Summary: We find the Council at fault because it is not clear if its decision about Mrs X’s child’s delayed school admission was made by the Council or a school headteacher. This caused Mrs X uncertainty and distress. The Council will apologise.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council failed to properly assess her application to defer her child’s entry to school. She said the Council only took the headteacher’s view and did not make its own decision.
2. Mrs X said this caused unnecessary and avoidable distress and worry.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), 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(1), as amended)
5. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered the information and documents provided by Mrs X and the Council. I spoke to Mrs X about her complaint. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on an earlier draft of this statement. I considered all comments received before I reached a final decision.
7. I considered the relevant legislation and guidance, set out below. I also considered the Ombudsman’s published guidance on remedies.

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What I found

What should have happened

8. ‘Summer-born children’ are children born between 1 April and 31 August. These children are not required to start school until the September following their fifth birthday. Ordinarily, they would then start school in year one with their ‘chronological year group’.
9. Parents can request their summer born children are admitted to a reception class in the September following their fifth birthday rather than year one. This means they are educated outside their normal age group.
10. Parents decide when their children start school. The admission authority decides whether they start in reception or year one.
11. The Government issued guidance for admission authorities deciding which year group a child should be admitted to. The guidance says an admission authority must:
• make decisions in the best interests of the child;
• take account of the child’s individual needs and abilities and consider whether these can best be met in reception or year one; and,
• take account of the potential impact on the child of being admitted to year one without first having completed the reception year.
12. The guidance says, “In effect, this means that the authority is making a decision about whether it would be in the child’s best interest to miss the reception year.”
13. There is no prescribed process admission authorities must follow. The admission authority must, however, give reasons for its decision.

What happened

14. Mrs X asked the Council to delay her summer-born child O’s school admission for a year.
15. The Council told Mrs X that one of her preferred schools agreed to her request, but another did not.
16. Mrs X complained the headteacher made the decision, not the Council.
17. The Council said headteachers considered all requests for delayed admissions. It said decisions about children’s education are for headteachers to make. The Council said it took the headteachers’ views into account and it believed O’s needs could be met in their chronological age group.
18. The Council said it relies on headteachers’ “professional expertise and judgement to decide whether a child should be admitted out of year group.” The Council explained the headteachers’ views. The Council said it made its decision “in conjunction with” the headteachers.
19. Mrs X then complained to the Ombudsman.

Analysis

20. The Council’s decision letter said it believed O’s needs could be met in their chronological age group. The Council also told Mrs X that the guidance said the Council needed to decide whether O’s needs could best be met in reception or year one.
21. I do not agree that the guidance says admission authorities must decide whether the child’s needs can be met in their chronological age group or not. The decision admission authorities must make is whether, after reaching compulsory school age, it would be in the child’s best interests to start in reception or year one. ‘Needs’ and ‘best interests’ are not the same.
22. The guidance says admission authorities must make this decision taking account of all relevant considerations, including the factors set out in the Code, and having taken into account the potential impact of admission to year one without first having completed reception. I have seen no evidence which persuades me the Council did this.
23. The Council told Mrs X it relies on headteachers’ professional expertise and judgement to decide whether a child should be admitted out of year group. The Council said its decision was made “in conjunction with the Headteacher of the school concerned”.
24. While admission authorities must take headteachers’ views into account, the admission authorities must make their own decisions.
25. The guidance says the admission authority must give reasons for its decision. The evidence shows the Council considered the headteachers’ views, but I am not persuaded the Council considered any of the other factors set out in the Code.
26. On balance, I am not persuaded the Council made its own decision, in line with the Code or the guidance. For this reason, I find the Council at fault.
27. I find this caused Mrs X uncertainty and distress, which is injustice.
28. In another recent Ombudsman investigation, the Council agreed to remind staff that these decisions must be made by the Council, and that the Council is not to solely use headteachers’ views as the Council’s decision. For this reason, I will not propose any service improvements in this case.

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Action

29. Within four weeks of this decision, the Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X in writing for causing uncertainty and distress.
30. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above action.

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Decision

31. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed to take action to remedy injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman