Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the outcome of a school admissions appeal panel. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the school admission appeal panel (the “panel”) failed to consider her appeal regarding her child, Y, fairly. Mrs X said she was unable to present her case due to internet connectivity issues.
2. Mrs X said this meant the appeal was unfair and Y did not get their preferred school.
3. Mrs X wanted a new appeal to be held face-to-face.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether a person disagrees with the decision an organisation made.
8. The admission appeal decision letter explained the evidence the panel considered, and comments provided by Mrs X both in writing and orally. The letter also states the admission criteria was not met because Y’s test scores did not meet the published admission criteria.
9. The panel considered the relevant information as part of Mrs X’s appeal but decided her child did not meet the relevant criteria. Consequently, we will not investigate this complaint as there is not enough evidence of fault.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman