To ask the Minister of Education to outline the process for challenging school admissions decisions in light of the changes related to COVID-19.

Article 15 of the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 requires the Education Authority (EA) to make arrangements to enable a parent to appeal against an admission decision where a child has been refused a place at an over-subscribed school by the application of the school’s published admissions criteria.

At the conclusion of the admissions processes, parents will receive notification of the outcome of their school applications via the EA’s online portal and at this time the EA will inform parents of their right to appeal and the deadline for submitting an appeal form.

An Independent Appeal Tribunal will then determine whether the school in question applied its admissions criteria and, provided it did, whether the criteria were applied correctly. Where an appeal is successful the child will be placed at the school.