Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, Faversham (06A03575 + 9 others)

School admissions                      Maladministration causing injustice

14 May 2007

The complaint

The parents of 10 children applied for places at the Grammar School, a foundation school which was wholly selective by academic ability. The Governors (as admissions authority) refused the children places as they had all been unsuccessful in the selection tests. The School was not full, and the parents took up their right to appeal against the refusal of places.

The Governors engaged the County Council to provide the admissions appeal panel and its clerk to consider the appeals. The parents complained about the way their applications for the admission of their children had been considered, and were particularly concerned about the manner in which the panel heard their appeals.

The Ombudsman’s investigation

The Ombudsman found faults in the way the appeals had been handled, including:

• information on the test scores was provided too late and in a way that was not fair to the parents;
• the relevant information was not delivered in a clear and sensitive manner by the panel chairman to the parents;
• the panel took account of irrelevant factors such as waiting lists and the absence of a head teacher’s ‘appeal’;
• the panel put pressure on participants to keep some hearings unnecessarily short; and
• some of the panel’s approach to and questioning of parents was wholly inappropriate.

The Ombudsman’s view

The Ombudsman concluded that this maladministration had deprived the complainants of the opportunity to have their appeals considered in a fair and sensitive manner. He said:

“Appellants are entitled, whatever their circumstances and outlook, to have their appeals considered in accordance with the applicable law and codes of practice, but this did not happen. The denial of this opportunity amounted, of itself, to a serious injustice, which was largely remedied by the rehearings which the governors promptly arranged.”

The Ombudsman said that governors of voluntary aided and foundation schools who engage a local education authority or another outside agency to provide an appeal panel, a clerking service, or both, should satisfy themselves that the service to be provided will meet their expectations, and also accord with the law and the applicable codes of practice. He pointed out that governors cannot take it for granted, without proper enquiry, that the appeals service that they commission will be fit for purpose.

The outcome

Early in the Ombudsman’s investigation the Governors offered to arrange new appeals for the complainants with a panel of different members and a different clerk. The Ombudsman welcomed this. All the parents accepted the offer, and all the subsequent appeals were upheld.

The Ombudsman also asked the Governors to review, in consultation with the Council, their arrangements for the hearing, consideration and clerking of admission appeals, and to provide training that would eliminate the faults identified.

Date Updated: 22/12/08