Summary: The Council complained about an unsuccessful appeal for a looked after child, Y, to attend Pittville School. We have ended our investigation because Y has since started at another school and is no longer seeking a place at Pittville School. As a result, there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by continuing the investigation.

The complaint

1. The Council complained about the unsuccessful appeal for a place at Pittville School for a looked after child, Y.
2. It said this left Y without a school place.
3. It wants the School to offer Y a place.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. It is our decision whether to start, and when to end an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
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 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 evidence provided by Ms X and the School as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
7. Ms X and the School had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

School admissions and appeals

8. 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.
9. Parents/carers have the right to appeal an admission authority’s decision not to offer their child a school place. In this case, Gloucestershire County Council administers admission appeals on behalf of the school.
10. 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. 
11. The clerk must take an accurate record of the hearing, including the proceedings, attendance, voting and reasons for decisions. 
12. The clerk must write to the appellant, the admission authority and the council with the panel’s decision and reasons. 

The School’s policy on over subscription

13. The School’s admission policy states that where applications exceed the number of available places, applications will be prioritised according to specified criteria. The highest priority is given to looked after children.

Looked after child

14. A Looked after Child (LAC) is any child who is subject to a care order or accommodated away from their family by a local authority under section 20 of Children Act 1989 for a continuous period of more than 24 hours.

What happened

15. Pittville School (the School) is a foundation school and its governing body is the admissions authority. While Gloucestershire County Council (the Council) oversees the administration of admissions, the School retains overall responsibility.
16. Y is a looked after child.
17. Y’s social worker applied for a place for Y at the School, but the application was refused.
18. The social worker appealed the decision, stating that Y should be admitted as a looked after child and that the Council could provide financial support to assist with the transition.
19. The Council arranged an appeal hearing in November 2025. Y’s social worker and Y’s mother attended and presented their case to the appeal panel.
20. Following the hearing, the Council wrote to confirm the panel had not upheld the appeal.

My findings

21. Since the complaint was brought to us, Y’s circumstances have changed and they are no longer seeking a place at Pittville School.
22. As a result, further investigation would not achieve a different outcome, and there is no worthwhile outcome in continuing the investigation.

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Decision

23. I have ended my investigation into this complaint. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman