Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about not being offered a place at her preferred school. It is reasonable to expect her to appeal that decision. The Office of the Schools Adjudicator is better placed to consider if the Council’s schools admissions scheme complies with the guidance.

The complaint

1. Mrs X says the Council has used the wrong school admissions process. She says this has unfairly allocated her child a place in a school she did not want for year seven. She also says the published admission scheme is not an accurate reflection of practice.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended).
3. 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 another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mrs X which included the Council’s response to her.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

6. Mrs X says the Council allocated her child a place in year seven to start in September 2026 at a middle school and not a secondary school. She says this never normally happens to children in her area and is unfair. She says the Council’s published admission scheme does not make this clear it’s a possibility.
7. When parents disagree with a school allocation, Parliament has provided parents with a right to appeal to the School’s admission appeal panel for the school they have been unsuccessful at obtaining a place at. This appeal body counts as a Tribunal. It is reasonable to expect Mrs X to appeal.
8. The Council has to follow the Admissions Code on publishing a school admissions scheme before it can use it. The Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA) helps to clarify the legal position on admissions policies in schools. It has a power to rule on objections to and referrals about state school admission arrangements. Parents can make referrals to the OSA. The OSA is better placed than we are to decide if the published admissions scheme complies with the law.

Back to top

Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect her to appeal the decision not to award her a school place at the school she preferred. And the OSA is better placed to decide if the Council published admissions scheme complies with the Code.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman