Admissions Appeals
If you have applied for a place as part of the secondary transfer process, or by completing an in-year admission form and it has not been possible to offer you a place, you do have the right of appeal against non admission.
Hertfordshire Local Authority conducts appeals on behalf of The Bishop’s Stortford High School.
All parents now need to set up an appeals account in order to lodge an appeal. The online appeals portal is the same for all parents and is found here: schoolappeals.hertfordshire.gov.uk/home
In order to set up an account, the following codes are needed:
- Application Reference Number
- Child ID
You can lodge an appeal as follows:
Transfer Appeals – Hertfordshire residents
Hertfordshire parents can access the codes they need in order to set up an appeals account via their admissions account. They can see them on the page where they are told their allocation.
Transfer Appeals – Out of county residents
Parents who live out of county or who applied on paper can use Hertfordshire County Council’s online appeals portal to lodge an appeal. Parents will need to contact Hertfordshire County Council’s Customer Service Centre on 0300 123 4043 in order to obtain their registration details to gain access to the online system. These will be sent via an automated email.
In-Year Appeals Parents who have applied for an in-year place can use Hertfordshire County Council’s online appeals portal to lodge an appeal. The Admissions and Transport team at Hertfordshire County Council will send a letter to parents with their registration details so they can create an account and lodge an appeal. The school will inform the Admissions and Transport team every time an in-year application is made to the school.
Please find the Hertfordshire Local Authority School Appeals page by clicking here.
Please find below details of the admissions appeals timetable for the current year.
SCHOOL ADMISSION APPEALS TIMETABLE
In Year appeals
Appeals resulting from in year admission applications will be heard within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged.
September 2025 entry
Appeals resulting from secondary transfer and under 11s applications for admission in September 2025 will be heard according to the following timetable:
Secondary Transfer
Allocation day 3rd March 2025
Appeals must be lodged by 4pm on 31 March 2025
Appeals will be heard between 2 May – 18 June 2025 (excluding 5 May and 26 May – 30 May)
Under 11s (Primary Reception, Junior / Middle)
Allocation day 16th April 2025
Appeals must be lodged by 4pm on the 20 May 2025
Appeals will be heard between 13 June – 22 July 2025
Appeals lodged after these dates will be heard within 40 school days of the appeal deadline or 30 school days of being lodged, whichever is the later date.
Appellants will be sent notification of their appeal hearing at least 10 clear working days in advance of the hearing.
Appellants will be sent a copy of the school’s case 7 working days in advance of the hearing.
Additional supporting information
Any appellant wishing to submit supporting evidence after they have lodged their appeal will need to get that to the Appeals Team at least 7 working days before the hearing.
Please remember that any confidential medical/social evidence submitted to the Admission Authority (AA) in support of an application will not be provided to an appeal panel. Any appellant who wishes to rely on this in support of an appeal will need to submit it separately to the Appeals Team.
A short document (like a doctor’s letter which was not previously available) will be accepted up to 4 working days before the hearing. Any additional evidence received after this deadline will be accepted only at the panel’s discretion.
