The Hearing Process for Appellants

On the day of your appeal hearing, please follow the meeting link in your email promptly at the appointed time. The meeting will have been set up so that you have to wait in a "virtual lobby". The Clerk of the meeting will receive an alert so will know you are waiting. Please allow sufficient time for the meeting, and some extra time, in case the hearing prior to yours overruns and you have to wait longer than expected. Please do not worry if this is the case, you will be let in to the meeting as close to the appointed start time as possible.

The hearing will be conducted in private.

Those present at the hearing will be:

• The 3 Independent Appeal Panel members, these are trained volunteers and are independent of Wiltshire Council.
• A representative of the Admissions Authority, usually a member of the Admission Team from Wiltshire Council.
•  A representative from the school. Often, but not always the Headteacher of the school will attend.
• A Democratic Services Officer, who will act as the Clerk to the panel. The role of the Clerk is to provide procedural and legal advice to the Panel and to make a record of the proceedings. The Clerk does not take part in the decision-making process.
• The Appellant(s) (accompanied by someone if agreed).
• Trainee Panel members and Clerk may be present.
• Any other officer of the Council as appropriate.

Once everyone is present who should be, the Clerk will:

• Welcome them to the meeting;
• Ensure everyone can hear/be heard and see/be seen if using video;
• Check that everyone is aware of the meeting controls in MS Teams;
• Explain what happens in the event of technical issues (see below);
• Run through the meeting etiquette

The Clerk will then hand over to the Chair for the appeal to start.

The meeting process

The order of the hearing is as follows:

• case for the admission authority;
• questioning by appellant(s) and panel;
• summing up by the admission authority;
• case for the appellant(s);
• questioning by the admission authority and panel;
• summing up by the appellant(s).

This is described in more detail below:

• The Chair will explain the meeting process.
• The Chair will explain the impartiality and independence of the Panel and that the decision is binding on all parties.
• The Chair will ask the representative of the Admissions Authority to explain the reasons why the appellant was not offered a place at the school of their preference. This is usually called the schools case. If the Headteacher of the school is present, they may add further details.
• The Panel and the Appellant will then have the opportunity to ask questions of the Admissions Authority representative and Headteacher if present. Please hold questions until the presenting officer has finished their submission, to avoid interruptions and talking across each other. Please use the 'raise your hand' or chat function within MS Teams to inform the clerk that if you have a question. At this time, questions should be regarding the school's case.
• The Admissions Authority will be given the opportunity to sum up their case.
• A short recess (approximately 10-minutes) will be declared for the Panel to determine whether the school and Admission Authority have made their case¹. Everyone, apart from the Panel Members and Clerk, will be advised of the time that they should re-join the meeting and will then be removed by the Clerk from the meeting, so the Panel can make their decision on the admission authorities case. To re-join the meeting at the appointed time, use the same link that was used to join the meeting originally.

¹This is slightly different if your appeal is an Infant Class Size Appeal. For those the Panel will be considering whether it is an Infant Class Size Appeal and that the appeal will be heard under Infant Class Size regulations.

•  At the appointed time, click on your join meeting link to re-join the meeting. The Clerk will let you in from the virtual lobby.
• If the Admissions Authority have not made their case, the appeal will be upheld, and the appellant will get a place at the school. If they have made their case, then the meeting will continue, and the Appellant will have the opportunity to make their case.
• The Chairman will ask the Appellant or their representative to present their case.
• The representatives of the Admissions Authority can ask questions of the Appellant for clarification and information.
• The Panel will then ask questions of the Appellant for clarification and information.
• The Appellant and/or their representative, will be given the opportunity to sum up.
• The Chair will double-check that everyone has had the opportunity to say everything they wanted to.
• The representative of the Admissions Authority, the School and the Appellant and/or their representative will be asked to leave the hearing so that the Panel can consider the information and make a decision. The Clerk will advise when you will be contacted with the Panel's decision. The Clerk will remove everyone apart from the Panel and Clerk from the meeting.
• The Clerk to the Panel will remain in the meeting with the Panel, but only to record the proceedings and decision made.

 On the day of your appeal hearing, please follow the meeting link in your email promptly at the appointed time. The meeting will have been set up so that you have to wait in a "virtual lobby". The Clerk of the meeting will receive an alert so will know you are waiting. Please allow sufficient time for the meeting, and some extra time, in case the hearing prior to yours overruns and you have to wait longer than expected. Please do not worry if this is the case, you will be let in to the meeting as close to the appointed start time as possible.

The stage 2 hearing will be conducted in private.

