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Appeal against a refused school place (Northern Ireland)
Northern Ireland · in English · for parents
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For a parent in Northern Ireland whose child has been refused a place at a primary or post-primary school they applied for. An appeal against the Board of Governors' decision to the independent admissions appeal tribunal the Education Authority sets up: it names the decision and sets out why the school's published admissions criteria were not applied, or not applied correctly — the question the tribunal decides. Lodge it by the deadline in the Education Authority's letter, through EA Connect, on its paper form or as this letter, posted first class with the decision letter.
- Made for use in Northern Ireland
- Last updated October 29, 2026
- Document in English
Where a UK document reproduces the words of legislation or of a government publication — UK, Scottish or Northern Irish — it contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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When to use this document
- Your child is leaving primary school in Northern Ireland and did not get a place at any of the post-primary schools you chose.
- You think the grammar school applied its criteria wrongly, for example about a brother or sister already there.
- Your child's AQE or SEAG result was high enough, but the school still turned them down.
- You want to appeal a refused primary school place to the admissions appeal tribunal.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Sender
- Sender's address
- Town or city
- Sender's postcode
- Date
- Recipient
- Recipient's address
- Recipient's postcode
- Child's name
- Child's date of birth
- Admission application reference (if any)
- School
- Date of the decision
- School year
- Grounds
- Attachments
Common questions
- What can an admissions appeal tribunal in Northern Ireland decide?
- Only whether the school's published admissions criteria were applied, and applied correctly, to your child. If they were not, and your child would have been admitted had they been, the tribunal allows the appeal. It cannot weigh how much your family wants the school or whether the criteria are fair, so point to where a criterion, such as a feeder school, a sibling, the distance or a transfer test result, was wrongly applied or overlooked.
- Where and by when do I lodge a school admissions appeal in Northern Ireland?
- The Education Authority's letter telling you the outcome gives the deadline, which for post-primary places has been a short window in late May; appealing is free. You can appeal online through EA Connect if you applied that way, or on the Education Authority's paper form, and this letter can be sent with either or on its own to the address the letter gives. You are told the hearing date in advance; post-primary appeals are usually heard in the summer.
- Are there other routes when a child in Northern Ireland has no post-primary place?
- Yes. The Exceptional Circumstances Body is a separate, independent route where exceptional circumstances are the reason a child needs a particular post-primary school; the Education Authority explains how to apply. A child with a statement of special educational needs does not use this appeal: a disagreement about the school named in the statement goes to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal. The Education Authority also helps place children still without a school.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
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