Summary: Ms X complains about the way the Council allocated a place for her child at a school and a school admission appeals panel’s decision not to admit her child to a school she expressed a preference for. The Ombudsman has found no evidence of fault in the way the Council allocated Ms X’s child a place at a school. He has also found no evidence of fault in the way the school admissions appeal panel considered Ms X’s appeal. So has completed his investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Ms X, complains about the way the Council allocated school places as her child did not gain a place at any of the schools she expressed a preference for. Ms X says this has caused her distress.
2. Ms X considered the school her child was allocated a place at unsuitable. She complains the Council was ‘unhelpful and unsympathetic’ towards her due to a change in her family circumstances causing a safeguarding risk to her child. Ms X says this made allocating a place at school she sought more important. Ms X considers the Council wrongly advised her to withdraw appeals against two schools.
3. Ms X complains about the actions of the Council’s presenting officer during the hearing. Ms X says the officer questioned whether Ms X should be working full time and adjourned the hearing to find out information about the school’s before and after provision.
4. Ms X also complains about the school admissions appeal panel’s decision not to admit her child to a school she expressed a preference for. Ms X says she wanted a place at the school due to a safeguarding risk to her child. Ms X does not consider the panel considered her concerns. Ms X says the panel’s decision to refuse her appeal has caused her distress.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

5. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a school admissions appeals 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. If we find fault, which calls into question the panel’s decision, we may ask for a new appeal hearing. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended
6. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

7. In reaching my view of the complaint I took account of:
• The current admissions and appeals code
• Information provided by Ms X with her complaint and from a telephone call to discuss the complaint
• The admissions and appeal documents provided by the Council in response to my enquiries
• The clerk’s notes of the appeal hearing
8. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

9. The School Admissions Appeal Code 2012 sets out a two-stage process for considering appeals. In the first stage the panel examines the decision to refuse admission and considers whether it was made properly. It also has to decide whether the admission of additional children would “prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources” for those already at the school.
10. If a panel decides that prejudice would be caused it goes on to the second stage. In this stage the panel must balance the prejudice to the school against the appellant’s case for the child to be admitted. It must decide whether the appellant’s case outweighs the prejudice.
11. The Council is the Admissions Authority for all maintained schools in its area. Parents can express a preference for five school places before the closing date of applications in January 2020. The Council coordinates admissions to ensure a child is only offered one school place. Each year the Council decides the maximum number of pupils that may be admitted into each school. This is referred to as the Published Admission Number (PAN). It takes account of issue such as the total space available throughout the school as well as the organisation of the year group, resources available and the number of teachers.
12. The Council issues an admissions criterion to use when allocating places. These are listed in order of priority and are:
• Looked after children
• Children with a serious and ongoing medical condition
• Children with siblings at the same address and attending the preferred school.
• Any remaining places are allocated on distance to those closest to the school from the home address to the entrance to the preferred school.

What happened

13. Ms X applied for a place for her child to start Reception year at primary school. She expressed a preference for three schools, school A, school B and school C. Ms X was unsuccessful gaining a place at the schools due to her distance from them.
14. The Council allocated Ms X’s child a place at school D. Ms X then expressed a preference for school E. The Council considered Ms X’s application for school E but did not award a place as Ms X had made a late application and the school was full.
15. Ms X appealed for a place at schools A, B, C and E. Ms X discussed her situation and disappointment with a Council officer over not being offered a place at any of the schools she wanted. Ms X contacted the Council thanking the officer for ‘the useful advice’ and help. Ms X said ‘after considering the information’ she wanted to withdraw her appeals for schools A and B.
16. Ms X continued with her appeals for schools C and E. Ms X continued the appeal for school C first. The grounds of her appeal were based the fact both she and her husband worked full time so relied on before and after school provision for their child. Ms X said the location of school C near to her workplace allowed her some flexibility which she did not have at school D due to limited availability of before and after school provision.
17. Before the appeal hearing for school C Ms X contacted the Council and provided information about a change in the family’s circumstances as she was now a single parent. Ms X explained there was a safeguarding risk to her child making her appeal for school C more important.

Appeal hearing

18. The Council arranged an appeal panel hearing in July 2020. The appeal was held remotely using video conferencing because of COVID-19. During the appeal hearing it was adjourned by the panel while the Council’s presenting officer contacted school C to find out availability for the before and after school provision. The school confirmed that due to COVID-19 risk assessments it may have to reduce the number of places available but was waiting for further guidance. Ms X confirmed when discussing the complaint with me she had been able to comment on the outcome of the officer’s call during the appeal hearing.
19. The appeal papers show the Council received 216 applications for school C which had a PAN of 40. The Council offered 41 places to children for Reception year. The papers showed the last successful applicant lived 856 metres from the school so all applicants living further away than that were refused a place. Ms X lived 1744 metres away from the school.
20. The clerk’s notes of the appeal show the panel was satisfied the Council had complied with admissions law for the school, the laws were correctly and impartially applied, and that the school was full. The Council described the pressures on space and resources the school was facing and the problems that would be caused if it admitted extra pupils. The panel agreed that admitting more children would prejudice the education of others.
21. The panel then went on to consider Ms X’s case. This was her concerns about the school place offered, her need to have a school close to her workplace, her change in circumstances and the safeguarding risk to her child.
22. The panel decided the prejudice to the school outweighed the prejudice to the child and the appeal was unsuccessful. The Council wrote to Ms X explaining the decision. Ms X withdrew her appeal to school E and complained to the Ombudsman.

