But successful high school appeals dipped slightly from 30.2% to 29.9%, in keeping with parents nationally, with the UK success rate dropping from 35.3% to 32.6%.
Ian Jones, a school appeals barrister, said he was not surprised at the percentage rise in appeals.
He said the number of parents, including those from Merseyside, willing to pay for help through his company, www.school-appeal.org.uk, had doubled within a year and this “was part of the reason for the success rate”.
Although parents do not need legal representation, he said an increasing number were willing to pay between £175 to £1,000 to get “that extra edge”, including help preparing written arguments and even asking barristers like him to speak for them at the appeal.
But he said the appeals explosion was also because of the ease and willingness of parents to scrutinise schools.
And the credit crunch meant “an element of parents” could no longer afford to move house nearer to a school, because they give preference to pupils based on how close their home is.
However, Schools Minister Diana Johnson stressed that only 3.7% of parents had appeal hearings, and added: “It is very rare that schools do not follow their own admissions rules.”
