Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School, Liverpool (26 009 341)
Category : Education > School admissions
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 12 Jul 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a school’s decision not to admit Mrs X’s child. This is because a complaint about that decision is now late. I have not seen any evidence of good reasons to exercise discretion to consider it now.
The complaint
- Mrs X was unhappy the school, acting as an Admission Authority, declined to offer her child (Y) a space. Mrs X said the school did not properly consider her grounds for appeal and wants the decision reconsidered.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 an Authority has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mrs X was unhappy with how Y’s admissions appeal was handled. Mrs X was notified about the outcome of her appeal in mid-June 2025. Mrs X did not complain to us until late June 2026.
- Mrs X’s complaint is late. The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wished to complain about, not when they complained to the relevant Authority, or it issued its appeal response. We would expect someone to complain to us within a year of becoming aware of that matter.
- I have considered whether there are good reasons for us to exercise discretion to consider Mrs X's complaint. The law, explained in paragraph two, says we should not investigate late complaints unless there are good reasons why a complaint could not have been made to us within 12 months. I have not seen any evidence of good reasons and therefore I will not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is now a late complaint and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to disregard the time limit.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman