Summary: Mrs X complained about the outcome of her school placement application for her child, Y. The Council was at fault for not telling Mrs X the application did not meet the criteria of the exceptional circumstances panel. However, this did not cause Mrs X an injustice because the appeal panel properly considered all the evidence before it refused the appeal. The Council agreed to review its process to ensure there is no recurrence of the fault in the future.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the outcome of her school placement application for her child, Y. Mrs X said the Council failed to properly consider her extenuating circumstances in making its decision.
2. Mrs X says Y cannot attend the school they have been allocated and the matter has caused the family distress and frustration.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. 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)
5. When considering complaints, if there is a conflict of evidence, we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we will weigh up the available relevant evidence and base our findings on what we think was more likely to have happened.
6. 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

7. I spoke to Mrs X and considered information she provided.
8. I considered information provided by the Council.
9. Mrs X and the Council had the opportunity to comment on the draft decision. I considered comments before I made a final decision.

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What I found

School admissions

10. Statutory guidance about school admissions and appeals can be found in The School Admissions Code and School Admission Appeals Code. Both are published by the Department for Education. 
11. Under the system of coordinated admissions, parents make a single application for a school place to their home council. This is the council the parent pays their council tax to. 
12. All schools must have a set of admission arrangements containing oversubscription criteria. The school’s admission authority uses these to decide which children will receive an offer of a place if there are more applications than places available. The school’s admission authority sets the admission arrangements.  
13. The criteria for the school in this case (School Z) are, in priority order:
1. cared for children and all previously cared for children;
2. children and families with exceptional medical or social needs;
3. sibling(s) that attend the school;
4. children attending a named partner primary school; and
5. all other applications on distance.
14. A school’s admission arrangements must also contain a Published Admission Number (PAN). This is the number of places the school will offer at each point of entry. The point of entry is when the school normally admits children. In an infant or primary school this is usually the reception year.

School appeals

15. Parents/carers have the right to appeal an admission authority’s decision not to offer their child a school place.  
16. Appeal hearings must be held in private and conducted in the presence of all panel members and parties. Appeal panels must act according to the principles of natural justice. 
17. A clerk supports the appeal panel. Parents can submit information in support of their appeal. The clerk must send all papers required for the hearing a reasonable time before the date of the hearing. This includes information from the appellant and the admission authority. 
18. The admission authority must provide a presenting officer at the hearing to explain the decision not to admit the child and to answer questions from the appellant and panel. 
19. Panels must follow a two-stage decision making process.
20. At Stage 1, the panel examines the decision to refuse admission. The panel must consider whether: 
• the admissions arrangements complied with the mandatory requirements set out in the School Admissions Code; 
• the admission arrangements were applied correctly; and if 
• the admission of additional children would prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources.  
21. If a panel decides that admitting further children would “prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources” they move to the second stage of the process.
22. At Stage 2, the panel must balance the prejudice to the school against the appellant’s case for the child to be admitted.
23. Appeal panels must either uphold or dismiss an appeal and must not uphold an appeal subject to any conditions. Appeals must be decided by a simple majority of votes cast. A panel’s decision that a child shall be admitted to a school is binding on the admission authority concerned. 
24. The clerk must take an accurate record of the hearing, including the proceedings, attendance, voting and reasons for decisions. 
25. The appeal panel must write to the appellant, the admission authority and the council with its decision and the reasons for it.

The Council’s policies and guidance on school admissions & appeals

26. The Council has a policy, the “Admission Arrangements for Tameside Community High Schools 2023/24 Academic Year” which explains the admissions process. It also says:
• written evidence of exceptional social or medical need must be provided by a suitably qualified professional and the information must confirm the exceptional medical or social need and demonstrate how the specified school is the only school that can meet the needs of the child;
• a panel of officers from the Council will decide whether to admit a child under this criterion using the evidence provided; and
• parents/ carers are responsible for providing all information in support of an application by the closing date. Council officers will not ask for additional information.
27. The Council also has a guide, the “Moving On” guide which explains how the Council will consider exceptional circumstances. It says:
• the exceptional circumstances form must be completed and supporting evidence provided by the deadline of 31 October 2022;
• the panel will consider that all Tameside schools are able to support children with special educational needs and are expected to manage most medical needs. Therefore, this is unlikely to be the only reason an application would be successful;
• a parent’s place of work, childcare arrangements or a family connection with the school is not sufficient reason alone for agreeing an application. They may be considered alongside other reasons; and
• if the child is not offered a place at their preferred school, the parent has a right of appeal to the independent appeal panel where they can explain the reason(s) why the child should attend a particular school.

