Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s school admission appeal panel’s decision to refuse the complainant’s appeal for a school place for her son. This is because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complains that the Council’s school admission appeal panel failed to properly consider her appeal for a school place for her son.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs X and her husband applied for a school place for their son for transfer to secondary school in September 2024. The Council received more applications than the school had places available, so it applied its oversubscription procedure.
6. Mrs X’s family does not live in the school’s catchment area, though it is the closest school to the home address. Mrs X believes her son should be allowed to attend the school because of his disability. However, as she did not submit medical evidence with his application, this was not taken into account in the initial allocation of places.
7. The Council refused Mrs X’s application. She and her husband appealed against the decision and attended the appeal hearing. The appeal panel considered the evidence put forward by the admission authority and Mrs X. Having done so, it decided not to uphold the appeal. Mrs X believes the panel failed to take proper account of her child’s disability, and that its decision to refuse the appeal is wrong.
8. When considering appeals for school places, appeal panels must follow a two-stage decision making process. At Stage1, 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.

9. 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.
10. At Stage 2, the panel must balance the prejudice to the school against the appellant’s case for the child to be admitted.
11. The evidence shows that Mrs X and her husband were able to make their case both verbally and in writing, and the panel considered it. The weight the panel members gave to the evidence was a matter for them.
12. There is no evidence of fault in the way the panel considered the evidence or made the decision not to uphold the appeal. That being the case, the Ombudsman cannot criticise the decision, or intervene to substitute an alternative view.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman