The Education (No. 2) Act 1986 (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 1994

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

Articles 3 and 4 of this Order substitute new paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 3 to the Education (No. 2) Act 1986. These now provide that as well as notifying parents of a pupil permanently excluded from a county, voluntary or maintained special school (or the pupil himself if aged 18 or over) of the right of appeal, the body responsible for making appeal arrangements must explain the consequences of failure to appeal in time, and of giving notice of intention not to appeal. In the case of an aided or special agreement school this would be the governing body of the school. For other schools it would be the local education authority. Notice must be given in writing.

Article 6 inserts a new paragraph 3A in Schedule 3 which provides that a parent (or the pupil himself if aged 18 or over) may only appeal against a decision not to reinstate the pupil if he does so within fifteen school days of being informed of the decision. It also provides that no appeal may be made if a parent or a pupil aged 18 or over gives written notice to the body responsible for making appeal arrangements that he does not intend to appeal. These amendments to Schedule 3 enable the expiry of the time for appealing to be determined for the purposes of section 262(9)(b) of the Education Act 1993 (exclusion of pupils: funding).

Article 7 of the Order provides that an appeal committee must consider an appeal by a parent or pupil or by school governors within whichever is the shorter of fifteen school days from the appeal being lodged, or within the period determined by the body responsible for making appeal arrangements.

Under article 9 the appeal committee has seventeen school days from the date the appeal is lodged in which to notify interested parties of its decision. The body responsible for making appeal arrangements may fix a shorter period or, at the request of the parent or pupil aged 18 or over only, extend this period.

The Order makes other minor changes to Schedule 3 to the 1986 Act, and transitional provision.