Those present at the hearing will be:

• The 3 Independent Appeal Panel members, these are trained volunteers and are independent of Wiltshire Council.
• A representative of the Admissions Authority, usually a member of the Admission Team from Wiltshire Council.
• A representative from the school. Often, but not always the Headteacher of the school will attend.
• A Democratic Services Officer, who will act as the clerk to the panel. The role of the Clerk is to provide procedural and legal advice to the Panel and to make a record of the proceedings. The Clerk does not take part in the decision-making process.
• The Appellant(s) (accompanied by someone if agreed).
• Trainee Panel members and Clerk may be present.
• Any other officer of the Council as appropriate.

Once everyone is present who should be, the Clerk will:

•  Welcome them to the meeting;
• Ensure everyone can hear/be heard and see/be seen if using video;
• Run through the meeting controls in Teams, by sharing their screen;
• Explain what happens in the event of technical issues (see below);
• Run through the meeting etiquette

The Clerk will then hand over to the Chair for the appeal to start.

The meeting process

As several appeals for the same school and year group are taking place the appeal will be heard as a grouped multiple appeal. It is strongly recommended that appellants attend both stages of the appeal.

The order of the hearing is as follows:

Stage 1:

Attended by all appellants

• case for the admission authority;
• questioning by appellant(s) and panel;
• summing up of admission authority

Stage 2:

Held in private

• case for the appellant(s);
• questioning by the admission authority and panel;
• summing up by the appellant(s).

This is described in more detail below:

Stage 1:

• The Chair will explain the meeting process.
• The Chair will explain the impartiality and independence of the Panel and that the decision is binding on all parties.
• The Chair will ask the representative of the Admissions Authority to explain the reasons why the appellants were not offered a place at the school of their preference. This is usually called the schools case. If the Headteacher of the school is present, they may add further details.
• The Panel and all the Appellants will then have the opportunity to ask questions of the Admissions Authority representative and Headteacher if present. Please hold questions until the presenting officer has finished their submission, to avoid interruptions and talking across each other. Please use the 'raise your hand' or chat function to inform the clerk that if you have a question. At this time, questions should be regarding the school's case. The Chair will ensure that everyone is given the opportunity to speak if they wish.
• The Admissions Authority will then be given the chance to sum up.
• At this point the Clerk will advise that the meeting will soon be drawn to a close. This is so that the Panel can determine whether the Admissions Authority have made their case². Appellants will have been sent a separate link in their invitation email for their Stage 2, appellants should follow that link at the appropriate time to join their Stage 2. Please try to follow the link at the appointed time, however, appellants should put sufficient time aside in case the case before overruns and they have to wait in the lobby for longer than expected. Appellants should not worry if this is the case, they will be let in as soon to the appointed time as possible. It is also possible that if the Panel are running ahead of schedule we may contact the appellant to see if they can join their hearing ahead of the planned start time, any flexibility that can be offered would be appreciated. The Clerk will then remove all participants from the meeting other that the Clerk and the Panel.

²This is slightly different if your appeal is an Infant Class Size Appeal. For those the Panel will be considering whether it is an Infant Class Size Appeal and that the appeal will be heard under Infant Class Size regulations.

• If the Admissions Authority have not made their case, the appeal will be upheld, and the appellant(s) will get a place at the school (unless there are too many appellants for the school to take, in which case the appeal goes on to stage 2). If they have made their case, then the appeal will continue on to stage 2, and the Appellants will have the opportunity to make their case.
• If the Admissions Authority have not made their case, the appeal will be upheld, and the appellant will get a place at the school. If they have made their case, then the meeting will continue, and the Appellant will have the opportunity to make their case.

Stage 2

Held in private and repeated for each appellant.

• The appellant can join the meeting using the meeting link for Stage 2 sent to them by email.
• The Clerk will ensure everyone can hear/be heard and see/be seen if using video;
• The Chairman will ask the Appellant or their representative to present their case.
• The representatives of the Admissions Authority and School can ask questions of the Appellant for clarification and information.
• The Panel will then ask questions of the Appellant for clarification and information.
• The Appellant and/or their representative, will be given the opportunity to sum up.
• The Chair will double-check that everyone has had the opportunity to say everything they wanted to.
• The meeting will be drawn to a close. The representative of the Admissions Authority, the School and the Appellant and/or their representative will be removed from the meeting by the Clerk so that the Panel can consider the information and make a decision.
• The Clerk to the Panel will remain in the meeting with the Panel, but only to record the proceedings and decision made.