Summary: Mrs X complained that the appeals panel failed to properly consider her school admissions appeal. We have not found the Council at fault.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the appeal panel failed to properly consider her school admission appeal for her child. Mrs X said:
• There were technical difficulties affecting her participation in the appeal.
• The panel made prejudicial comments.
• The panel did not properly consider her evidence or give the chance to present additional information.
• There were discrepancies about the pupil numbers presented.
• The panel used inaccurate measurements about the distance Mrs X lived from the school.
2. As a result her child is attending a school they are unhappy with and does not provide them the support Mrs X wants.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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 an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. 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

5. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance. I sent a draft of this decision to Mrs X and the Council for comments.

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What I found

6. 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. 
7. Parents/carers have the right to appeal an admission authority’s decision not to offer their child a school place.  
8. 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. 
10. The clerk must take an accurate record of the hearing, including the proceedings, attendance, voting and reasons for decisions. 
11. 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. 
12. Appeal panels must allow appellants the opportunity to make oral representations.
13. 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. 
14. The clerk to the panel must write to the appellant, the admission authority and the council with the panel’s decision and reasons. 
15. Panels must follow a two-stage decision making process.
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. Stage 2: balancing the arguments. The panel must balance the prejudice to the school against the appellant’s case for the child to be admitted.

What happened

19. Mrs X’s child, C, is in Year 4. Mrs X applied for a place at School Z for C but this was rejected. Mrs X submitted an appeal form as she wanted to appeal against the decision to refuse C a place. Mrs X said there were exceptional circumstances as to why C should attend the school and raised the following arguments:
• C was working above age related expectations and Mrs X was concerned behaviours from peers would affect C’s progress. There was a diverse community at School Z and C could benefit from this. There were extra-curricular activities which would help C to better communicate with family. These were not available in C’s current school. C could not celebrate any cultural festivals at their current school.
• C lives very close to School Z whereas C’s current school is over 5 miles away and can take a long time to travel there in traffic. C suffers with travel sickness and is tired.
• Travel times to school impact Mrs X and her husband’s working day.
• There is no legal class size limits in Key Stage 2 and C is an excepted pupil as they cannot gain a place at another suitable school as they moved into the area outside the normal admission round.
20. The appeal took place in September 2024. At Stage 1, the panel considered School Z’s case and found it did show there was prejudice if additional pupils were admitted. In coming to this decision the panel considered that special educational needs support had increased at School Z, there was limited teaching assistants available and additional funding and the school was already over its published admission number for Key Stage 2.
21. At Stage 2, the panel considered whether the prejudice to School Z outweighed the case to admit Y. The panel decided to refuse Mrs X’s appeal as it did not consider the arguments Mrs X made outweighed the prejudice to School Z of admitting C. The panel wrote to Mrs X explaining this decision in September 2024.

Analysis

22. The school admission appeals code provides that the clerk should keep a record of the panel’s decision and the reasons for the decision. The clerk’s notes recorded that the panel was satisfied the admission arrangements were lawful and had been properly applied. They also showed the panel agreed prejudice would be caused by the admission of another pupil and set out the reasons for this.
23. There were some discrepancies with the pupil numbers for Year 4 in the panel documents and these ranged from 61 to 62 pupils. The published admission number was 60 pupils. I do not consider this impacted the panel’s decision. This is because the pupil number was never below the published admission number, in fact it was always over. In addition, there are no records of the panel accepting only some prejudice to the school based on pupil admission numbers only and the panel found other reasons to decide School Z proved prejudice.
24. At Stage two the panel considered Mrs X arguments as to why School Z should admit C as a pupil. The notes showed panel members asked Mrs X questions and offered her the opportunity to put forward any further information. I am satisfied Mrs X had the chance to put forward her arguments and reasons in support of the appeal. In relation to the technical difficulties Mrs X raised with the appeal, there is some mention of these in the notes, however had Mrs X not been able to participate in the appeal she could have asked for an adjournment.
25. The notes showed the panel considered Mrs X arguments to admit C but did not consider these were strong enough to outweigh the prejudice to School Z. The panel also considered there were other school places closer than C’s current school which were available. I do not have any evidence to show panel members made prejudicial comments towards Mrs X’s arguments. On balance I am satisfied there was no fault with how the Council considered the appeal.

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Decision

26. I have completed my investigation and found there was no fault by the Council.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman