Summary: Ms X complained that the Council’s school admissions appeal panel failed to properly consider her appeal for a place for her child at her preferred secondary school. We found there was insufficient evidence that the appeal panel properly considered the appeal. In recognition of the injustice caused, the Council has agreed to offer Ms X a fresh appeal with a different panel and clerk.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains that the Council’s school admissions appeal panel failed to properly consider her appeal for a place for her child at her preferred secondary school. As a result, her child has missed out on a place at the school.

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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 X’s comments;
• the information presented to the appeals panel, the clerk’s notes of the appeal hearings and the decision letter following the appeal; and
• the current School Admissions Code and School Admission Appeals Code.
6. Ms 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

What should have happened

7. The School Admissions Appeal Code (the code) says appeal panels must follow the two stage decision making process for this type of appeal.
8. For the first stage the panel must consider:
• Whether the admission arrangements complied with the law; and
• Whether the admission arrangements were correctly and impartially applied in each case.
9. The panel must then decide whether the admission of further children would prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources.
10. The panel must go to the second stage where it finds the admission arrangements complied with the law, were correctly and impartially applied, or where they were not, the child would not have been offered a place anyway and admitting further children would prejudice the provision of efficient education or efficient use of resources.
11. At the second stage, the panel must balance the prejudice to the school against the appellant's case for admission of their child to the school. It must take account of the appellant's reasons for expressing a preference for the school, including what the school can offer the child that the allocated, or other schools, cannot. Where the panel considers the appellant's case outweighs the prejudice to the school, it must uphold the appeal.
12. The clerk must ensure an accurate record is taken of the points raised at the hearing including the proceedings, attendance, voting, and reasons for decisions.
13. The clerk must communicate in writing the decision of the appeal panel, and the reasons for it, to the parents.

What happened

14. Ms X’s daughter, D, is due to start secondary school in September 2023. Ms X applied for a place at School Y which is a community school. The Council is the admission authority and is responsible for admissions and appeals. The admissions authority has to publish its admission arrangements including the way it determines priority if there are too many applications for the available places.
15. The Council applied the published admissions criteria to allocate the places available. Ms X’s application was unsuccessful because all places had been allocated. She lives further from the school than the last place allocated.
16. Parents who were not offered a place had the right to appeal to an independent appeal panel.

The hearing

17. I set out in paragraphs 7-11 the process the appeals panel must go through when considering an admissions appeal. As set out in paragraph 12, the clerk must ensure an accurate record is taken of the reasons for decisions. In this case, I am not satisfied the clerk’s notes show Ms X’s appeal was properly considered. The notes of the panel’s decision-making do not refer to any consideration it gave to whether the school had demonstrated the case for prejudice. The panel must reach a decision on this point before moving on to the second stage of the process. So, I am not satisfied the panel properly considered the first stage of the process.
18. In the second stage, the panel must assess whether the child’s needs are so exceptional that they should override the prejudice to the school of admitting an additional pupil. This is known as the ‘balancing stage’ and is a matter for the panel’s judgement considering all the available information.
19. At the hearing Ms X put forward her case for D to be admitted to the school and answered questions put by the panel. The clerk’s notes give a sketchy account of what was said.
20. The notes of the decision-making part of the hearing list Ms X’s arguments for wanting a place at the school but do not show any attempt by the panel to balance the prejudice to the school (should the panel have accepted this was proven) with Ms X’s case for a place for her daughter. The clerk’s notes show there was a unanimous decision not to uphold Ms X’s appeal. But there is no record of the panel’s deliberations and no explanation of the reasons for its decision. The notes simply state, “no case, reasonable offer” and “school case outweighs parent case”. This is inadequate and was fault. I am therefore also not satisfied that the second stage of the process was properly considered.

The decision letter

21. Following the appeal hearing, the clerk wrote to Ms X with the panel’s decision.
22. The decision letter contained inadequate information about why the panel was satisfied the school had demonstrated prejudice. It did not explain the basis on which the panel had reached its decision that prejudice was demonstrated.
23. The letter also failed to explain why the panel considered Ms X had not demonstrated a strong enough case to overcome any prejudice to the school of admitting another pupil.
24. This was further fault. The code says the decision letter must give clear reasons for the panel’s decision, including how and why any issues of fact or law were decided by the panel during the hearing. Simply stating that the appellant’s case was not strong enough does not allow them to understand the decision.

Conclusion

25. The clerk’s notes, and the decision letter, both failed to properly explain the reasons for the panel’s decisions. These failings call the decision into question as there is insufficient evidence that the panel properly considered the appeal. This causes Ms X an injustice.

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Agreed action

26. The Council has agreed that, within one month, it will:
• offer Ms X a fresh appeal with a different panel and clerk; and
• issue a reminder to clerks that they must take detailed notes of the hearing and of the panel’s decision-making including the reasons for the panel’s decision at each stage of the process.
27. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

28. I uphold Ms X’s complaint.
29. I have completed my investigation on the basis that the Council has agreed to implement the recommended remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman