Summary: Mr X complained his children were not offered any of the five schools he applied for. He said despite appealing; his children have not been offered any alternative. The Ombudsman does not find fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains his children were not offered any of the five schools he applied for. He said despite appealing; his children have not been offered any alternative.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. 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)
4. 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.
5. 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)

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What I have and have not investigated

6. I have investigated whether there was any fault in the appeals process in relation to Mr X’s preferred school.
7. I have not investigated whether there was any fault in the appeals process in relation to the other four schools. This is because are their own admission authority and deal with their own school appeals. They are therefore outside of our jurisdiction.

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How I considered this complaint

8. I spoke with Mr X about his complaint. I considered all the information provided by Mr X and the Council.
9. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

The law and guidance on admissions appeals

10. 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. 
11. Parents/carers have the right to appeal an admission authority’s decision not to offer their child a school place.  
12. 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. 
13. 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. 
14. The clerk must take an accurate record of the hearing, including the proceedings, attendance, voting and reasons for decisions. 
15. 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. 
16. Appeal panels must allow appellants the opportunity to make oral representations.
17. Appeal panels must either uphold or dismiss an appeal and must not uphold an appeal subject to any conditions. 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. 
18. The clerk to the panel must write to the appellant, the admission authority and the council with the panel’s decision and reasons. 

Summary of the key events

19. Mr X appealed the decision to decline his son and daughter a place at the school. As part of the appeal, he said his son, Y, and daughter, B were bullied at their previous school. He said the bullies would be attending the allocated school and Y and B were scared to attend. He also said they had friends and family at their preferred school.
20. The panel notes show:
• the school was at its maximum capacity. Any allocation of additional pupils would be to the determent of the education provision already offered to the pupils presently attending the school;
• the admissions criteria had been correctly applied;
• no independent professional medical advice had been provided to show it was the only school capable of meeting Y and B’s educational or social needs; and
• there was no evidence to show that Y and B would be bullied at the allocated school. It said the panel could not uphold appeals based on what may or may not happen.
21. The panel unanimously decided admitting more children would prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources. 
22. The Council wrote to Mr X and told him of its decision. It set out how it considered his appeal at stage one and stage two. It explained how it considered the point he raised, and the reason for its decision.

My findings

23. We are not an appeal body. We cannot question the Council’s decision because someone disagrees with it. We can only decide if there was fault in the way the decision was reached.
24. The Council considered Mr X’s appeal in line with the school’s admission appeal code. The records show it properly considered the information provided to it by the school and Mr X. There was no fault in the Council’s actions.

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Final decision

25. I have completed my investigation on the basis there was no fault in the Council’s actions.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman