Summary: there was no fault in the way an Independent Appeal Panel made its decision not to admit Ms M’s daughter to a secondary school.  The Ombudsman cannot question decisions made without fault.

The complaint

1. Ms M complained about an Independent Appeal Panel’s decision not to admit her daughter to a secondary school. Ms M objects to questions asked by the Panel during the hearing.

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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 a school admission appeal panel’s decision 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))
3. 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.
4. If we are satisfied with a panel’s 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

5. I have considered:

• Information provided by Ms M;
• all the information submitted to the Appeal Panel, the notes taken by the Clerk during the appeal, and the Panel’s decision letter following the appeal; and
• the School Admissions Appeals Code 2012.

6. I invited Ms M and the Council to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

7. Ms M was offered a place for her daughter at her first choice school. She turned down the offer when she discovered children who had bullied her daughter at primary school had been allocated places at the same school. She appealed for a place at her second choice school instead. The school is a community school. The Council is the admission authority and responsible for organising the appeal.
8. The School Admission Appeals Code 2012 issued by the Department for Education sets out the process the Independent Appeal Panel must follow when considering an appeal.
9. The Panel must first consider whether the School has correctly applied the admission criteria to the application. Ms M’s application was unsuccessful because the school was full and all the places had been allocated by the time Ms M requested a place. The Panel was satisfied the admission criteria were correctly applied.
10. The Panel must then consider whether the school can accept any more pupils without disadvantaging those already given places. This is known as the case for prejudice. The Panel heard the school had already accepted more pupils than planned and the constraints of space and resources meant admitting more would harm the quality of education the school could provide. The Panel accepted the school was full and could not take extra pupils. The decision the school is full is a decision that the Panel is entitled to take, and there are no grounds for the Ombudsman to question it.
11. The Panel must then consider Ms M’s case for her daughter to be admitted to the school even though the school is full. This is known as the balancing stage where the prejudice to Ms M’s daughter if she is not given a place is balanced against the prejudice to the school if she is. The Clerk’s notes and the decision letter clearly record the reasons for Ms M’s appeal. The Panel considered Ms M’s arguments but decided that the prejudice to her daughter did not outweigh the prejudice to the school. This is a decision that the Panel is entitled to take and there are no grounds for the Ombudsman to question it.
12. Ms M was upset by some of the questions the Panel asked about her daughter’s bullying. This was the reason for Ms M’s appeal, so the Panel was entitled to ask questions.

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Final decision

13. I have ended my investigation. There is no fault in the Appeal Panel’s decision not to admit Ms M’s daughter to the school. The Ombudsman cannot question decisions taken without fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman