LGO criticises faith school over handling of admissions appeal

An independent appeal panel at a high-profile Catholic school in London acted in a flawed way when it based a decision to reject an appeal on the fact that a couple’s son did not meet the faith criterion, the Local Government Ombudsman has said.

The parents had appealed against the refusal of a place for their son at the London Oratory School in Fulham. They then complained to the LGO about the handling of the appeal.

In her report the Ombudsman, Dr Jane Martin, concluded that the panel had made a procedural error in the way it had applied the two-stage balancing test when deciding whether to uphold the appeal.

She said: “The panel had based its decision on the fact that [the child] did not meet the faith criteria rather than considering the appeal on its merits in terms of the prejudice that could be caused to the school.”

Dr Martin found that:

• the complainants had not received a copy of the school’s case before the hearing;
• the panel failed to consider two issues separately as the School Admission Appeals Code 2009 requires – the parents’ reasons for wanting a place at the school and whether the admission criteria were properly applied;
• the names of the panel members were not provided to the parents three days before the hearing (as required by the Code requires);
• the school failed to arrange a translator for the complainants on the day of the hearing; and
• the school failed to respond to at least one of the couple’s requests for information.

The LGO recommended that the school hold a new appeal hearing with a new panel. She also said that training should be provided to panel members to prevent the same errors occurring in future.

Dr Martin said: “A school must provide parents with its case for opposing the appeal, in order to satisfy the Code. The parents do not have to ask for it.”