Summary: Mrs X complained the Council did not conduct her son’s school admissions appeal correctly. We have found fault because the stage two part of the process misinterpreted the information Mrs X provided. To remedy the injustice caused by this fault, the Council has agreed to apologise and arrange a fresh appeal.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council did not correctly determine the outcome of her appeal to get her son, Y, into the school of her choice. Mrs X says the appeal panel incorrectly interpreted the information she provided to it in support of Y’s appeal.
2. Mrs X says this has caused Y undue stress and anxiety in addition to the strain it has placed on the family as a whole. She says the appeal refusal separates Y from his friends, leaves him unsupervised for a longer period of time before and after school and has affected his mental health and well-being.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. We cannot question whether a decision by a body is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. When considering complaints, if there is a conflict of evidence, we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means we will weigh up the available relevant evidence and base our findings on what we think was more likely to have happened.
6. An admission appeal panel is a statutory tribunal but, it is also within our jurisdiction. (Local Government Act 1974, section 25). When considering a complaint after an appeal has been rejected, there may be parts which relate to what happened at the appeal and parts which relate to the original admission process (for example, something about the way a decision was taken by the admissions authority which the appeal panel did not consider) which we can investigate.
7. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

The law and guidance on admission appeals

8. Statutory guidance about school admissions and appeals can be found in The School Admissions Code and School Admission Appeals Code. Both are published by the Department for Education. 
9. Parents and carers have the right to appeal an admission authority’s decision not to offer their child a school place.  
10. Appeal hearings must be held in private and conducted in the presence of all panel members and parties. Appeal panels must act according to the principles of natural justice. 
11. A clerk supports the appeal panel. Parents can submit information in support of their appeal. The clerk must send all papers required for the hearing a reasonable time before the date of the hearing. This includes information from the appellant and the admission authority. 
12. The admission authority must provide a presenting officer at the hearing to explain the decision not to admit the child and to answer questions from the appellant and panel. 
13. Appeal panels must allow appellants the opportunity to appear in person and present their case.  
14. Panels must follow a two-stage decision making process. 
15. At stage 1: the panel examines the decision to refuse admission. The panel must consider whether:
• the admission arrangements complied with the mandatory requirements set out in the School Admissions Code;
• the admission arrangements were applied correctly; and if 
• the admission of additional children would prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources.  
16. If a panel decides that admitting further children would “prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources” they move to the second stage of the process. 
17. Stage 2: balancing the arguments. The panel must balance the prejudice to the school against the appellant’s case for the child to be admitted. It must take account of the appellant’s reasons for expressing a preference for the school, including what the school can offer the child the allocated or other schools cannot.
18. Where the panel considers the appellant’s case outweighs the prejudice to the school, it must uphold the appeal.   
19. Appeal panels must either uphold or dismiss an appeal and must not uphold an appeal subject to any conditions.
20. Appeals must be decided by a simple majority of votes cast. A panel’s decision that a child shall be admitted to a school is binding on the admission authority concerned. 
21. The clerk must take an accurate record of the hearing, including the proceedings, attendance, voting and reasons for decisions. 
22. The appeal panel must write to the appellant, the admission authority and the council with its decision and the reasons for it.

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How I considered this complaint

23. I have considered all the information Mrs X provided and discussed this complaint with her. I have also considered information the Council sent in response to our enquiries.
24. Mrs X and the Council had the opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I have taken any comments received into consideration before reaching my final decision.

What happened

25. Mrs X has a son, Y. Y is due to start secondary school in September 2023.
26. Following the 2023 school admissions round, Y was allocated a place at school B. Mrs X wanted Y to attend school A. Y lives outside of the priority admission area for school A and although his older siblings previously attended school A, they have now finished secondary education there.
27. Y is therefore in the lowest priority band for admissions for school A.
28. Mrs X appealed to the Council, which was the admissions authority, and requested a place at school A. Within her appeal documents she listed multiple reasons why she would like Y to attend school A. These included:
• provision for before and after school childcare being walking distance from school A. She said this was necessary as her and Mr X both work full time a significant distance away from home and in opposite directions of each other;
• the close bond Y and the family had built over a number of previous years with two families available to offer before and after school support close to school A;
• how Y would be the only child of his year 6 cohort not to attend school A;
• how Y would benefit considerably from the support of those peers if he was able to join them at school A;
• how Mrs X was concerned for Y’s confidence, well-being and attainment if he was to be separated from his friends; and
• two letters of support from Y’s primary school headteacher and chair of the governing body.
29. Late in April 2023, the Council held stage one of the appeals process in order to establish the facts.
30. School A presented facts about why it did not feel it was able to admit a number of extra pupils to year 7 in the coming academic year. These included reasons such as some of the classrooms being too small and the school having a much larger number of pupils on roll than it was originally designed for.
31. School A said that increasing the number of pupils on roll would have a detrimental impact on the education of existing and future pupils.
32. The panel hearing the appeal decided it was satisfied that admitting the children who were appealing would prejudice the efficient education and the effective use of resources at the school. The panel also concluded the admission arrangements for the school were lawful and had been correctly applied.
33. A few days later, the Council held stage two of the process.
34. Mr and Mrs X had the chance to verbally share the reasons they felt Y should be given a place at school A. The panel then asked questions of Mr and Mrs X. The panel discussed their findings in private and made the decision to refuse Y’s appeal. The Council then sent its decision letter.
35. Mrs X complained to the Council and was signposted to the Ombudsman.

