Appeal Process
APPEAL GUIDANCE
If your son is due to start Year 7 in September 2025, and you named OPGS as one of your preferred schools, you can appeal up to and including the deadline listed below if you have been refused a place at one of your preferred schools. Your appeal should be submitted from Monday 3rd March 2025 and by 4 p.m. Monday 31st March 2025 at the latest. Any appeals received after this deadline will not be heard in the first round of appeals which are scheduled to be heard in April and May 2025. (Any appeal received after the deadline or because this is not a named school will be heard in June 2025.)
This year the requirements for a selective assessment and eligibility for a grammar school place were a minimum total score of 332 with no individual score below 106. If your child has been given a non-selective assessment and you have named OPGS on your SCAF, you may appeal to an Independent Education Panel to consider whether there could be an exceptional reason/mitigating circumstances for admitting your child.
The Case for the School may be found below. This explains how places have been allocated and the capacity of the school to admit any additional children.
The appeal form can be found below. Once you have completed the online form, you can send your evidence and supporting documents to appeals@opgs.org. You will then be sent a letter detailing the arrangements for your appeal. This will include a deadline for the submission of evidence if you have not sent any with your appeal form. You MUST give a reason, however brief, for your appeal to be valid.
Evidence to support your appeal is important especially if you are trying to overturn the results of the 11+. Therefore, it would be helpful, and advised, to include some or all of the following:
- Headteacher/Class Teacher letter of support
- Recent assessments
- A copy of the Year 5 annual report
- Details of any mitigating circumstances
- Completed primary school tracking sheet, (optional but advised) which shows your child’s progress over time. This may be found below.
Please send your evidence and supporting documents to appeals@opgs.org
Work samples are not required as the Panel will not be in a position to assess their validity or context. In addition, it is not necessary to provide certificates of achievement.
For applications made in the normal admission round, i.e. Year 6 for 7, appeals must be heard within 40 school days of the deadline for lodging appeals.
KCC have advised that if you intend lodging an appeal, you should still send the acceptance form back to the school that you were offered. If your appeal is upheld and you are offered a place at OPGS for your son, you will then need to withdraw your acceptance from the initial school accepted. This is to ensure that if your appeal is not upheld your son will still have a place at a school in September.
KEY DATES
Monday 3rd March 2025 - National Offer Day: KCC offer emailed/posted to parents/carers.
Wednesday 5th March 2025- OPGS to email/post offers to parents/carers.
Monday 17th March 2025 - Deadline for OPGS places to be accepted or declined.
Monday 31st March 2025 - Main round appeals must be lodged to guarantee that the appeal will be heard in the main round of appeals. Any appeals received after this date will be heard within 40 school days.
OPGS Secondary Appeal Form 2025
Approved Case for the School 2025