My assessment

23. The Council says it deals with all applications in strict accordance with the admissions policy for each school. Only 3% of children in Dudley were not allocated any of their preferred schools in Dudley which included Ms X’s child. The Council has provided details of the way the places were allocated and offered to children at schools A, B and C. The places were mainly allocated based on siblings already at the school and on distance. At all three schools Ms X’s child lived further away from the school than the last placed applicant. While I appreciate Ms X’s disappointment not to gain a place at schools A, B and C there is no evidence of fault in the way the Council allocated the places for these schools.
24. The Council disputes it has been ‘unhelpful and unsympathetic’ to Ms X’s circumstances. This is because it allocates places in April each year and Ms X only made the Council aware the ‘significant safeguarding risk’ to her child in June 2020 which was after the allocation process. The Council says however, individual circumstances do not form part of the oversubscription criteria so Ms X’s concerns would not have been taken into account when allocating available places anyway.
25. The Council confirms the officer Ms X spoke to spent considerable time discussing Ms X’s situation and exploring several options with her. The Council says Ms X was not advised to withdraw her appeal. It says the officer explained the restrictions for infant class size appeals (where there are more limited grounds for appeal) and these restrictions applied to schools A and B but not school C. The Council says Ms X’s email after speaking to the officer suggests she considered the officer had been helpful.
26. I appreciate the change of circumstances Ms X describes was a distressing situation for Ms X. But the situation occurred after the Council allocated school places and it does not allocate places based on personal circumstances. Because of this I cannot say there was fault by the Council as it was not an issue it would take account of even if Ms X’s situation changed before it allocated school places.
27. The documents I have seen show the Council tried to be helpful to Ms X due to her situation and change in circumstances with officers providing information. There is no evidence to support Ms X’s allegation she was advised to withdraw her appeals. This was a decision Ms X made.
28. The Council says the presenting officer did not comment during the appeal hearing about whether Ms X should be working full time. It says the officer was seeking clarity on the days and hours Ms X worked as she appeared to contradict herself when explaining her childcare support to her working hours.
29. I am satisfied the Council’s view is supported by the clerk’s notes of the hearing. Because of this I do not consider there is evidence to support Ms X’s allegation the officer made an inappropriate comment.
30. The Council confirms during the hearing Ms X made a clear a place at school C would only be viable because of the before and after school provision as she had no other childcare or support available. The presenting officer asked Ms X if she had enquired about availability. Ms X said she had not done so. The presenting officer suggested an adjournment to find out the information as it seemed relevant and crucial to the case. The Council says the panel agreed and requested an adjournment as they would like this information.
31. The code on school admissions appeals does allow the panel to consider an adjournment if they need more time to consider additional information. So, the panel were permitted to adjourn the hearing while the officer found out more information. The clerk’s notes show Ms X also agreed and provided information of the days and hours needed. Ms X has also confirmed she could comment on the information during the hearing. I do not consider therefore there are grounds for me to pursue this point any further.
32. The Ombudsman’s role is to consider whether the appeal panel followed the Admissions Code. We do this by examining the panel’s papers and 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. It is for the panel to decide what weight to give the evidence. As long as it considered the evidence put forward properly, the Ombudsman cannot say what conclusion it should have come to. If we find fault which calls the panel’s decision into question, we may ask for a new appeal hearing.
33. I am satisfied from the Clerk’s notes of the hearing and the appeal decision letter the appeal panel followed the two-stage process for considering the appeal as required.
34. The notes of the hearing, including the panel’s decision–making, show the panel considered evidence about the pressures on school C. The panel decided after considering the evidence presented that admitting further pupils would be detrimental to pupils already at the school. I have therefore not found evidence of fault in the way the panel decided the prejudice issue at stage 1.
35. I have gone on to look at how the panel dealt with Ms X’s case at stage 2. The Clerk’s notes and the decision letter record Ms X’s discussions with the panel at the hearing. I can see they discussed Ms X’s reasons for wanting her child to attend School C, she was not offered one of her preferences, the change in family circumstances, safeguarding risk to her child and need for before and after school provision. The panel considered this evidence but decided it did not outweigh the prejudice to school C.
36. While I appreciate Ms X disagrees, the panel was entitled to make this decision. I am satisfied the panel properly considered Ms X’s appeal and there was no fault from the evidence I have seen so far. There are therefore no grounds for the Ombudsman to question the panel’s decision.

Back to top

Final decision

37. I am completing my investigation. I have found no evidence of fault by the Council in the way it allocated a school place to Ms X’s child. I have also found no fault in the way the independent school admissions appeal panel considered her appeal for a place at a school.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman