Summary: We will not investigate Mrs M’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her application for a secondary school place for her daughter because her complaint is late. In any event, Mrs M had a right of appeal to challenge the Council’s decision. There is nothing worthwhile we could achieve by investigating her complaint now.

The complaint

1. Mrs M complains about the Council’s handling of her application for a secondary school place for her daughter for September 2025. Mrs M did not get the place she wanted. She describes the effect on her daughter as a safeguarding concern. Mrs M complained to the Council and is unhappy with the Council’s response.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26B as amended)
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. The School Standards and Framework Act 1998 makes provision for education appeal panels to hear appeals against school admission decisions.
5. We provide a free service, but we 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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. School places were allocated on 3 March 2025 (‘national offer day’). Mrs M did not get the place she wanted for her daughter.
9. Mrs M complained to the Council in April 2025. It appears there had been an issue with the address she used in her application. Mrs M wanted to know who had reported the matter to the Council. She described the impact on her daughter of not getting a place at the school she wanted as a safeguarding concern. She accused the Council of ‘hiding behind the admissions policy’.
10. Mrs M did not get the answers she was looking for or the school place she wanted for her daughter.
11. She complained to us on 9 March 2026, twelve months after national offer day.
12. She is unhappy with the Council’s response to her complaint and her subsequent requests for access to information.
13. We will not consider Mrs M’s complaint. It is more than 12 months since Mrs M learned she had not secured a place for her daughter at the school of her choice. Her complaint is late and there are no good reasons to accept her complaint now.
14. In any event, Mrs M had a right of appeal to challenge the decision to refuse her daughter a place at the school of her choice. She could have explained the reasons she used a different address in her application to the appeal panel.
15. We will not investigate Mrs M’s complaint about the Council’s response to her concerns, including her requests for access to information, because there is no worthwhile outcome we could achieve. Further investigation would not secure Mrs M’s daughter a place at the school of her choice.
16. If Mrs M remains concerned, she should contact the Council’s Education Inclusion Service for advice. Contact details are on the Council’s website.

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Final decision

17. We will not investigate Mrs M’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons to accept it now. Mrs M could have appealed the decision to refuse her daughter a place at the school of her choice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman