Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an unsuccessful appeal for a school place. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the Council’s school admissions panel’s decision to refuse her appeal against the refusal of her application for a place for her daughter (Y). She says the Council failed to properly consider her application and suggests the application form is flawed.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way a school admissions appeals panel made its decision. If there was no fault in how the panel made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

Infant class size appeals

5. Independent school admission appeal panels must follow the law when considering an appeal. The law says the size of an infant class must not be more than 30 pupils per teacher. There are only limited circumstances in which more than 30 children can be admitted. There are special rules governing appeals for reception and years 1 and 2, where admitting another child would mean there would be more than 30 pupils per teacher. Appeals under these rules are known as “infant class size appeals”. Infant class size legislation applied to the appeal which is the subject of this complaint.
6. The rules say the panel must consider whether:
• admitting another child would breach the class size limit;
• the admission arrangements comply with the law;
• the admission arrangements were properly applied to the case;
• the decision to refuse a place was one which a reasonable authority would have made in the circumstances.
7. What is ‘unreasonable’ is a high test, and for it to be met, the panel would need to be sure the decision to refuse a place was “perverse” or “outrageous”. For that reason, panels rarely find an admission authority’s decision to be unreasonable.

Y’s case

8. I understand Miss X is unhappy the appeal was unsuccessful. But we are not a right of further appeal and cannot question decisions which were properly taken.
9. The evidence I have seen shows the appeal followed the expected process and contained the stages required by the School Admission Appeals Code (the Code). All parties had the chance to present their cases and could ask questions. The panel had access to the information Miss X sent with her appeal and properly considered it.
10. The clerk’s notes show the panel considered all the information it was presented with, considered the required tests and decided not to uphold the appeal. This is a decision the panel was entitled to take. The clerk’s notes and the panel’s decision letter show how the panel reached its decision and it contains sufficient detail.
11. While I appreciate Miss X disagrees with the panel’s decision and remains unhappy with the Council’s handling of her initial application, I have seen no evidence of fault in the way the panel considered the appeal. I cannot therefore question its decision or recommend it reconsiders her appeal as she would like.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the appeal panel.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman