Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement in Mrs X’s application for a year 7 school place. Mrs X’s complaint flows from decisions taken by academy schools. We have no powers to consider such matters. Where Mrs X’s complaint is within our jurisdiction, there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant us investigating. Our involvement would also not achieve the outcome Mrs X wants.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, complained about the Council’s involvement in her application for a year 7 place for her child (Y) who has been educated out of her normal year group. Mrs X says the Council allowed three schools to refuse her request Y continue to be educated out of year group. Mrs X says she did not receive written refusals and did not have a chance to appeal. Mrs X says the Council refused to consider Y’s situation under its Fair Access Protocol, which left Y without a year 7 place. Mrs X says she was forced to arrange a private school place. Mrs X wants a place at one of her preferred schools and for the Council to reimburse the costs she has incurred.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as Academies and Free Schools. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34(1), as amended)
4. The courts have said we can decide not to investigate a complaint about any action by an organisation concerning a matter which the law says we cannot investigate. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))
5. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mrs X’s child (Y) has been educated out of year group while at primary school. Y has been educated one year ahead of the age group they would normally be in.
9. Y was due to finish year 6 in July 2025. Mrs X wanted Y to start year 7 in September 2025. Mrs X asked three schools to consider applications for Y to join year 7 in September 2025. The three schools are academies, and all refused Mrs X’s request.
10. Mrs X is unhappy because she says the schools did not provide written reasons for their decisions and she was denied a right of appeal. Mrs X says the Council failed to ensure the schools followed the proper process. Mrs X is unhappy the Council will not use its Fair Access Protocol to place Y in year 7 for the 2025 academic year. Mrs X is unhappy the Council did not escalate the matter to the Department for Education (DfE).
11. We will not start an investigation into Mrs X’s complaint.
12. The decisions which led to Mrs X’s complaint were taken by academy schools. We have no powers to consider complaints about admission to such schools; the law is clear on this point. Decisions on whether to accept out of year group requests are taken by a school’s admission authority. In these schools the admission authority is the academy trust. Any actions taken by the Council were on behalf of the academy trusts. We will not investigate the Council’s actions. Even if we did, we could not achieve any meaningful outcome. Mrs X has complained to the schools and the Department for Education (DfE). That is the correct course of action. The DfE can consider how the schools considered Mrs X’s requests. The Ombudsman cannot. The costs incurred by Mrs X flow directly from decisions taken by the schools. Because we cannot consider the actions of academies, we could not say the Council should reimburse Mrs X. We could not say the Council should place Y in her preferred school as it is an academy.
13. Mrs X is also unhappy the Council has not placed her daughter in year 7 via its Fair Access Protocol (the Protocol). The Council’s view is the Protocol is for children without a school place. The Council has said Y had the chance to stay at her primary school and Mrs X has now registered Y in a private school. The Council’s view is Y is not without a school place and so the Protocol does not apply. The Council has also identified the closest school with a space which is not one of the three which rejected Mrs X’s request. This school is also an academy and so the Council has said Mrs X should contact the school directly. Mrs X has declined to do so.
14. The role of the Ombudsman is not to act as a right of appeal when parents disagree with a council’s decision. We can only intervene if there is enough fault to suggest a council has wrongly taken a decision or its position is wrong. That is not the case here and so we will not investigate.
15. Mrs X is also unhappy the Council did not escalate the matter to the DfE. That was a decision for the Council, and I note Mrs X has now done this. Nothing further could be achieved by considering this point.

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Final decision

16. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we have no powers to consider complaints about admission to academy schools. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council in matters we can consider, and an investigation would not lead to the outcomes Mrs X wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman