Summary: Mr X complained about the Independent Appeal Panel’s decision not to admit his daughter to his first preference school.
He said this caused him inconvenience and distressed his daughter. The panel was not at fault in how it dealt with Mr X’s appeal.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained that the Independent Appeal Panel did not request evidence of his daughter, Y’s address before rejecting her application.
2. Mr X said this would cause him and his daughter inconvenience and disrupt her routine.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. The Ombudsman cannot question whether a school admission appeal panel’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider if there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3))
4. We check the Independent Appeal Panel followed the Code of Practice issued by the Department for Education and the hearing was fair.  We do this by examining the notes taken by the Clerk during the hearing.  We do not have the power to overturn the Panel’s decision, and we cannot give a child a place at the school. If we find fault, which calls the Panel’s decision into question, we may ask for a new appeal hearing.
5. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I spoke to Mr X and discussed his view of the complaint.
7. I considered the information provided by Mr X and the Council, which includes correspondence shared between them, the school admission papers, appeal application and notes.
8. I wrote to Mr X and the Council and considered their comments before I made a final decision.

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What I found

Independent Appeal Panel

9. Independent appeal panels must follow the law when considering an appeal.
   The panel must consider whether:

• the admission arrangements comply with the law; and
• the admission arrangements were properly applied to the case.

10. The Panel must then consider whether admitting another child would prejudice the education of others. The School Admission Appeals Code says the panel must take account of the school’s published admissions number (PAN) but also says the admissions authority must be able to demonstrate prejudice over and above the fact the PAN has been reached.
11. If the panel finds there would be prejudice the panel must then consider each appellant’s individual arguments. If the panel decides the appellant’s case outweighs the prejudice to the school, it must uphold the appeal.
12. The Ombudsman does not question the merits of decisions properly taken.
    The panel is entitled to come to its own judgment about the evidence it hears.
13. The LGSCO can consider complaints about school admission appeals for some but not all schools. We do not act as another appeal and we cannot question decisions if the admission authority for the school or the independent appeal panel made them properly.

School Admissions Policy

14. For admission to Year 7 in September 2019, the School added 200 places to its PAN for that year.
15. The School’s admissions policy ranks children between 1 - 8. The lower the number, the higher the chance of the child in question gaining a place at the school. The policy gives preference to children living within the School’s catchment area.

What happened

16. Mr X applied to the Council for Y to join the School as his first preference in
    September 2018. At this point he lived outside the School’s catchment area.
17. In March 2019, he received a letter from the Council advising Y had been unsuccessful in securing a place at the School because it was oversubscribed, and Y did not rank high enough to qualify for a place. The Council advised that Y had been added to the waiting list.
18. Mr X wanted to appeal the decision and so completed the Council appeal form. The form stated: “If you are providing a different permanent address for your child than the one used on the application for the school, or you are moving in future, then please contact the Admissions Team with evidence of the new address in order for it to be considered. It is important that you do this promptly as this could affect your place on the school’s waiting list.”
19. Mr X appealed the decision because he said Y had moved to a different address in June 2018. The new address was closer to his preferred school than the previous address. He also felt that the school which had offered Y a place was too far away from his home.
20. The Independent Appeal Panel held a hearing in early May 2019 and wrote to
    Mr X to inform him of its decision to deny his appeal. The Panel advised that despite the fact that Y’s previous school is a linked school with the School, the school had reached the admission number for the year and whilst it had considered the evidence Mr X had supplied in support of his daughter’s application, it had decided it could not accommodate Y at the School.
21. Mr X was not satisfied with this response and referred the matter to the Ombudsman.

My findings

22. When the Council rejected Mr X’s application it was not aware Y had moved to an address which placed her in the catchment area for the School. The Council says Mr X did not supply this information until March 2019 when he appealed the Independent Appeal Panel’s decision.
23. The Council acknowledged it had had sight of this information in Mr X’s appeal application 10 days prior to the hearing and therefore could have contacted Mr X to confirm Y’s living arrangements. However, I do not consider the Council’s failure to take this action fault. Mr X did not provide evidence his daughter had moved to another address when he submitted his appeal. I would not expect the Council to investigate this information without evidence. There was no fault in the way the panel made its decision.
24. Y’s previous school is a linked primary school with the School. The appeal notes show the panel took this into account when it made its decision. I cannot question the merits of a decision the panel correctly made. The Panel explained why Y was not accepted to the school and was entitled to make this decision based on the evidence available to it.

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Final decision

25. There was no fault in the way the Council handled Mr X’s application.
    Therefore, I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman