Primary school offer, withdrawal, re-offer and waiting list?

[JoJo44]

I would like to know if anyone is able to advise on this matter concerning a recently offered place at a primary school for my daughter.

A place was offered to my daughter over a month ago, however, the school contacted me as they required further information to support my daughters application. Following a informal meeting with the head, I advised that this information would be supplied to the school within the dates that we had discussed and agreed.

I immediately contacted a third party who advised me that they would to send this information onto the school directly and forward a copy to me.

I received my copy along with an indication in the letter that a copy had been sent to the school (this was all within a few days of the meeting and BEFORE they date of expiry (e.g. the date that we had discussed and agreed that this information would be needed by).

When i contacted the school approximately 2 weeks later regarding a separate query, i was informed that my daughter?s place had been withdrawn as they had not received the information requested.

I was very alarmed as I had not been contacted regarding this and immediately called the third party who provided proof that this information had been sent and as i had received my copy i naturally assumed the school had also.

The school stated that it had attempted to contact me, via email only, but it was later discovered that the email address used by the school was incorrect (although they had previously successfully contacted me to request the information that they needed from me). No other form of communication was used to inform me of their intentions e.g. letter/telephone call.

My daughter has now been placed at the top of the waiting list as her place has been given to another child who was previously on the waiting list for the school.

I have asked the school to honor its original agreement to offer this placement as the withdrawal was premature and they had not attempted to notify me of their intentions. (The withdrawal was premature in that the date discussed at the meeting with the school had not expired, yet my daughters place had been withdrawn irrespective of this).

I have not received a response from the school they have simply advised that the council will be handling the matter.

Any advice would be most useful.

the http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/sacode/ school admissions code is very clear about withdrawing offers

"Withdrawing offers of places
1.50 Once an offer of a school place has been made it is only reasonable for an admission authority to withdraw that offer in very limited circumstances. These may include when a parent has failed to respond to an offer within a reasonable time or the admission authority offered the place on the basis of a fraudulent or intentionally misleading application from a parent (for example, a false claim to residence in a catchment area) which effectively denied a place to another child; or where a place was offered under co-ordination by the local authority, not the admission authority, in error. If a parent has not responded to the offer of a place within a reasonable time, the admission authority must remind the parent of the need to respond within a further seven days and point out that the place may be withdrawn if they do not."

If I've understood you correctly, the school contacted you but they used an incorrect email address (ie it was not an old one that was once correct & you hadn't told them it had changed?) and then when they didn't hear from you withdrew the offer of a place before the agreed date to provide the additional information?

What should have happened is that once the agreed date had been reached they should have contacted you (whether email is okay for this is debatable) and given you seven days to respond & only if they didn't hear from you then, they can re-offer the place.

I would write to them quoting para 1.50, & stating what happened & that they were in breach of the requirements of the code & ask for the place to be reinstated. They should do this, but it probably end up at an appeal, but (assuming I've understood correctly) you should win the appeal.

I'll try that link again...

admissions code (it's on the LHS)

Just another point, who is the admissions authority here, school or LA? (It will be the LA unless it is a VA faith school/foundation school, they handle their own admissions)

I would contact the LA admissions team rather than the school if they handle admissions. They are the ones responsible for ensuring the admissions code is followed. You can probably find out who the Admissions Manager is from the LA website - I would write directly to them.

Did the third party (is it a nursery?) send the letter using a recorded delivery? That would be a proof.

I am surpised they did not contact you again knowing the email address failed. They should have sent you a letter via post or called you. Usually, no-one calls but sends a formal reminder because this should go to a correspondence file. This is how it is normally done.

I would firstly like to so a very big thank you for taking the time and trouble to respond, it is greatly appreciated. I was on the verge of paying a huge sum to a specialist 'educational appeals team'. You've all provided me with more information in a few minutes than i have received in the last week!

Betsy - the information provided is invaluble, thank you very much.

In relation to the questions asked, the admissions authority is Southwark with whom i have made contact. They have stipulated that i will need to give them 10 days to respond to my complaint. It is a LA school, so admissions is dealt with via this team.

Octvia you've made a very valid point which i will add to my original complaint. It was actually sent via a solicitors who have the copies on file, i do not believe it was sent via recorded delivery (which i can confirm) but as i said you made a very valid point which needs to be addressed.

