Appeal a school admission decision

You have the right to appeal if your child isn’t offered a place at a school you have applied for. 

Your appeal will be made to an independent body called an Appeal Panel. 

You can find out more about admission appeals in the School Admissions Code and the Schools Admission Appeals Code.

We only deal with appeals for Sutton Community Schools

If you want to appeal to another school, you’ll need to contact the school directly. 

The community schools in Sutton are:

• Devonshire Primary School
• Hackbridge Primary School
• Robin Hood Infants School
• Robin Hood Junior School

Find contact details for other schools in Sutton:

• Primary and Infant schools contact details
• Junior schools contact details

How to appeal a Sutton Community School place

Cognus Limited deals with admission appeals for Sutton community schools on behalf of Sutton Council.

You’ll need to request an appeal form in writing. On the form, you need to clearly explain why your child should have a place at the preferred school. You must tell us which Sutton community schools you want to appeal for.

To request an appeal form you can email suttonadmissions@cognus.org.uk, or you can write to Cognus at:

The Appeals Officer
School Admissions Team
London Borough of Sutton
Cantium House
Station Approach
Wallington
Surrey
SM6 0DZ

Deadlines for appeals for this year

Secondary schools 

• National offer day: 3 March 2025
• Deadline to lodge an appeal: contact the school to find out their deadline

Primary and Junior schools

• National offer day: 16 April 2025
• Deadline to lodge an appeal
  • for Sutton community schools: 20 May 2025
  • for all other primary and junior schools: contact the school to find out their deadline

What happens next

You will be invited to attend an appeal hearing. Your appeal will be heard within 40 school days of the deadline to lodge an appeal.

Late applications for admissions round

Late applications for the admissions round should be heard within 40 school days of the deadline.

If this isn’t possible, the appeal will be heard within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged.

In-year admissions

Appeals for in-year admissions will be heard within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged.

Invitation to hearing

You’ll be given at least 10 days' notice of the date of your appeal. 

Appeal papers will be sent to you and panel members 5 school days before the appeal is heard.

After the hearing

The clerk to the appeal panel will advise you in writing of the outcome of your appeal hearing.

Further right to appeal

If you think we or the panel haven't followed proper procedure, you can complain to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO). They can’t overturn the decision, but they can ask us to look at your appeal again.