3. Appeal panel members
There are usually three or five trained voluntary people on the Appeal Panel who are all completely independent of the Local Authority and the school you are appealing for.
Appeals Panels have to consist of at least one lay member who has no personal experience in the management or provision of education in any school, and at least one member will be someone with experience in education or has a child registered at school.
For voluntary aided schools the panel may include a diocesan representative.
Advising the Appeals Panel is a clerk who is legally trained and will ensure that the correct procedures are followed.
The clerk must also take notes of the relevant points discussed at the hearing, and will remain with the Panel when they make their decision to record the reasons for this.
Only the members of the Independent Appeal Panel make the decision on whether to allow your appeal or not.
The clerk, the admission authority representative or the Local Authority are not included in the decision-making.