I am hopeful that my daughter will be awarded a place, it is just an unncessary stress to experience, when the process of locating a school to begin is quite overwhelming!

I think this information is alot to be going on with! And i will be happy to let you know the outcome in due course.

Again, i cant thank you both enough for taking the time and trouble to respond.

Sorry and Besty in answer to your question regarding the email address.

My email address has never changed, they simply realised they typed it in incorrectly, and your right Octavia, presumbly the address should have failed (unless the address is a valid - but just not mine?!) which the school should have been able to recognise.

You've both highlighted things which i have overlooked. Thank you again.

JoJo44, if they sent it to you then they can go to the sent box and find it. They can search your name in the search (available for many email account users). They need to show you as well that the email has been send. One thing they tell you but you need a confirmation. Ask them to show you the email. Even if is failed, whatever, it should be in the sent box. If they say they deleted it(I doubt they would do it as it is a proof), the IT person can easily confirm it. The IT guys see everything what the staff is sending. So, ask them to show you this email; may be they did not send you an email, who knows and now they are making things up.

As I said before I think using email as a means to contact a parent about potentially withdrawing a school place offer if they don't respond is debatable anyway (as Octavia said they would want to keep a hard copy letter on file as proof), but they fact that this debatable action was compounded by them making an error with your email address is just more weight to your case

Hopefully the outcome of your complaint will be a reinstated offer, but don't be overly disappointed if it's not, as a lot of LAs seem to have a problem admitting a mistake was made.

Even though it's extra stress; which I'm sure you could do without; a (properly trained) appeals panel will know that offers cannot be withdraw like this. Unfortunately if it does end up at appeal, it's likely to not be heard until some time in the Autumn term (they must hold the appeal within 40 school days of you submitting it)

If you have any more questions/issues please let us know

Octavia - Again, another good point regarding proof that this email was sent..., thank you! I was intrigued as to whether it was really was sent to begin with which is an unsettling thing to think.., but something i wont dwell on.

BetsyBoo - Thank you again for highlighting the the procedural stages as it has provided me with a lot more confidence (and less stress) as to how i can handle this matter from this point on.

If i come across anything that i am unsure of following the LA's response in the forthcoming weeks, i will in no doubt be in contact

But as i said and as you've both indicated, i feel that the outcome is potentially quite positive

Thank you both yet again!

BetsyBoop is spot on. The way this offer was withdrawn was inappropriate. I sincerely hope Southwark don't force you to go through an appeal for this. It really isn't necessary. On the information you have posted this is an open and shut case.

As the LA is the admissions authority, it should have been them, not the school, contacting you about the place being withdrawn due to failure to provide information. And the first contact should have been to remind you of the need to respond, giving you at least another 7 days to do so. Indeed, if the LA is the admissions authority the school seem to have been doing far too much. It should be down to the LA to withdraw the offer and make the offer to someone on the waiting list.

I wouldn't bother chasing them for a copy of this email. It really isn't important. If they force you to go to appeal it will be for them to show they've followed the correct process. They clearly haven't.

I'm going to have to disagree with Octavia. Speaking as someone who works in IT, it is absolutely NOT the case that IT see all emails that are sent, so they may not be able to produce the email even if it was sent. Depending on the systems they use and how they are set up it may not be possible to recover old emails that have been deleted, especially if it was sent from the school.

prh47bridge - thank you for your response it confirms what i originally thought, but thanks to everyone on this site it has re-inforced my view. I understand your point regarding the email/IT.

I also hope that we are not dragged through an unnecessary appeal, as youve said and i believe, its an 'open and shut case', hopefuly...

Thank you.

JoJo,
Regretably there is no such thing as an open and shut case when it comes to admissions. However having said that this seems to be a fairly bad case of the school and the LA making a hash of it.

Can I assume that this is not a reception year admission, as this is the only reasonable explanation for the school being involved and that the solicitor was sending information relating to address of your home?

The school clearly made you an offer of a place and put a time constraint on you confirming certain information. You believe that you and your solicitor met that constraint but the school on not getting this information simply informed you that the place had been withdrawn. This is wrong. The key point is made by BetsyBoop that they must (which is legally required) remind the parent of the need to respond within a further 7 days. They did not do so and therefore this is a clear case of maladministration by the school. You need to impress on the LA that this means that they have to reinstate the place but I suspect that like many LAs they will make you go to appeal as it suits the LA to "lose" an appeal rather than admit a fault!