ Admission arrangements > Admission appeals
Show 2 more from this source
Foundation and voluntary-aided schools must publish their admission arrangements to comply with the: – school admissions code – school admission appeals code
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ Admission arrangements > What foundation and voluntary-aided schools must publish
Community and voluntary-controlled schools must publish a link to the local authority’s website for parents and carers who wish to find out about the school’s admission and appeal arrangements. It is the local authority that manages both processes.
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ Admission arrangements > What community and voluntary-controlled schools must publish
What academies must publish online
By 28 February each year, the trust must publish a timetable setting out how it will organise and hear admission appeals.
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ Admission arrangements > Admission appeals
Academy trusts must publish their admission arrangements to comply with the: – school admissions code – school admission appeals code
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ Admission arrangements > What academy trusts must publish
School admission appeals code 2022
2.2 Admission authorities must publish their appeals timetable on their website by 28 February each year.
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ para 2.2, page 12
2.1 Admission authorities must set a timetable for organising and hearing appeals that: a) includes a deadline for lodging appeals which allows appellants at least 20 school days from the date of notification that their application was unsuccessful to prepare and lodge their written appeal;
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ para 2.1(a), page 12
Show 1 more from this source
b) ensures that appellants receive at least 10 school days’ notice of their appeal hearing;
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ para 2.1(b), page 12
School Admissions Code
28 February 2023 Deadline for admission authorities to publish their appeals timetable on their website.
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ Example timetable, Offer Year (2022/23), page 43
Questions schools ask
Do schools have to publish an admission appeals timetable?
Academies and maintained schools must. It only applies to schools that are their own admission authority: academies, foundation and voluntary-aided schools.
Which dates does an admission appeals timetable need to include?
Publishes a timetable for how it will organise and hear admission appeals; deadline to lodge an appeal, at least 20 school days after notification; a deadline for the clerk to send appeal papers to the panel and parties; appellants at least 10 school days' notice of the hearing; Says decision letters are sent within 5 school days of the hearing; deadline for a parent or carer to submit additional evidence; and 1 more part listed above.
When do we need to publish our appeals timetable?
By 28 February each year.
Where does the requirement for the admission appeals timetable come from?
It is set out in What maintained schools must publish online, What academies must publish online, School admission appeals code 2022 and School Admissions Code.
Recent changes to the official guidance
None of the published updates to the official sources change this requirement.
We last checked these sources on 21 September 2026.
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Official wording that does not apply to schools (1)
1.1 Under section 94 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, responsibility for making arrangements for appeals against the refusal of a school place rests with the admission authority of the school.
Official sources last checked 21 September 2026 · register version 1.0.4