The government stands accused of 鈥減enalising successful schools鈥� after it announced it will no longer fund academies to fight admission appeals, leaving some trusts tens of thousands of pounds short. of 拢180 per appeal, which has been available for many years for academies which deal with more than 20 appeals in a year, will not cover those heard after October 31, with final applications due in by January 7. The government said academies were 鈥渇unded on the same basis as maintained schools鈥� and it was 鈥渆xpected that the costs will be met from their overall budget鈥�. It pointed out maintained schools that were their own admissions authorities – such as VA and foundation schools – had to cover appeals from their own budgets. Leora Cruddas But the Confederation of School Trusts chief executive Leora Cruddas said the reduction in funding was 鈥渦nwelcome, and this change on admissions appeals will particularly affect the most popular, over-subscribed schools. 鈥淲e understand the department is looking to cut discretionary funding wherever possible rather than this being particularly about academy funding but the impact will be hard to deal with because next year’s budgets have already been set and approved.鈥� One trust, which spoke anonymously, said two of its schools received over 1,000 applications for just over 200 places each. ‘A hole in our budget’ Between them, the schools hear between 120 and 150 year seven appeals, up to 25 year 12 appeals and around 30 in-year appeals each year. 鈥淎cross our two schools this is approximately 拢20,000. This suddenly leaves us with a hole in our budget having worked hard to balance it. 鈥淭his is penalising two highly successful schools. Schools should have been given greater notice and told that next year would be the final year that a claim could be made so that it could be built into budget planning.鈥� A Department for Education spokesperson said it would continue to ensure that funding routes support the sector where they need it most, with the best value for money. 鈥淭his grant was introduced in the infancy of the academies programme to support newly established academies subject to a high number of appeals at that time. 鈥淲e will continue to support high-quality trusts to help deliver exceptional results for children and young people, including those in disadvantaged areas.鈥� ‘Costs mount up quickly’ Academy consultant Lucia Glynn told Schools Week the withdrawal of the funding was 鈥渁nother cost which schools and MATs will have to bear from already very stretched budgets. 鈥淐osts of managing appeals – from internal staff member’s time to review documentation, procuring any legal or governance support and advice, clerking of meetings, and any expenses payments to governors to hear the appeal are expensive and mount up quickly. 鈥淧opular schools will be most affected, as parents push to secure a place for their child, so these schools will be disproportionately affected.鈥� It is the latest of a series of funding streams for academies that have been pulled by the government, which is also seeking to wind back many academy freedoms in its schools bill. The DfE confirmed last year it would end its grant scheme for schools choosing to become an academy and had 鈥渘o plans鈥� to continue to run its trust capacity and trust establishment and growth funds. The schools bill is also due to force academies to cooperate with local authorities over admissions and place planning.
Steve 16 July 2025 Who is your so called consultant who refers to governors to hear appeals. Appeals are heard by an independent panel who are not governors. Maybe you should speak people who manage appeals. This is another back door cut to school budgets. All Maintained schools have their appeals paid for by local authority budgets not school budgets. Yes a few LAs expect VAs to pay for appeals but most don鈥檛.