Summary: Mrs X complained the appeal panel failed to properly consider her appeal. The notes from the appeal hearing and the decision letter following the appeal do not properly explain why the appeal panel reached its decisions on the various parts of the appeal. Holding a further appeal is satisfactory remedy.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complained the appeal panel failed to properly consider her appeal.
2. Mrs X says the failures have impacted on her daughter’s mental health.

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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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. 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)
5. 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

6. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and Mrs X's comments;
• made enquiries of the school and considered the comments and documents the clerk provided.
7. Mrs X and the organisation had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

School admissions and oversubscription

8. All schools must have a set of admission arrangements containing oversubscription criteria. These are set by the admission authority. The school's admission authority uses the criteria to decide which children will receive an offer of a place if there are more applications than places available. The arrangements must also contain a published admission number (PAN). This is the number of places the school will offer at each point of entry.
9. Admission authorities must allocate places on the basis of their determined admission arrangements only. A decision to offer or refuse admission must not be made by one individual in an admission authority. Where the school is its own admission authority the whole governing body, or an admissions committee established by the governing body, must make such decisions. The admission authority must keep a clear record of any decisions on applications, including in-year applications.

School admission appeals

10. Statutory guidance about school admission appeals can be found in the School Admission Appeals Code published by the Department for Education. Throughout this statement, I will refer to this as 'the code'.
11. Parents and carers have the right to appeal against an admission authority's decision not to offer their child a school place. Appeal hearings must be held privately and conducted in the presence of an independent panel and clerk. Appeal panels must act according to the principles of natural justice.
12. The admission authority must provide a presenting officer at the hearing. The officer must explain the decision on behalf of the admissions authority not to admit the child and to answer questions from the appellant and panel.
13. Appeal panels must allow appellants the opportunity to make oral representations. Panels must follow a two-stage decision making process:
14. 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;
• if 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.
15. If a panel decides 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.
16. 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.
17. Paragraph 2.28 of the code says the panel must ensure that the decision is easily comprehensible so that the parties can understand the basis on which the decision was made. The decision letter must contain a summary of relevant factors that were raised by the parties and considered by the panel. It must also give clear reasons for the panel’s decision, including how, and why, any issues of fact or law were decided by the panel during the hearing.
18. Paragraph 2.29 of the code says the clerk must ensure an accurate record is taken of the points raised at the hearing, including the proceedings, attendance, voting and reasons for decisions.
19. After the hearing, the clerk must write to the appellant, the admission authority and the council with the panel's decision and its reasons.

What happened

20. Mrs X applied for a year seven place for her daughter at the school. Mrs X’s application was unsuccessful and she was allocated a different school for her daughter. Mrs X appealed in May 2025. The appeal panel considered the appeal in June 2025. Following the appeal the panel wrote to Mrs X to explain why her appeal had not been successful.

Analysis

21. Mrs X says the appeal panel failed to consider her appeal properly. Mrs X says she provided a detailed explanation about why her daughter needed to attend the school and provided supporting evidence. Mrs X says the panel did not refer to any of the evidence she provided and instead relied on the fact the council had assigned her daughter an alternative Jewish school. Mrs X therefore says she does not believe the appeal panel properly considered her appeal.
22. I set out in paragraphs 14-16 the process the appeal panel should follow when considering an appeal. The first stage of that process is for the panel to consider the admissions arrangements for the school and whether the school has applied those properly and whether the school has shown there would be prejudice if it admitted further pupils. However, the notes from the appeal panel hearing make no reference to what, if any, view the panel had taken on whether the school had demonstrated prejudice. Nor do the notes from the appeal panel hearing show the panel considered any of the representations the school had put forward for prejudice. That is fault.
23. That also undermines the panel’s consideration of the second stage of the process where it should balance the prejudice to the school of admitting a further child with Mrs X’s case. As there is no evidence in the notes from the appeal hearing that panel considered whether the school could admit a further pupil without prejudice I am uncertain how the decision letter following the appeal could say the panel considered the prejudice to the school outweighed the case for admission of Mrs X’s daughter.
24. Besides that I am also concerned about how the panel approached the second stage. The notes show the panel recognised Mrs X’s daughter had anxiety issues. However, that is the only issue Mrs X raised which the panel referred to in making its decision. The panel also did not refer to any of the supporting evidence Mrs X provided. In those circumstances I am not satisfied the panel properly considered Mrs X’s case at the second stage.
25. The notes from the appeal hearing and the decision letter following the appeal also suggest the panel relied mainly on the fact there was another school available. That is factually accurate but is not relevant to the panel’s consideration of the appeal. The panel should have considered whether there would be prejudice to the school if it admitted another pupil. If the panel was satisfied on that point, it should then have considered whether the arguments Mrs X put forward in support of her appeal outweighed that prejudice. Neither the notes from the appeal hearing nor the decision letter address that properly. I am therefore not satisfied the panel properly considered Mrs X’s appeal and that is fault.
26. Overall, the notes fall short of the standard of transparency, fairness, and reasoned decision-making required by the code. I am therefore not satisfied the panel considered the evidence properly or applied the correct tests in this case. This has created uncertainty for Mrs X. As remedy I recommended the school hold a fresh appeal for Mrs X with a new panel and clerk. The school has agreed to my recommendation.
27. I also recommended the school arrange refresher training for panel members and clerks to ensure they know about their responsibilities under the code. However, the school has provided evidence that training has taken place since this appeal was heard. I therefore make no further recommendation for remedy.

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Action

28. Within one month of my decision the school will hold a fresh appeal for Mrs X with a new panel and clerk.
29. The school should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

30. I find fault causing injustice. The school has agreed actions to remedy the injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman