Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about an Independent Appeal Panel refusing a school place. This is because it is unlikely we would find evidence of fault in how the Panel reached its decision.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mrs X, complains the Independent Appeal Panel (IAP) unfairly denied her child’s appeal for a school place at the School, as it unjustly considered that she did not meet the exam results criteria. Mrs X also complains the School granted places to children with lower exam results than her child.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered Mrs X complaint and the appeal that was submitted to the Panel. I also considered the Panel’s notes and information from the School about its admissions. I also considered Mrs X comments on a draft of my decision.

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What I found

What happened

4. Mrs X applied to the School, which is a foundation school and responsible its own admissions. The School had two exam criteria for admission. It refused a place to Mrs X’s child on the grounds that, whilst Mrs X’s child received a qualifying overall exam score for the first criteria, they did not achieve the required individual subject scores to meet the second criteria.
5. Mrs X appealed against the School’s decision. In support of her appeal, she set out her child’s achievements in primary school and the reasoning for why the child did not achieve the second criteria in the exam.
6. The Panel refused Mrs X’s appeal. Mrs X believes the decision was unfair, given that she provided evidence of her daughter’s achievements, and that children who achieved a lower exam score were given a place at the School. Mrs X wants the panel to reconsider the appeal and offer her child a place at the School.

Assessment

7. Independent school admission appeals panels must follow the law when considering an appeal. The Panel must consider whether the admission arrangements comply with the law and if the admission arrangements were properly applied to the case.
8. The Panel must then consider whether admitting another child would prejudice the education of others. In this case, the Panel needed to decide if Mrs X’s child met the criteria for the School, and if so, consider if admitting Mrs X’s child would cause prejudice to the education of others.
9. 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.
10. The clerk’s notes of the appeal hearing show the Panel considered the evidence Mrs X provided. It found that although Mrs X’s child achieved an aggregated score for both tests which met the required level, she only achieved the required score in one of the individual tests.
11. The notes also show the Panel considered the additional information provided by Mrs X, as well as the prejudice cases made by Mrs X and the School. The weight the Panel chose to give to the evidence was a matter for its professional judgement. There is no evidence of fault in the way it made the merits decision to refuse the appeal.
12. Decisions on appeals must be made on the merits of the individual cases. The fact that other children may have been granted a place has no bearing on the decision on Mrs X’s appeal. However, if they had a lower aggregated score but achieved a pass mark in each individual test, they would qualify under the School’s admissions criteria.

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Final decision

13. I will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely I would find evidence of fault in how the Panel reached its decision.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman