MORE appeals were lodged in Barnsley last year following the refusal of a school place application.

Most appeals are made when an applicant has not received an offer of a place at their first preference school.

However, appeals relating to other transfers at the start of the school year are also included.

Figures from the Department for Education show 201 appeals were lodged in Barnsley by the start of the 2023/24 school year - up from 102 the year before.

Of the appeals lodged in Barnsley, 158 were heard by an appeals panel - 33 of them were successful.

School leaders’ union NAHT said place planning has become uncoordinated in an ‘increasingly fragmented’ school system, as it called for a plan to guarantee a school place for every child.

Paul Whiteman, NAHT general secretary, said: “Starting a new school is a huge moment in a child’s life, so it is understandable that getting their first choice is a priority for parents and it is right that they have access to a clear and fair appeal process to try to secure this.

“The problem is that the increasingly fragmented school system lacks a co-ordinated approach to place planning.”

Local authorities retain responsibility for ensuring sufficient school places but ‘no longer have the powers and resources needed to do so’, according to Mr Whiteman.

“This means planning can appear haphazard, decisions are often made in isolation without considering the implications for local families and as a result new schools and places are not always commissioned where they are most needed,” he said.

A Department of Education spokesperson added: “It is the responsibility of the local authority to ensure there are sufficient school places for pupils who need them.

“Each school has an admission authority to set its admission arrangements including the oversubscription criteria it will use to allocate school places if more applications are received than there are places available.”