Reading Borough Council (20 012 331)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries School admissions 03-Mar-2021

Summary: Mr X complained the Council denied his request to change a school preference and this was unfair. We will not investigate as there has been no significant injustice caused to justify an investigation.

Derby City Council (20 007 253)

Statement Upheld School admissions 01-Mar-2021

Summary: The Council is at fault for withdrawing an offer of a place for Ms X’s child at her preferred school when she moved to a new house. The Council failed to establish the relevant facts and apply its Admissions Policy to Ms X’s case. The appeal panel failed to consider if the policy was properly applied. The Council should re-offer the place.

London Borough of Redbridge (20 001 280)

Statement Not upheld School admissions 25-Feb-2021

Summary: the complainant complained the Council did not give proper notice of a change in its schools’ admissions policy and failed to properly consider his application for a school place. The Council said it amended the policy following an adjudication by the Office of the Schools Adjudicator and its appeals panel properly considered the appeal against the decision on the application. We find the Council acted without fault.

West Berkshire Council (20 002 957)

Statement Not upheld School admissions 24-Feb-2021

Summary: Mrs C says the Council is at fault for a failure to enforce its school admissions policy by carrying out checks to ensure children applying for places at a local school were eligible. As a result, Mrs C says she and her child, X, suffered injustice as Mrs C was refused a place at the school despite living in the catchment area. The Council was not at fault. The Council made reasonable checks to ensure applicants met the admissions criteria and the appeal panel applied national and Council policies correctly.

West Berkshire Council (20 006 739)

Statement Not upheld School admissions 24-Feb-2021

Summary: Mrs D says the Council is at fault for a failure to enforce its school admissions policy by carrying out checks to ensure children applying for places at a local school were eligible. As a result, Mrs D says she and her child, Y, suffered injustice as Mrs D was refused a place at the school despite living in the catchment area. The Council was not at fault. The Council made reasonable checks to ensure applicants met the admissions criteria and the appeal panel applied national and Council policies correctly.

Cambridgeshire County Council (20 010 977)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries School admissions 22-Feb-2021

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

Menorah High School For Girls (20 000 727)

Statement Upheld School admissions 22-Feb-2021

Summary: based on the evidence I have seen, the Governors’ response to Mr P’s complaint may be tainted by the appearance of bias since the investigator and two of the panel members appear to have had links with the school. There are, however, no grounds for the Ombudsman to question the outcome. The school has agreed to review its complaints procedures to avoid the appearance of bias when considering complaints in the future.

City of Wolverhampton Council (20 007 392)

Statement Upheld School admissions 18-Feb-2021

Summary: Mrs B complains that the independent school admissions appeal panel did not properly consider her appeal for a place for her son, C, at the school his brother attends. The Council has now offered a Mrs B a fresh appeal with a new panel. The Ombudsman proposes to discontinue our investigation because we do not consider that investigating further would lead to a better outcome.

St. Georges Primary School (20 005 524)

Statement Upheld School admissions 10-Feb-2021

Summary: The Ombudsman found fault by the school in the way it dealt with Mrs M’s request for an in-year place for her daughter. It failed to explain the process, offer her an application form, explain her appeal rights, and delayed forwarding her appeal form. The evidence failed to show the appeal panel properly considered the appeal or followed the correct procedure. The agreed action remedies the injustice these failures caused.

London Borough of Redbridge (20 009 539)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries School admissions 09-Feb-2021

Summary: A parent complained about the Council’s handling of her application for a school place for her son. She also complained about the way the school admissions appeal panel dealt with her appeal about the refusal of a place at her preferred primary school. But we have no reason to start an investigation of these matters. This is because the Council has now offered a place at the school, and we could not achieve a more favourable outcome than that.