What happened

28. In October 2022, Mrs X completed a high school application form for her child, Y, for the following school year starting September 2023. Mrs X named two schools, and indicated her first preference was School D. On the form, Mrs X told the Council it should consider her job as an exceptional social circumstance because it included involvement with other schools in the area. The form told applicants that any exceptional circumstances for medical or social reasons would require an additional form to be submitted with evidence from a suitably qualified professional. No additional supporting information was provided with the original application.
29. In response to my enquiries, the Council said no additional information was provided by Mrs X in support of the exceptional circumstances as required by the admissions arrangements. The only information provided was the parents’ view that their jobs caused a conflict at other schools in the area. Therefore, because Mrs X had not sent in any supporting evidence to be considered at the meeting the application for exceptional circumstances was rejected at that stage and was not heard at the exceptional circumstances panel. There is no evidence the Council advised Mrs X of this.
30. In March 2023 following the 2023 school admissions round, the Council wrote to Mrs X and told her it refused Y a place at school D, and allocated Y a place at school Z.
31. Mrs X disagreed with the Council’s decision to name school Z. She appealed to the Council, which is the admissions authority. In support of the appeal Mrs X provided additional information including:
• Y’s SEN including an ongoing assessment for an Education, Health, and Care plan (EHC) plan and assessments for autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD);
• Y’s transport requirements to and from school, and the difficulties this would present due to younger siblings that attend a school close to school D in the opposite direction of school Z;
• Y’s school avoidance tendencies which were exacerbated during Y’s morning routine due to Y’s SEN;
• provided a list of documents including supporting letters from Y’s primary school which explained the impact attending a different school would have on Y; and
• appointment letters and information about Y’s SEN assessments.
32. The Council wrote to Mrs X and explained the timeline for the appeal. It explained the two-stage process and invited Mrs X to attend. It provided Mrs X with evidence from the admissions authority in advance of the hearing.
33. The Council provided a report setting out their case that to admit more children to school D would cause prejudice to the school and those attending it. The case included the admission of a further pupil to year 7 in September 2023 would:
• put increased pressure on classrooms, teacher time and create larger teaching groups than otherwise need exist;
• result in fewer practical lessons in subjects such as design technology;
• place further pressure on shared areas such as toilets and cloakrooms which were already stretched; and
• increase the workload for staff including preparation, monitoring, and marking, alongside a reduction in time for each pupil.
• The Council concluded saying school D was full, and it did not believe another pupil should be admitted as to do so would result in prejudice to the provision of effective education and the efficient use of resources at the school.
34. Mrs X attended the panel hearing and asked questions of the panel members. The clerk recorded that the panel agreed unanimously that the Council had been able to demonstrate it would be prejudicial to accept an additional child.
35. Two days later the second stage of the appeal panel was held. This was to determine whether Mrs X’s case outweighed the Council’s case of prejudice. The record shows Mrs X attended the panel and asked questions relating to the application and was also asked questions by both the panel and admissions authority about Y’s circumstances. The minutes from the panel show:
• the panel found the admissions process was applied correctly;
• there was limited difference in the distance to and from school Z or school D for Y to travel;
• siblings attending a school near to school D causing logistical difficulties was not sufficient reason that school D should be named as many families have complex childcare arrangements;
• the parents’ place of work was considered, but the panel decided other schools could be applied for in the area as there was space available. It noted the matter was considered by the exceptional circumstances panel and was not deemed exceptional as to why Y can only attend school D;
• Y’s SEN needs were considered. The panel decided Y’s needs could be met at any typical school in the area and there were no reasons school D was the only provision that could meet Y’s SEN; and
• Mrs X had only listed two schools on the original application, which limited the admission authority’s ability to consider alternative placements. It noted places were still available at other schools in the area.
36. The Council wrote to Mrs X several days later and told her the appeal was unsuccessful. It informed her of how the decision was reached and that the decision was final.
37. During our call, Mrs X said the Council would have admitted Y under the second admissions criteria, namely “children and families with exceptional medical or social need” in her original application if the Council had requested more information at the time.

My findings

38. We are not an appeal body. Our role is to review the process by which decisions are made. We look for evidence of fault causing a significant injustice to the individual complainant.

Original application

39. Mrs X says the Council failed to request further information for consideration at the exceptional circumstances panel following her application for a school placement in October 2022. The evidence shows the original application form stated applicants needed to submit an additional form and supplementary information to support the application at the time of the original submission. Mrs X did not complete the additional form or provide additional information. Therefore, the Council considered the application based on the information Mrs X provided. This is not fault. The Council does not have an obligation to request additional information and its policy states it will not do so. However, there is no evidence the Council told Mrs X the application did not meet its exceptional circumstances criteria and so was not considered by the panel. That is fault.

The appeal panel’s decision

40. A clerk must take an accurate record of the hearing, including the reasons for decisions. In this case the clerk’s notes provide a record of both sides’ cases. The panel correctly considered the appeal in two stages. The notes outline both Mrs X’s and the Council’s case and noted Y’s social and medical needs. This is not fault.
41. Mrs X’s application was not considered at the exceptional circumstances panel. However, within the minutes of the appeal panel’s stage two meeting it is recorded that the exceptional circumstances panel had considered the matter previously. This was fault. However, this did not cause Mrs X an injustice.
42. This is because the evidence shows the appeal panel considered all the information provided by Mrs X and the Council before it decided to refuse the appeal. It was aware of the facts of the case and made its decision based on the primary evidence. It did not consider Mrs X’s case outweighed the Council’s case it could not admit another child.
43. Although the fault did not cause Mrs X an injustice, I have made a service improvement recommendation to prevent a recurrence of the fault in future and potential injustice to others.

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Agreed action

44. Within three months of the final decision the Council agreed to update its processes to ensure it informs applicants who request consideration of exceptional social or medical circumstances about the outcome of its decision. If the Council rejects the application before the exceptional circumstances panel is held, or the application is refused for other reasons, it will tell the applicant why.
45. The Council will provide us with evidence it has complied with the above action.

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Final decision

46. I have completed the investigation. I found fault although this did not cause a significant injustice. The Council has agreed to take action to prevent recurrence of the fault in the future.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman