Summary: Mrs X complained about her daughter, F’s school admission appeal. The clerk did not record the reasons for the panel’s decision not to uphold Mrs X’s appeal in their notes. However, this did not influence the outcome of the appeal as the decision letter to Mrs X did contain sufficient detail about how the panel arrived and its decision. The School agreed to remind its clerks to clearly record how a panel arrives at its decision in their notes.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about how the school admission appeal panel handled her appeal for a place at the School for her daughter, F. Mrs X is unhappy with the panel’s decision to refuse F a place at the School which has caused her upset and distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way a school admissions appeals panel made its decision. If there was no fault in how the panel made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. 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)
3. 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

4. I spoke to Mrs X about her complaint and considered information she provided.
5. I considered information from the School, including the school appeal paperwork, the clerk’s notes and the decision letters sent to Mrs X.
6. Mrs X and the Council had the opportunity to comment on the draft decision. I considered comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

School Admissions appeals

7. 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.
8. Parents/carers have the right to appeal an admission authority’s decision not to offer their child a school place. 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.
9. 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. The clerk must take an accurate record of the hearing, including the proceedings, attendance, voting and reasons for decisions.
10. Panels must follow a two-stage decision making process
• 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.  
11. 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. Stage 2 involves balancing the arguments. The panel must balance the prejudice to the school against the appellant’s case for the child to be admitted.  
12. 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.
13. The Code states the clerk ‘must’ ensure an accurate record is taken of the points raised at the hearing including reasons for decision.
14. The clerk to the panel ‘must’ communicate the decision of each appeal including the reasons for that decision in writing to appellant, the admission authority and the council. The decision letter must give clear reasons for the panel’s decision including how, and why, any issues of fact or law were decided during the hearing. 
15. The Ombudsman can consider complaints about school admission appeals for some, but not all schools. We do not act as another appeal and we cannot question decision if the admission authority for the school or the independent panel made them properly.

What happened

16. Pudsey Grammar School (the School) is a foundation school and therefore, its governing body is the admissions authority. Leeds City Council (the Council) oversees administration of the admissions, however the School retains overall responsibility for them.
17. Mrs X applied to the School for her daughter, F to start in year 7 in September 2023. The School was unable to offer F a place because it was full with children who qualified under a higher criteria under its admission policy. Instead, the Council offered F a place at School B.
18. Mrs X appealed against the School’s decision to refuse F a place. Mrs X said the School was her first choice for F, explaining all of F’s friends were awarded a place. Mrs X said F would be isolated without her friends should she attend School B. Mrs X explained her family had been though trauma and upheaval over the last two years which had severely affected F’s mental health and wellbeing. Mrs X also referred to issues and concerns such as school transport and reliance on her support network which would not be possible if F attended School B. In support of her appeal, Mrs X also included a letter from an organisation which had supported Mrs X during the last year. The letter outlined the negative affect it would have on F and the family if the School did not offer her a place.
19. The appeal took place in June 2023 and Mrs X attended in person. In its written case, the School said its admissions were over its published admission numbers (PAN) and its teaching staff and physical accommodation were stretched. It said it had received nearly 1000 applications for just 225 available places. In conclusion it said admitting pupils on appeal would put the School’s continued success at risk in what is already an overcrowded building.
20. At stage one of the appeal the clerk’s notes show the panel discussed the School’s PAN and the capacity of the building. They noted it had only a small canteen area and that there was congestion in corridors. They noted no plans for extending the building and that all classroom space was full. The panel considered the admissions policy was lawful and had been checked by the Council. It decided the Council, on behalf of the School, had applied the admission arrangements correctly. The appeal therefore moved to stage two, where the panel considered Y’s individual circumstances.
21. The template used by the clerk to record the stage two consideration states what must be included within the notes. In recording the panel’s decision the template says the clerk must:
• ‘ensure all considerations are stated below and provide clear reasons for the panel’s decision’.
• ‘include all points the panel considered from both parties’.
• ‘include any of the relevant points below which were considered by the panel’. The panel must provide reasons as to why they considered each point.

The template contains a numbered list of all of the possible reasons a parent/carer may appeal and provides an example of how the clerk should record the panel’s consideration of any applicable reasons.

22. The clerk’s notes show Mrs X explained her case to the panel citing the issues outlined in paragraph 18 above. The notes show the panel made a unanimous decision not to uphold Mrs X’s appeal.
23. Under the heading stage 2 decision the clerk listed some numbers, indicating which reasons for appeal it discussed. This included:
• ‘convenience and distance’
• ‘peer group attending preferred school’
• ‘family attends/attended the School’
• ‘transport – difficulty’

However, the notes do not contain any clear reasons for the panel’s decision or any discussions which may have taken place about the points listed above. There is no explanation on the clerk’s notes showing why Mrs X’s case did not outweigh the School’s case.

24. The clerk to the appeal panel wrote to Mrs X with the appeal decision letter at the end of June 2023, confirming the decision not to uphold her appeal. The letter confirmed the panel, at stage one and stage two, was satisfied admission of further pupils would prejudice the efficient education and resources at the School. The letter listed Mrs X’s appeal concerns and said the panel took these into account and decided:
• The admission policy had been applied correctly. It said Mrs X lived 0.88 miles from the School but the cut off for admissions was 0.82 miles.
• F would receive similar learning experiences at other local schools.
• F’s peer group and extended family attending the School did not outweigh the prejudice to the School.
• Concerns about the safety of F travelling to School B did not outweigh the prejudice to the School.

Based on the above letter, the panel concluded Mrs X’s concerns did not outweigh the prejudice to the School which would be caused by admitting another child.

25. Mrs X remained unhappy and complained to us. She said the panel members were unprofessional and did not properly listen to her arguments. As a result of the panel’s decision, Mrs X said she has decided to educate F at home rather than send her to School B.

My findings

26. I have considered the clerk’s notes of the appeal and the decision letter. There is no fault in how the panel considered stage one of F’s appeal. The clerk’s notes and the decision letter evidence why the panel decided admission of another child would prejudice the efficient running of the School.
27. At stage one of the appeal the clerk’s notes and the decision show the panel considered the School’s case.
28. At stage two of the appeal, the clerk’s notes list Mrs X’s concerns. However, there is nothing in the notes which detail discussions between panel members or the points considered at the time. This is not in line with either the Code or the template document used by the clerk and is fault.
29. However, on balance, the lack of detail in the clerk’s notes has not caused Mrs X an injustice. The decision letter to Mrs X was detailed in its explanation around why her appeal was not upheld at both stage one and stage two. The decision letter references all of Mrs X’s concerns and includes details about why the panel arrived at its conclusion not to uphold her appeal. So, although the clerk’s notes lacked sufficient detail, this did not affect the outcome of the appeal. I am satisfied the panel properly considered Mrs X’s appeal without fault. As there was no fault in the way it reached its decision, I cannot question the decision itself.

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Agreed action

30. The School agreed within one month of the final decision to remind its clerks to take detailed notes of the panel’s deliberations and decision making during school admission cases at the time. This is to ensure compliance with both the Code and its own guidance.
31. The School should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

32. I completed this investigation. I have found fault, but this did not cause Mrs X an injustice. The Council agreed to my recommendation to ensure the fault does not reoccur in the future.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman