Big fall in schools admissions complaints appeals

3 Sep 14
Complaints about schools admissions appeals to the Local Government Ombudsman have fallen by half over the past four years, the watchdog has reported.

By Andrew Pring | 3 September 2014

Complaints about schools admissions appeals to the Local Government Ombudsman have fallen by half over the past four years, the watchdog has reported.

However, the reduction in the number of parents bringing their complaints to the LGO coincided with the increase in the amount of academies and free schools being set up – over which the LGO holds no jurisdiction.

In the last 2013/14 financial year, the LGO considered 747 complaints and enquiries about schools admissions appeals, compared to the 1,499 it received in 2010/11. Over the same period, the number of academies and free schools has grown from 462 to 3,688.

Last year, the LGO upheld a quarter of all complaints about schools admissions it investigated in detail.

Publishing the figures yesterday, ombudsman Jane Martin said: ‘In the vast majority of appeals, parents have no cause to complain to us, but in the stories in this report we have highlighted faults that could have been avoided. Parents have a statutory right to appeal for a place and they need to feel assured that those appeals are carried out fairly.

‘By sharing the lessons learned from the complaints that we receive, we hope that admissions authorities make sure that their own arrangements are as effective as they can be and that fewer parents are distressed by the uncertainty that their appeal was not heard correctly.’

The LGO says it expects to investigate a similar number of complaints for 2014/15.

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