St Paul's School for Girls, Edgbaston (19 011 849)

Statement Upheld School admissions 14-Aug-2020

Summary: The school and appeal panel are at fault as they did not consider if the fair access protocol should have been applied to Ms X’s daughter Y when she appealed for a place at the school. As a result, Y was wrongly denied a place at the school. The school will remedy this injustice by offering a place to Y.

Fortismere School, Muswell Hill (20 001 497)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries School admissions 13-Aug-2020

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about an unsuccessful appeal for a school place. This is because there is no evidence of fault by the appeal panel and so we cannot question the merits of its decision.

Brighton & Hove City Council (19 013 423)

Statement Upheld School admissions 12-Aug-2020

Summary: Ms B complains about how a school admission appeal panel dealt with her appeal for a secondary school place for her child. The Ombudsman finds there was no fault in the appeal hearing to call into question the decision on Ms B’s appeal. There was however a delay in notifying Ms B of the panel’s decision reasons, and that was fault. The Council has agreed to apologise for this.

Cheshire West & Chester Council (19 016 713)

Statement Upheld School admissions 12-Aug-2020

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council wrongly upheld a school admissions appeal for a child, Y, meaning Mrs X’s own child was disadvantaged. The Council is at fault and caused injustice to Mrs X’s child. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X, pay her £150 for her time and trouble and provide training to members of the appeal panel.

Hampshire County Council (20 001 042)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries School admissions 11-Aug-2020

Summary: A parent complained about the school admission appeal panel’s decision to refuse her appeal concerning a school place for her daughter. But the Ombudsman has no reason to investigate the complaint because there is no sign of fault in the way the panel made its decision.

St John Fisher Catholic Primary School (20 002 018)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries School admissions 11-Aug-2020

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Schools Admissions Appeal Panel failed to provide his child with a place at their preferred school. It is unlikely the Ombudsman would find fault which caused them to lose out on a school place.

Cardinal Heenan High School, Leeds (20 000 759)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries School admissions 10-Aug-2020

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms X’s complaint that the Schools Admissions Appeal Panel failed to provide her child with a place at this school. It is unlikely the Ombudsman would find fault which caused her to lose out on a school place.

Suffolk County Council (20 001 260)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries School admissions 06-Aug-2020

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the refusal of a place for the complainant’s son at the school that she chose for him. This is because there is no fault in the way the Appeal Panel (IAP) looked at the appeal.

Camden School for Girls (19 013 229)

Statement Upheld School admissions 05-Aug-2020

Summary: Miss X says there was fault in the way a school appeal admissions panel considered her case. There is evidence of fault and the School has agreed to arrange a new appeal.

Ursuline Catholic Primary School (19 011 454)

Statement Upheld School admissions 04-Aug-2020

Summary: Mrs X complained that the school admission appeal panel did not properly consider her daughter’s circumstances when deciding to refuse her a school place. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint further because Mrs X’s daughter has now been offered a place at the school, and we could not achieve a better outcome than this for the complainant.