Summary: there is no fault in the Independent Appeal Panel’s decision not to admit Ms M’s daughter to the School. The Ombudsman cannot question decisions taken without fault.

The complaint

1. Ms M complains about the Independent Appeal Panel’s decision not to admit her daughter to the school. She does not believe the Panel has taken account of her family’s circumstances.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 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 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

5. I have considered:
• Ms M’s comments;
• all the information presented 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 Governors to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

7. The School is a Foundation School. The Governors are the Admission Authority and are responsible for admissions and appeals.
8. Ms M applied for a place for her daughter in Reception. Her application and subsequent appeal were unsuccessful. Ms M complained to the Ombudsman.
9. The Ombudsman checks the appeal was carried out properly. We do not decide whether Ms M’s daughter should be given a place at the school.
10. 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.
11. No more than 30 children can be taught by a single teacher in an infant class (Reception and Years 1 and 2). If this is not possible without reorganisation or employing extra staff, and this would harm the education of other pupils, “infant class size prejudice” rules apply to the appeal.
12. When infant class size prejudice rules apply, the Appeal Panel can only legally uphold an appeal if:
1. the child would have been offered a place were it not for some flaw in the admission arrangements; and/or
2. the child would have been offered a place if the admissions arrangements had been implemented properly; and/or
3. the decision to refuse a place was one which no reasonable authority would have made.
13. The threshold for appeals made under c. above is extremely high. The Panel cannot legally uphold appeals which do not fall into the categories above, no matter how persuasive the appeal otherwise is.
14. The Panel considered whether the infant class size prejudice rules applied to Mrs M’s appeal. There will be two classes of thirty children in Reception at the school. The School explained in its submission to the Panel that the school does not have resources to fund an extra teacher or space for an extra classroom. The Panel decided, therefore, that infant class size prejudice rules apply to Ms M’s appeal. There is no fault in the Panel’s decision. The Ombudsman cannot question decisions taken without fault.
15. The Panel also considered whether the admission arrangements complied with the law and decided they did.
16. The Panel then considered whether the Council had correctly applied the admission criteria to the application. The Council processes applications on behalf of the Governors. Ms M’s application was unsuccessful because there were more applications than places at the school, and all the places were given to children with more priority than Ms M’s daughter. Mrs M’s daughter was in category 6 – children living out of the catchment area. The last place was allocated to a child in category 4 – children living in the catchment area. The Panel decided that Council had correctly applied the admission criteria.
17. Finally, the Panel had to consider whether the decision to refuse Ms M’s daughter a place was one which a reasonable admission authority would have made in the circumstances of the case.
18. The Clerk’s notes and the decision letter record Ms M’s discussions with the Panel at the hearing. I can see from the Clerk’s notes that Ms M appealed on the following grounds:
• she wants her daughter to attend a good school and is unhappy with the school she has been allocated;
• her family have all attended the school;
• Ms M is a carer and the location of the school would allow relatives to collect her daughter if she was unavailable.
19. These are not factors the Panel can take into account when considering whether a reasonable admission authority would refuse Ms M’s application. A reasonable admission authority can only admit children in accordance with the published admission criteria. The Panel was satisfied Ms M’s application was considered in accordance with the published admission criteria. The Panel could not, therefore, uphold Ms M’s appeal.

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Final decision

20. I have completed my investigation. There is no fault in the appeal which calls the outcome into question. The Ombudsman cannot question decisions taken without fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman