Appeals Policy

 

 

1.1. All successful applicants to the Imperial College London Mathematics School will receive conditional offers of a place by 30th April 2023. Those applicants whose application is deemed unsuccessful by the School’s Admissions Panel will have the right to appeal. The Admissions Panel may also make the decision to place an applicant on the School’s waiting list, and such applicants also have the right to appeal that decision. For the avoidance of doubt, this policy does not apply to applicants who accept a conditional offer from the School but who subsequently fail to meet the conditions of the offer.

 

1.2. An applicant may formally appeal a decision of the School’s Admission Panel within 10 working days of the date of the written notification to the student of the admissions decision on the grounds that the admissions arrangements did not comply with admissions law or had not been correctly or impartially applied. This document outlines the procedure of the formal appeal of the Admission Panel.

 

1.3. The School will ensure in all cases that appellants are treated fairly and impartially. Appeals shall be considered by the Appeals Panel, whose membership is restricted to individuals who are not members of the Admissions Panel.

 

1.4. Candidates are encouraged to seek informal feedback from the School before lodging a formal appeal and such requests for informal feedback or other informal enquires are outside the scope of the admissions policies and procedure.

 

 

2.1. Appeals against either an unsuccessful application or against being placed on the School’s waiting list, must be submitted in writing by completing an ICLMS Admissions Appeals Form with any supporting documentation or evidence within 10 working days of the date of the written notification to the student of the admissions decision. If an applicant on the School’s waiting list is subsequently offered a place, the appeal will be treated as withdrawn. The ICLMS Admissions Appeal Form requires the appellant to provide details regarding the basis on which their appeal is made. Appeals must be submitted to the Chair of the Board of Governors of ICLMS at the following email address: appeals@iclms.ac.uk

 

2.2. Where an appeal is submitted on behalf of a student, the person submitting the appeal shall include written confirmation from the student that they are authorised to act on the student's behalf.

 

 

3.1. The Governing Body shall appoint three governors (or two governors and one co-opted member) annually to act as the Appeals Panel.

 

3.2. The role of the Appeals Panel is to formally consider the appeal following representation from both the appellant and the Admissions Panel. The Appeals Panel has the power to over-rule the decision of the Admission Panel to reject a candidate or place a candidate on the School’s waiting list.

 

3.3. The Appeals Panel shall elect one of their number to be the Appeals Chair who will coordinate communications between the Appeals Panel, the School, and the appellant, and chair the Appeal Hearing at which the appeal is considered. The Chair must be an ICLMS governor.

 

3.4. The Appeals Panel shall consider the appellant's case after arranging an Appeal Hearing, at which both the appellant and the Admissions Panel must be offered the opportunity to present their cases.

 

3.5. Appellants are strongly encouraged to attend the Appeal Hearing in person to present their case. If they are unable to attend in person, the Appeal Panel will make a decision based on the evidence submitted. The appellant can be accompanied at the Appeal Hearing only by a parent/carer or other family member and/or an interpreter or signer who may speak on their behalf at the hearing. However, it is not possible for an employee of the School to attend on their behalf.

 

3.6. The Appeal Hearing must normally take place within 20 working days of the submission of the appeal. The Appeals Panel will invite the Admissions Panel to submit evidence to support their decision. The appellant will also be invited to submit any additional evidence that was not submitted with the Admissions Appeal Form. All evidence will be shared between all parties prior to the Appeal Hearing; all parties must normally submit paperwork at least 5 working days prior to the Appeal Hearing.

 

3.7. The Clerk to the Governing Body, or another appointed Clerk if the Clerk to the Governing Body is not available, will record the minutes of the Appeal Hearing. The appointed clerk shall notify the parties of the order of the proceedings at the Appeal Hearing in advance of the meeting.

 

3.8. The Appeal Hearing will have the following order of proceedings:

• The Chair will introduce all attendees

• The Clerk will outline the procedure for the Appeals Hearing

• The Admissions Panel representative will outline the case for the admissions outcome The appellant and the Appeals Panel will be invited to ask questions of the Admissions Panel representative

• The appellant will outline their case for appeal

• The Admissions Panel representative and the Appeal Panel will be invited to ask questions of the appellant

• The Admissions Panel representative will be invited to sum up their case

• The appellant will be invited to sum up their case

• The Admissions Panel representative and the appellant (including any accompany support) will be asked to leave the Appeals Hearing

• Consideration by the Appeals Panel will take place after all appeals have been heard.

 

3.9. The Appeals Panel Chair shall communicate the decision of the Appeals Panel in writing to the student and the School normally within 5 working days of the Appeal Hearing. If the appeal is not upheld, the reasons for this decision will be included in their communication to the School and to the appellant. If the appeal is upheld, the Panel shall direct the School to make a conditional offer to the appellant.

 

3.10. The Appeals Panel decision is final and binding.

 

3.11. The Appeals Panel will summarise the outcomes of all appeals in an admissions cycle to the Governing Body at the Summer meeting of the board. The committee may at this time make recommendations regarding policy and procedure to the School and/or to the Governing Body which they consider to be appropriate.

 

 

4.1. Appellants who are dissatisfied with the outcome of the Appeals Panel can refer the matter to the Education Funding Agency. Appellants can only appeal on the basis that the school's admissions policy was not properly followed.

 

 

5.1. Imperial College London Mathematics School is a 16 to 19 Academy and as such is not required to comply with the School Admissions Code. The admission arrangements for 16 to 19 Academies do need to be fair, objective, and transparent.

 

5.2. In addition to not being required to comply with the School Admissions Code, ICLMS is not required to comply with the School Admissions Appeal Code, which do not apply to 16 to 19 Academies.

 

Action	Individual / Group	Date
Created	ICLMS admissions and curriculum group	June 2022