This is when secondary school places are confirmed in Liverpool - and how to appeal

Schools in the Liverpool City Council area are expected to announce their decisions on their 2022 application scheme on 1 March, 2022.

Here’s what you need to know about the process - and how to accept or appeal an offer.

Parents and pupils in Liverpool can expect to receive a decision on whether they have been accepted into a secondary school from midnight on 1 March 2022.

However, applications submitted past the October 2021 deadline are less likely to be offered a place at any of their preferred schools.

There, you should find an acceptance form along with an admissions letter.

Fill out the acceptance form and return it to the relevant address.

Liverpool Local Authority (LLA) has agreed with Liverpool schools, the Liverpool Schools’ Admission Forum, Diocese, Archdiocese and neighbouring local authorities to use a co-ordinated admission arrangements and equal preference scheme to allocate places in Liverpool primary and secondary schools.

If a school is oversubscribed it will not be possible for every applicant to be offered a place at that school.

The LLA will do all it can to ensure your child is offered a place at one of the five schools listed in the application submitted last October.

If your child does not receive an offer from any of the five schools listed in the application the LLA will work towards finding a place at an alternative school which closely matches the preferred schools included in the application.

If you are appealing multiple decisions, you must appeal each rejection separately.

The admissions authority must legally give you at least 20 days from when they sent the decision letter to appeal their decision.

The admissions authority will also set a deadline for submitting any evidence you may have to support your appeal. If you miss this deadline, the evidence may not be considered.

You must be given notice of at least 10 school days before an appeals hearing and the hearing must take place within 40 days of the deadline for making an appeal.

The hearings are usually held in front of a panel of three or more people.

The panel will be independent and will follow the school admissions appeal code.

The hearings begin with the admission authority explaining why they turned down your application, to which you will be able to give your reasoning as to why your child should be admitted.

The panel will then identify whether the school’s admission criteria was followed in compliance with the code.

After your hearing you will receive a decision within 5 school days.