Analysis

Stage one of the appeals process

36. Mrs X complains of fault in stage one of the appeals process. She says the Council’s representative was unable to answer specific questions about the number of pupils the school could accept, known as ‘the range’.
37. I have viewed the notes of the meeting provided by the Council. Many areas of concern were discussed during the meeting including the range aspect. There was some discussion over why the school was operating at the lower end of the published numbers for its range.
38. The panel was satisfied by the end of discussions that it could not set a definite number on how many extra pupils school A may be able to admit. On this basis, it agreed the school was full and that each case would be heard individually. I am satisfied the school intends to admit the number of children within its range and therefore find no fault in the actions of the Council in not discussing the issue further. I am satisfied stage one of the process was carried out properly.

Stage two of the appeals process

39. Mrs X complains of fault in stage two of the appeals process. She says the panel did not properly consider supporting information she provided, that its rationale was confused and therefore feels it reached the wrong decision.
40. I have viewed the notes of the stage two meeting provided by the Council. The clerk’s notes do not have to reflect what took place word for word, but it should be possible to tell how the panel arrived at its decision.
41. In addition to the supporting materials provided for stage one of the appeal (see paragraph 27), Mr and Mrs X made it very clear in stage two that they felt Y needed support from his cohort. They said he would benefit from both the on-site counsellor at school A and some of the curriculum specifically on offer there.
42. As part of the question and answer section, the panel asked who usually looked after Y before and after school. Mr and Mrs X explained what the current situation was (at the time of the appeal). They highlighted how Y’s older siblings were sometimes able to help. They also said their support network outside the family was a covid bubble friend who had children at both Y’s primary school and school A, in addition to the friend living within walking distance of school A.
43. Mr and Mrs X explained how school A would be beneficial as it had a longer school day than school B and therefore before and after school care would not cause such an issue if he attended school A.
44. The notes for the panel’s brief deliberations show it considered there was a support network in place before and after school with siblings and a covid bubble friend. Sibling support being in place was then referenced a second time as well as “no issues before or after (school)”, before voting unanimously to reject Mrs X’s appeal.
45. As part of the process, the Council then sent a decision letter outlining some of the issues the panel noted for both school A and Mrs X. This letter also re-iterated that when giving the case “careful consideration” it noted there was a support network in place and that school B was within a reasonable travelling distance from home.
46. The Council’s stance here seems confused. At no point did Mr and Mrs X say the occasional sibling support in place during year 6 would be available in year 7. Nor were they asked if this was the case.
47. The same appears to have happened regarding the support network in place from a friend. This was used as a reason to deny Mrs X’s appeal for school A when in fact it had been made very clear that the support network was only available if Y attended school A due to the friend living close by. Mrs X’s reasoning had also been highlighted in her supporting documentation.
48. I am satisfied the notes made for the stage two discussion with the parents back up what Mrs X had sent in as supporting evidence.
49. I am also satisfied, that in the circumstances of this complaint, the issues highlighted on the cover of the stage two notes are at points contradictory to the supporting evidence originally supplied and the notes made of the general discussion.
50. The general discussion, questioning and brief deliberation notes make no reference to any of the supporting evidence Mrs X had previously sent in. This leads me to question how much of it was taken into account during the balancing stage of the process. On the balance of probabilities, I am satisfied that the supporting evidence was not considered during the deliberation and balancing part of the stage two process. This is fault. It would have meant the panel did not properly consider whether the prejudice was greater to the school or Y in the circumstances of this appeal.
51. Also, the deliberation notes show the panel seems to have misunderstood the information verbally presented to it that day or used it to support rejecting the appeal when in fact the supporting evidence (both verbal and written) clearly explained the parental reasoning for wanting Y to go to school A. This is also fault. These faults would have led to distress, frustration and uncertainty for Mrs X and Y. I consider Mrs X cannot be satisfied she received a fair or adequate hearing. I have made a recommendation below to remedy the injustice caused by these faults.

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Agreed action

52. To remedy the injustice caused by the faults I have identified, the Council has agreed to take the following action within four weeks of the date of my final decision:
• apologise to Ms X for the frustration and distress caused by the confused stage two decision; and
• arrange a fresh appeal with a new panel and a new clerk for the hearing.
53. We expect the fresh appeal to be presented using the same information about the availability of places at the time Mrs X made her first appeal. This is to ensure she is not disadvantaged by other successful appeals decided since the original appeal, which may have increased pupil numbers at school A. We also expect the new panel to be advised of the fault identified in the first appeal.
54. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

55. I have now completed my investigation. I uphold this complaint with a finding of fault causing an injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman