The Panel and the Clerk
The Panel must consist of either 3 or 5 members. They must be independent of the Local Authority and must comprise of a Chair and at least one lay member and one education member. No panel member must have a link to the school being appealed and there must be no personal link between a panel member or appellant. Should you recognise a panel member and know them in a personal or professional capacity, you must inform the Clerk.
Panel members are volunteers, and many have experience of hearing appeals for a number of years. On the whole, they are very committed to acting, as far as possible, in the best interests of the children.
All panel members know how daunting the appeal process is and also how important it is for parents and children.
Panel members may be hearing a single appeal for one child in one school, or they may be hearing a large number of appeals over several days. It is very important to make them understand why a successful decision matters so very much to an individual child. The panel can only make a decision on information that is before them, either written or by oral presentation.
The panel will have questions for you, these should be to clarify points made in your written appeal. The panel will not ask irrelevant questions but the whole process can feel very intrusive. Everything said to the panel is confidential.
When hearing multiple appeals the panel must make no decisions about an individual child until all appeals have been heard.
The panel do have assistance from the Clerk. The Clerk remains with the panel throughout the whole process, but has no role in the decision making. The Clerk must be legally trained and advise the panel about matters of law and procedure. The Clerk also has to take an accurate note of what is said over the course of the hearing.
The decision letter will be sent out by the Clerk on behalf of the panel. If you have any questions about procedure, the Clerk should be able to assist, before, during or after the hearing.
If you are unhappy with the panel's decision you can contact the clerk for information about complaints to the Ombudsman, Secretary of State for Education or other legal remedy. The Clerk will not be able to give you any legal advice, but will be able to refer you to others who may be able to help.
After a panel has made a decision, there is no one at the Education Department who can change that decision, unless there is a change of circumstances and a further appeal is allowed or places become available at the school.