Reception place withdrawn by LA

[msrplp]

My daughter was admitted to our second primary school choice. The offer was made on 16 April and, according to the local authority's policy, automatically accepted.

Today I received a phone call from the LA telling me there was an error and they were withdrawing the offer. I asked about the error and they said the lists 'got jumbled up' and wrong offers were made. They couldn't tell me who made the error. I know at least one other child impacted by this.

The LA offered me our fifth choice, which I reluctantly accepted as I didn't want to be offered something worse or nothing at all. I'm so upset as I really like the school we were originally offered (it is very similar to our first choice) and was happy to put the uncertainty of this process behind me. I feel like I've now had the rug ripped out from under me.

My daughter is on the waiting list for our first choice. It's unlikely she would have been offered a place on our third or fourth choices as they are over subscribed. But I have asked to be put on the waitlists for all of them.

I've read through the more recent posts on this issue and there is a lot of useful information. I'm wondering if things have changed in the last couple of years and if there is anything different or additional I should do in fighting this. Also, is LGO case 99C01876 the most recent / relevant?

Would you have got a place at another higher preference school had the mistake been made? I.e. has it cost you a place at your third/fourth choice?

@EduCated I don’t know. I’m in the midst of trying to get as much information as I can - namely what the mistake was and who made it, the distance (and criteria) of the last placed offered for our other choices, and our place on all the waiting lists.

The LGO case you mention is still the most relevant although it dates back a long way.

As you have come across mention of that case, you already know that admission authorities should withdraw offers made in error within 3 days of making them. Appeal panels don't always follow the precedents on this, but they should. You therefore have a good argument for having the place reinstated.

The other obvious question arising out of this is what place you would have been offered if it wasn't for this mistake. If that would have been one of your higher preferences, you have a good argument for appealing for that school as well.

@prh47bridge

The LGO case you mention is still the most relevant although it dates back a long way.

As you have come across mention of that case, you already know that admission authorities should withdraw offers made in error within 3 days of making them. Appeal panels don't always follow the precedents on this, but they should. You therefore have a good argument for having the place reinstated.

The other obvious question arising out of this is what place you would have been offered if it wasn't for this mistake. If that would have been one of your higher preferences, you have a good argument for appealing for that school as well.

Thank you, that is helpful.

I don't know what place we would have been offered but unlikely higher schools as they are over subscribed. I am going to get more information about distance and offerings so I can ascertain that.

If we do think we should have been offered a higher preference place, can we appeal both decisions or should we chose one approach and stick with it?

You can appeal for both schools if you find you should have been offered one of your higher preferences. The two appeals will be independent of each other.

I thought the offer of a place was legally binding.

@OneRingToRuleThemAll

I thought the offer of a place was legally binding.

No, it isn't. There are some circumstances in which an offer can be withdrawn.

@prh47bridge I've seen it advised on other threads to put in an FOI request for information to support our appeal. Do you know what information I should ask for?

An FoI request is not necessary. The school and LA must answer any reasonable questions you ask to help you prepare for your appeal.

In your situation I would be asking for more information about how the mistake came to be made and when they knew about it. I would also ask the LA to confirm which school your daughter would have got if they hadn't made a mistake. It also wouldn't do any harm to find out if the school has been over PAN in any year in infants recently, although that is unlikely to be relevant if this is an infant class size case.

I've been informed by the school (which is voluntary aided) that I have to appeal to them, even though it was the Council's error. Does anyone have any advice of how to proceed in this situation?

Also, the school has to send me the appeal form and they refused to do so today. They said it will have to be next week. Is that proper?

The school is its own admission authority so they are absolutely correct, you appeal through the school.

As long as they provide the necessary information to allow you to appeal before whatever deadline they have set, that's fine. If they delay beyond that you have a potential argument that your appeal has been prejudiced by their delay.

Thanks for your help everyone. I put into effect tips from here and other threads. Not sure if it worked, but after officially complaining to the council and indicating we would appeal, and writing to our MP, the councillor in charge of children and education, and the head teacher, I received a call offering my daughter a space. So after a week of fighting we are back to where we started.

Great news OP, I'm thrilled for you, well done!

make a subject access request with local authority and school. send recorded signed for