Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about how the Council handled an academy school’s admissions application. And we will not investigating the effect of a mistake to offer the wrong type of school as the injustice is not significant enough.

The complaint

1. Mrs X says the Council erred in allocating her child a school place which caused her and her family stress and upset.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as school academies. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34(1), 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:
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement; or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mrs X applied for a middle school place for her child, B. The Council in April 2026 offered a place at a first school. It accepted this was a mistake and says within a month it had offered a place at a middle school which was one of her preferred schools.
7. Mrs X says the wrong offer caused them distress. She says B was very upset not getting a place at the school they were expecting to.
8. Mrs X appealed to her most preferred school’s admissions appeals panel. That school is an academy and we have no legal power to investigate how the Council handled that school’s admissions process.
9. We will not investigate the error made in offering the wrong type of school. Mrs X says this meant she lost a school admission appeal and has complained to the Secretary of State. As Mrs X has sought a remedy for the effect of that mistake it is not appropriate for us to look at it. Also the injustice caused by the month gap between the mistake and the correction is not significant enough injustice to warrant an investigation.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we cannot investigate how Council’s handle school academy admission applications. And the injustice caused by the offer of the wrong type of school is not significant enough to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman