I help parents to find the right independent or state school for their children. I also assist with a range of problems that can arise in a child’s education, for example with admission appeals and Special Educational Needs. There are only a handful of people who provide this kind of service, and so not everybody knows that it even exists.

My husband is a solicitor specialising in family matters and we frequently find ourselves working together on child-related issues.

Let me give some examples of how I can help.

Clients who are moving house

For parents moving to a new area, finding the right state or independent schools for their children can be the most traumatic part of a generally traumatic experience. I can take much of this weight off their shoulders. My website gives full details of my services. It can often be helpful to consult me before a new house is chosen, since a tiny difference in location can have a crucial effect on the catchment areas for state schools in which the clients find themselves.

Clients do not of course expect advice from their solicitors on the educational aspects of their move, but a solicitor who is aware of actual or potential problems in this respect can earn the grateful thanks of his clients by referring them to someone who has detailed knowledge of the Admission Process. Admission procedures are a minefield and vary enormously from time to time and from school to school. A solicitor dabbling in this area does so at his own and his client’s peril.

Clients involved in a Family Dispute

Many family disputes have an educational dimension, for example:

A Specific Issue over education arising between separated or divorced parents

In such a case I can act as an expert either for an individual party or jointly. I can interview and assess the child, research and visit schools and give advice on the educational issue in dispute. I am willing to attend court as an expert witness. I am familiar with and follow the EWI Code of Practice for Experts, the Civil Justice Council Protocol, and the requirements of CPR part 35 and Practice Direction 35.

Here again I can act for an individual or as a jointly appointed expert. Where, for example, I was retained by the individual who proposed moving the child, I could advise how the child’s education could be continued with the minimum disruption and make recommendations as to suitable schools in the new location.

I have a sound working knowledge of many foreign education systems and can speedily research those that I do not know. I can then advise on how the child’s education could best be continued in the proposed new country of residence.

Divorce can often have educational implications, for example where private education can no longer be afforded, or where the parent with care may have to move to a cheaper house in a different catchment area. Here too I can assist one or both parties.

Clients will often seek advice from solicitors on problems relating to schooling where they believe there may be some legal redress. Many such problems will be in areas where the overwhelming majority of solicitors will have no experience or expert knowledge. For example:

At any stage in a child’s education, but particularly at the main entry points into state Primary and Secondary schools, parents may find that their preferred school refuses entry due to being oversubscribed. Parents are entitled to go to Appeal and have their case decided by an Independent Appeals Panel. There is a statutory Appeals procedure that has to be followed. To advise in this area requires highly specialised knowledge and experience. The best presented cases are often more successful than the strongest ones.

In a region where there are grammar schools, parents place enormous importance on getting their children into them. The majority of children who take the 11 plus will fail it, many by only a small margin. Here too there is a statutory appeals procedure where the parents can attempt to persuade an Independent Appeals Panel that their children should be deemed to have passed. In order to assist a client with such an appeal specialist knowledge and experience is required to know what issues are important and what arguments count. Most solicitors have no experience in this area and I have seen some disastrously counter-productive representations made to Panels by lawyers who are under the mistaken impression that expertise gained in general litigation qualifies them to advise in the field of education.

Click here to find out more about the assistance I can give with appeals.

Where parents are dissatisfied with the result of an appeal, it is possible to refer the matter to the Ombudsman. It is necessary to show that there has been maladministration in some form. I have dealt with several such referrals and understand what must be shown to achieve a reasonable chance of success.

Mrs. A was divorcing her husband. She had a 9 year old son. The husband was arguing that she should move to a much cheaper area which was still within easy reach of the son’s school. I was able to show that such a move would have a seriously adverse effect on the child’s choice of secondary schools and to make suggestions about more favourable areas from that point of view.

Mr. & Mrs. B were objecting to a planning application by their neighbour to use the neighbours’ house as a nursery. I was able to provide several practical grounds of objection and full information about the nursery facilities already available in the area.

Mr. and Mrs. C had been divorced for 5 years and had a child in private education starting the second year of his GCSE course. They were engaged in a highly acrimonious maintenance variation application. As part of this, Mr. C was arguing that private education could no longer be afforded. I showed in detail how very damaging a move at that particular time would be to the child’s education and explained how a move after a year would be much better, suggesting suitable state schools. The matter was settled with both parents agreeing to follow my advice.