PARENTS whose children fail the 11-plus are to lose the right to appeal to county councillors over the result.

Kent County Council is to scrap its controversial system of appeals, which has for years allowed councillors to recommend children be given a place at a grammar school.

Parents will continue to have the right to make a statutory appeal to a separate independent panel but KCC’s abolition of so-called “member appeals” ends a long-standing practice which is considered by some to be unlawful.

Last year, more than 451 appeals were considered by councillors but of those only 107 were upheld – just under a quarter.

Councillors from KCC’s Appeals Panel Committee agreed to end the system at a meeting on Tuesday.

The decision stems partly from Government legislation, which has obliged education authorities to ensure that where a system of appeals for places at grammar schools is in place, the process must be completed by the time all secondary school places are allocated at the beginning of March.

In Kent’s case, appeal panels have traditionally considered appeals after this date, bringing it into conflict with the Government’s code of practice on admissions.

However, KCC’s decision has also been hastened by the intervention of the Schools Adjudicator, Philip Hunter. He told education chiefs last month that member appeals could no longer be justified in view of the new legislation and suggested they were responsible for breeding mistrust between schools.

Cllr Leyland Ridings (Con), KCC cabinet member for schools, said the decision was likely to help streamline the admissions process.

“There is no doubt in my mind that member appeals have actually prolonged the whole process of admissions. It is cumbersome and staff intensive and there is an issue around costs,” he said.

County councillors have only ever considered parental appeals to so-called community and voluntary-controlled schools – that is, schools which are entirely KCC’s responsibility.

They are unable to consider appeals for places at selective foundation or voluntary aided schools, which have responsibility over their own admissions.

During a debate, opposition councillors condemned the appeals system, with one dubbing the panels “heartbreak committees".

Cllr Peter Morgan (Lib Dem), who represents Swale, said: “I am pleased we are going to lose what can be a traumatic process. The transfer from primary to secondary school is difficult anyway and to add this dimension to the process amounts to cruelty.”

Opposition Labour group leader Cllr Mike Eddy welcomed the news.

“Kent County Council has finally got rid of part of a system which no other education authority has used for years and which only serves to delay admissions decisions by several weeks.”

However, he criticised KCC for continuing to allow appeals to be made to councillors over primary school places, although that too could eventually disappear.