Apply for funding for school admission appeal costs
How academies can apply for funding to help pay for costs they have incurred hearing school admission appeals between September 2024 and October 2025.
Applies to England
If your academy has heard more than 20 school admission appeals between 1 September 2024 and 31 October 2025, you can claim £180 for each additional admission appeal heard.
You can no longer claim funding for appeals heard before 1 September 2024.
The Department for Education is removing this funding during the 2025 to 2026 financial year. You will not be able to apply for funding to cover the cost of appeals heard after 31 October 2025.
Who can apply
A single academy trust, or an academy which is part of a multi academy trust, can apply for funding.
Your application must relate to school admission appeals heard for an individual academy. Multi-academy trusts cannot claim the funding on behalf of a group of schools.
The school must have held academy status when the appeal hearings were held.
When to apply
We must get your application no later than 7 January 2026. We will not accept applications after this date.
You can apply as soon as you have the necessary evidence to substantiate the application.
We encourage you to apply as early as you can.
How to apply
To apply for funding, send an application email and attached invoice to claims.admissionsappeals@education.gov.uk. We need these to process your claim.
Application email
Your email must state:
- the total number of school admission appeals heard between 1 September 2024 and 31 October 2025
- the number of appeals which you are claiming funding for – you cannot claim for the first 20 appeals heard
- that the claim is true and fair, and you have kept all evidence for audit purposes
The trust’s Accounting Officer must sign the letter.
Application invoice
Attach an invoice with your official letterhead to your email, in PDF format. Make this payable to the trust.
The invoice must confirm:
- that the amount you are claiming for each appeal is £180
- the total number of admission appeal hearings for which the academy wants to make a claim
- the total amount being claimed
- that VAT is not included