Summary: Mr X complains about the unsuccessful admissions appeal for his child, Child Y. There was no fault in the Appeal Panel’s decision. We cannot question decisions made without fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the unsuccessful admissions appeal for his child, Child Y. He feels the admissions panel was biased and unduly influenced by someone from the Council attending the second stage of the panel hearing. He believes the panel has not taken into account the basis for his appeal or the impact of its refusal on Child Y and the rest of the family.

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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 an organisation’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 spoken to Mr X and considered the information he has provided in support of his complaint.
6. I have considered the information the Council has provided in response to my enquiries. This includes all the information presented to the Appeal Panel, the notes taken by the Clerk during the appeal and the Panel’s decision letter to Mr X following the appeal.
7. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant guidance

8. School admissions appeals are governed by the School Admissions Appeals Code 2012 (‘the Code’). The Code sets out how appeals should be administered.
9. Appeals are heard in two stages. The appeal panel is first asked to consider whether the admission arrangements “complied with the mandatory requirements of the School Admissions Code and Part 3 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998”, and also whether they were correctly and impartially applied in the appellant’s case.
10. The panel then has to decide whether the admission of additional children would “prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources”. Panel members have to satisfy themselves on this point by asking questions and rigorously examining the school’s case.
11. The admission authority only moves to the second stage of an appeal if it was satisfied the school was full. The purpose of the second stage is for the panel to balance the case for the child to be admitted against the likely prejudice to the school in taking an additional child.
12. Under section 2.11 of the Code, the admission authority must provide a presenting officer to present the decision not to admit the child and to answer detailed questions about the case being heard and about the school.
13. The government introduced emergency legislation to give admission authorities, local authorities and appeal panels some flexibility when dealing with admission appeals during the COVID-19 outbreak (The School Admissions (England) (Coronavirus) (Appeals Arrangements) (Amendment) Regulations 2020). These regulations came into force on 24 April 2020 and applied to any appeals lodged between that date and 31 January 2021.
14. The most significant change the regulations make is to allow appeals to be conducted remotely, or to be determined on the basis of written submissions only. Admission authorities remain responsible for making arrangements for appeals against the refusal of a place at their school.

What happened

15. Mr X’s child, Child Y, did not get into their first choice of school. Mr and Mrs X appealed for the following reasons:

• two of Child Y’s siblings are at the preferred school and have thrived;
• Child Y has anxiety and possible Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), so Mr and Mrs X wished for them to be with their siblings;
• the preferred school is close to the family’s home and Mr and Mrs X feel is the most suitable;
• attending another school would not work logistically as the family would not be able to manage travel to four different schools (two children at preferred school, Child Y at another school, their younger sibling at another primary school and Mrs X at a fourth school where she works);
• the detrimental impact on Child Y’s mental health;
• the positive impact going to the preferred school would have on Child Y’s growth;
• the positive impact the preferred school has had on Child Y’s siblings and that Child Y would not benefit from this; and,
• how travelling to four different school would impact on the family’s mental health.

16. The Council notified Mr X about the appeal healing scheduled to hear his appeal remotely in a letter dated 11 April 2022. The letter included details of the three panel members and that stages one and two of the appeal would be heard on consecutive days. The letter also contained a guide for parents about the appeal process which included an explanation of how the Council’s Presenting Officer would present the school’s case and answer questions from the panel and parents at stage one and would be able to ask the parents questions at stage two. The Council also included information for parents about how the hearings would be conducted remotely through Microsoft Teams to comply with COVID-19 social distancing measures.
17. The stage one appeal hearing was held remotely on 25 April 2022. Mr and Mrs X attended, along with other parents appealing. The Council’s Presenting Officer put forward the school’s case that it was oversubscribed and that current buildings works would not increase the amount of classroom space to accommodate more children. Panel members and parents asked the Presenting Officer questions about the building work and why the Published Admission Number (PAN) for the school had been exceeded.
18. The Appeal Panel concluded the school’s case was proven and it could not admit any further children. The Panel reconvened the following day to hear the individual stage two appeal for Mr and Mrs X.
19. Mr and Mrs X presented their reasons (as listed above) for wanting Child Y to attend their preferred school. The Panel asked questions about this, which included Child Y being in the process of being assessed for ASD. Mr and Mrs X explained how Child Y had made their own choice of preferred school and that it would be challenging to reset their expectations if they did not get a place.
20. The Council’s Presenting Officer asked questions about why Mr and Mrs X felt Child Y could not thrive at the school offered. Panel members also asked Mr and Mrs X questions about their arrangements for getting all their children to school.
21. The Appeal Panel concluded the admission criteria had been correctly applied and that Child Y’s case did not outweigh the arguments made by the preferred school to refuse them a place. The Appeal Panel wrote to Mr and Mrs X to confirm its decision to refuse their appeal on 28 April 2022.
22. Mr X brought his complaint to us shortly after the Appeal Panel’s decision because he remained unhappy with the Council’s handling.

Was there fault causing injustice?

23. Mr X says the Panel failed to consider all of the arguments he and his wife made at appeal. He believes this because the Panel’s decision letter does not include all of the points he and his wife made at the stage two hearing.
24. The Council has explained the Panel’s decision letter is only intended to summarise the points it considered. Based on my review of the Clerk’s full hearing notes, I would agree with this. It is clear from the notes the Panel considered all the points Mr and Mrs X highlighted in the stage two hearing. As a result, there was no fault in respect of this element of Mr X’s complaint.
25. Mr X has also complained that someone attending the appeal hearing from the Council has unduly influenced the Panel’s decision. Based on the Clerk’s notes, the only person in attendance from the Council was the Presenting Officer. The Admissions Code states the Council must provide a presenting officer to present the school’s case. The Presenting Officer was entitled to attend both stages of the appeal hearing and the guidance the Council sent out to all parents, including Mr and Mrs X, clearly explained the Presenting Officer’s role at the hearings. There appears no evidence to show the Presenting Officer unduly influenced the Panel’s decision-making.

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Final decision

26. I have completed my investigation with a finding of no fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman