Summary: Ms X complained the school admission appeal panel failed to properly consider her appeal for a school place for her child. The Council was at fault because the records failed to show how the panel reached its decisions. The Council will arrange a fresh appeal with a different panel to remedy the injustice caused and remind staff of the appropriate process for recording appeals to prevent reoccurrence of the fault.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the school admission appeal panel failed to properly consider her appeal for a place for her child, Child Y, at her preferred secondary school. Ms X said in rejecting her appeal the panel did not take enough account of her logistical issues. Ms X said she would like Child Y to be offered a place at School 1.

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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 considered:
• the information Ms X provided about her complaint and spoke to her on the telephone;
• the information the Council provided;
• relevant law and guidance, as set out below; and
• our guidance on remedies, published on our website.
5. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

6. Statutory guidance about school admissions and appeals is within The School Admissions Code and School Admission Appeals Code, published by the Department for Education.
7. 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.
8. A school’s admission arrangements must 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 this case the PAN for Year 7 was 210 pupils.
9. Parents/carers have the right to appeal an admission authority’s decision not to offer their child a school place.
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.
12. 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.
13. Appeal panels must either uphold or dismiss an appeal. A panel’s decision that a child shall be admitted to a school is binding on the admission authority concerned.
14. The School Admission Appeals Code sets out that the clerk to the appeal panel must ensure an accurate record is taken of the points raised at the hearing, including the proceedings, attendance, voting and reasons for decisions. (section 2.29)

School admission policy

15. The oversubscription criteria for the school in this case, in priority order are:
1. looked after, or previously looked after children;
2. children with medical or social reasons acceptable to the authority requiring them to be admitted to a particular school and children ‘at risk’;
3. children with siblings already at the school at the time of admission;
4. children of staff; and
5. distance of the school from the child’s permanent place of residence where distance is measured using a straight line from the centre of the child’s permanent address to the main school gate.

What happened

16. Ms X applied for a secondary school place for her child, Child Y in the national October 2022 school admissions round. Ms X’s school preference was School 1.
17. In early March 2023 the Council wrote to Ms X and said it gave Child Y a place at School 2 and not School 1, her preferred choice. The Council said it could not offer Child Y a place at School 1 because School 1 had more applications than places and other applicants had a higher priority than Child Y under the school’s admission criteria. It offered Ms X the nearest school to her home address that had a vacancy at the end of the offer process. The Council gave Ms X a right of appeal.
18. In early March 2023 Ms X appealed to the Council, which was the admission authority and sought a place at School 1. Ms X said:
• Child Y’s cousins attended School 1 and Child Y wanted to attend the same school as their cousins;
• family members could help with any emergencies at School 1 and could help to take Child Y to School 1; and
• she had other children to transport that attended primary school in the opposite direction to School 1.
19. The appeal took place in mid-May 2023. The clerk’s notes recorded the appeal was attended by three appeal panel members, School 1, a Council presenting officer, Ms X and the clerk.
20. School 1 made the following points:
• in the past few years the school had grown in its capacity and the expansion had been successful but left limited space to accommodate students over the schools Published Admission Number (PAN);
• School 1’s outdoor space was limited and unable to accommodate the full PAN of the school. The school had to have two breaks and two lunchtimes at different times of the day;
• several classrooms were below the recommended size of 60 square metres and in these rooms it would be difficult to find space to have extra teaching equipment if more pupils were admitted;
• any upheld appeals would mean the school would be over PAN adding to pressure on the school on teaching groups, cause health and safety concerns in practical subjects and need changes to tutor groups which could harm students education;
• the school would not have enough computers and sharing computers would prevent students meeting learning needs;
• the school would not want to risk the quality of education for current students or the additional students; and
• additional students would have a significant impact on the school population.
21. The clerk’s notes recorded ‘Panel agreed that the admission arrangements were lawful. Panel agreed that the prejudice would arise if more children were admitted to the school. Panel then went on to consider the individual cases’.
22. The panel then considered the second stage of the appeal and if Ms X’s case outweighed the school’s case of prejudice. Ms X made the following points at the appeal:
• she was not happy with School 2 because of managing the journey when taking her other children to a different school;
• she said she would take Child Y to school until Year 11; and
• Child Y would stay at home if they do not get a place at School 1.
23. Ms X was advised to contact School Admissions to check Child Y’s position on the waiting list and to consider an in-year application in late December 2023.
24. The clerk’s notes recorded the panel’s decision ‘Panel agreed that the admission arrangements had been correctly applied in this case. Panel agreed that the appellant’s case did not outweigh the prejudice that would arise if more children were admitted to the school. The Panel’s decisions were unanimous’.
25. Five days later the appeal panel clerk wrote to Ms X and said her appeal was unsuccessful.
26. Ms X remained unhappy and contacted us.

My findings

27. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. In cases such as this, our role is to decide whether the appeal panel followed the correct procedure in making its decision.
28. There was no fault in how the Council processed Ms X’s application, the appeal letters it sent to Ms X in April and May 2023 or how it undertook the appeal. The correct procedure was followed without delay.
29. The codes states the independent appeal clerk must take an accurate record of the appeal hearing, including the reasons for the decisions made.
30. The clerk’s notes provide a record of both School 1’s case and Ms X’s case and show the panel correctly considered the appeal in two stages.
31. At stage 1 of the appeal the clerk’s notes recorded the panel’s decision that prejudice would arise with the admission of more children. However, there was no record of how the panel reached its decision and the reasons for the decision it made. The clerk’s notes do not include any discussion which shows how the panel decided admitting further children would cause prejudice. Without this evidence I cannot be sure the panel properly considered this issue, which is fault.
32. At the second stage of the appeal the panel needed to consider whether Ms X’s case was stronger than School 1’s case. Ms X explained she would find it hard to manage the journey to get Child Y to School 1 and her other children to a different school. However, the clerks notes make no reference to how the panel considered Ms X’s case. The clerk’s notes do not evidence that the panel properly considered Ms X’s reasons for wanting School 1 and how it reached its decision. This is not in line with the code and was fault.

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Agreed action

33. Within one month of the final decision the Council will:
• arrange a fresh appeal for Ms X with a new panel and clerk; and
• remind all clerking staff of the need to clearly record how the panel reached its decisions and the reasons for the decisions at both stages of the appeal process.

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Final decision

34. I have completed my investigation finding fault, causing injustice. The Council has agreed to take action to remedy the injustice caused and prevent reoccurrence of the fault.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman