Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about alleged failures in the conduct of a school admissions appeal. There is no evidence the Appeal Panel’s decision was affected by fault.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Mrs A, appealed against the Council’s decision not to offer her child a place at a school. She complains the decision of the Independent Appeal Panel (the Panel) was flawed. Mrs A says the Panel failed to take account of the fact the class previously had more children than it does now and relied on contradictory statements from the head teacher.
2. Mrs A says the Panel’s decision means it will become very difficult to get her daughter to and from school and assimilated into her new local area.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question an appeals panel’s decision 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mrs A and the Council. I also considered our Assessment Code. Mrs A commented on a draft before I made this decision.

Back to top

My assessment

6. 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.

7. The panel must then consider whether admitting another child would prejudice the education of others.
8. If the panel finds there would be prejudice, it 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.
9. The clerk’s notes of the appeal and decision letter show Mrs A was permitted to make her case and the Panel considered all her points. These included the fact the class previously had an additional child. The Panel considered whether the admission of one more child would prejudice the other pupils despite this only bringing it up to the previous number. Having considered the relevant issues, the Panel decided not to uphold Mrs A’s appeal.

Back to top

Final decision

10. I have decided we will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is nothing to suggest fault in how the Panel decided not to uphold Mrs A’s appeal. The Panel’s members exercised their own judgment when coming to their decision and we cannot question this without evidence of fault.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman