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Written question asked by Nadine Dorries (Conservative) on Friday, 7 October 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 10 October 2005. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern (Labour) on Wednesday, 2 November 2005 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Education (Bedfordshire)

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many appeals have been made against the allocation of school places in Bedfordshire local education authority in each year since 1997; and how many were upheld in each year.
Answer

The information requested is shown in the table.At the time of the admission appeals survey which collected figures for the year 2003/04 Bedfordshire local authority was contacted for an explanation of the large increase in primary school appeals between 2002/03 and 2003/04. The reason given was that it was due to the revised Admissions Code of Practice and changes in procedures within the authority due to infant class size limits.

Maintained primary and secondary schools: appeals by parents against non-admission of their children. Each academic year: 1996/97 to 2003/04
Bedfordshire local authority
Appeals heard Appeals decided in parents favour
Number of appeals lodged Number Percentage Number Percentage
Maintained primary
1996/97 37 31 83.8 20 64.5
1997/98 43 30 69.8 15 50.0
1998/99 44 34 77.3 8 23.5
1999/2000 38 22 57.9 8 36.4
2000/01 50 28 56.0 6 21.4
2001/02 62 31 50.0 10 32.3
2002/03 53 26 49.1 3 11.5
2003/04 163 95 58.3 37 38.9
Maintained secondary
1996/97 175 150 85.7 80 53.3
1997/98 284 219 77.1 104 47.5
1998/99 353 312 88.4 79 25.3
1999/2000 299 225 75.3 89 39.6
2000/01 476 382 80.3 121 31.7
2001/02 391 283 72.4 91 32.2
2002/03 419 335 80.0 129 38.5
2003/04 411 332 80.8 147 44.3
England
Appeals heard Appeals decided in parents favour
Number of appeals lodged Number Percentage Number Percentage
Maintained primary
1996/97 27,106 21,817 67 10,580 48
1997/98 30,868 20,178 65 9,564 47
1998/99 32,194 21,219 66 9,341 44
1999/2000 28,728 18,712 65 7,290 39
2000/01 27,106 17,505 65 6,208 35
2001/02 25,680 16,164 63 5,510 34
2002/03 22,410 13,760 61 4,540 33
2003/04 20,810 13,180 65 4,340 33
Maintained secondary
1996/97 40,021 29,472 74 9,234 31
1997/98 46,103 33,192 72 10,752 32
1998/99 53,739 38,961 73 12,642 32
1999/2000 60,454 43,943 73 14,182 32
2000/01 63,611 46,366 73 14,993 32
2001/02 69,210 49,981 72 16,218 32
2002/03 69,020 50,200 73 16,820 34
2003/04 65,180 46,480 71 16,290 35
Source: Annual Schools Census and Admission Appeals Survey
(56) Number of appeals heard by a committee expressed as a percentage of the number of appeals lodged by parents.
(57) Number of appeals decided in parents' favour expressed as a percentage of the number of appeals heard by a committee.
(58) A revised Code of Practice was issued in January 2003 within Bedfordshire local authority.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
16617; 438 c1172-4W;438 c1170-2W
Session
2005-06
Subjects
Bedfordshire School choice