School admissions - missed proof of address email - now have to do late application

[Mumof2xxx87]

Hi everyone, I am absolutely devastated, waiting for my son’s email today to find out his school place to find out my application was missing proof of address. What I’m really annoyed about is I applied on time and when submitting the email there was no question about proof of address. I also logged in a few times after to double check I had done everything right and there was no notification on the portal. I called uk today to see why I had no email and was told I was sent an email back in January 3 days after I submitted the application ( which I did not see) I asked for proof they had sent it which they resent me and it went to my junk email. I am assuming that is where the other email went, I do not check my junk unless prompted ! I now have to submit a late application but am also tempted to appeal as I don’t feel it is fair. One email that would have gone into my junk mail.
When I checked the portal many times between me submitting up u till today the status said closed application and “submitted” I also had an email confirmation that I had submitted and again no mention of a follow up email or the fact I would have to do proof of address. I am wondering how am I the only person that seems to have done this? Any help please

No advice I'm afraid, but I'm sorry you're going through this stress.

What I did want to say though is it should be easy to check whether any of your preferred schools still have spaces, on your local authority website. If they do, it's not such a worrying situation (as frustrating and upsetting as this is) as you should hopefully gain a place at one of your preferred schools on the second round of allocations. It obviously depends on your area, but many areas have plenty of under subscribed schools still. For example, in the area I work only about 15 schools are oversubscribed for next year, out of over 60. Plenty of good schools still have spaces. I really hope that is the case where you are.

Oh god what a nightmare I'm so sorry. Today has been stressful enough without that, has anyone you know been affected in the same way?

I'm sorry to hear that you missed out but your email settings are your own affair and the council have proof they sent it. I'm afraid it doesn't meet the bar for maladministration.

I had an appeal lodged against one of my schools for this reason, but because we had proof tge council sent the email, the appeal was dismissed.

Assuming there’s no issue with the address on your application (ie you used your actual address & they just always require proof) then I’m absolutely gutted for you. It’s totally possible that the original chasing email went into your spam folder & so annoying that the website didn’t show that further info was required!

Do you know if there are places left at any of your preferred schools?

Check if the school was oversubscribed and how many were refused a place. Will give you an idea of your chances of getting in.

Thank you @BoleynMemories13 I am hoping and praying that we get one of the schools weve asked for on the new application. I will have a look on the website tomorrow thank you!

@Charmatt I have never changed my settings, I also received my confirmation when submitting the application. Tbh I am guessing it went to junk as the one they resent did but I am still yet to see the original in my emails and have searched back. I would love to know how everyone else sent there proof of address and if it also went into junk. It didn’t specify on my application that it was needed which is annoying , a seperate email completely asking for this? Is this normal in your experience

@Starryknightcloud not that I am aware of yet 😔 I also hope not …. But I am feeling how am I the only one 🫣

@hyggetyggedotorg no issues with our address, have sent it off today but had to do it On a new application. I have tried calling the schools but they are all off for easter holidays m, I am going to try and look at the website suggested above!! Thank you all for your reply’s xx

It depends on your local authority but some ask for proof to be submitted when you apply and others ask if there is a compelling reason, eg if you have moved house or if there is a suspicion that there may be fraud. We have had 2 families apply with the same address before, for example. We also had a parent claim they had moved house when the house was still being built, but our LA only ask for proof if there is suspicious circumstances.

You should read through the determined admissions arrangements for the school or Local Authority to see if you were expected to send it in at the time of applying.

Hi,

you can appeal - there is an expectation that the LA would take 'all reasonable steps' to contact you before withdrawing an application and one email would not be adequate.

If all they sent was one email then you would have good grounds to appeal. Our LA starts with an email and a text telling them to read the email, then sends an email reminder, then an email and letter and final text before the application is withdrawn. Then when the application is withdrawn we send a further letter and text telling them the application has been withdrawn. I am very surprised they sent one email and that was all. If it was, then you have good grounds to appeal

@schooladmission thank you, this is helpful. When I called today she said that is all they have sent as I questioned why it wasn’t on the portal, I logged in a few days after submitting to double check it and all was fine “ closed application “ and under “submitted” I would of thought more then one email or letter would have been sent, Received no texts / letters. It’s under Birmingham council , will try to contact them tomorrow thank you.

I've just looked at their admissions arrangements (Birmingham) and it says this:

After you submit your online application, you can provide proof of address by emailing [email protected].
You must state "Proof of address" in the email subject line. In the body of the email, state your online application reference number and your child's full name and date of birth. Photographs or scans attached to your email are usually acceptable, provided they are clear and readable.
If you do not provide proof of address and this is required, we will contact you to request it.
Failure to provide proof of address will result in us being unable to consider this address when processing your application. This failure may have an impact on the school place that your child is offered.
Our request will be emailed to you. We recommend you use an email address you regularly monitor, including the Junk folder. This monitoring is important to make sure that you do not miss any important communications from us.
The information you provide will go through a series of validations within Birmingham City Council and may be shared with other organisations where necessary for verification.

Unless you followed this, it'll be difficult to prove maladministration in an appeal.

But what does that mean ‘you can submit proof of address’. You can do a lot of things.

It doesn’t say you have to submit proof of address to this email address.

No, but it says that if you don't and it is required, they will email you and the responsibility is on you to check your email, including your junk folder.

I am with @schooladmission.

The section of the admission arrangements quoted by @Charmatt falls short of saying that you must submit proof of address.

For something as important as this, where you are going to reject an application for a school place if it is not answered, a single email is not enough. Many people don't check their spam folder and a single sentence hidden away in the admission arrangements advising people to do so is not enough to put the onus on applicants. In any case, email is not a reliable means of communication. Whilst the vast majority of emails get through within minutes, some take much longer to be delivered, and some are simply lost without any notification to either the sender or recipient, so the recipient won't find it in their inbox, spam folder or anywhere else. The Local Government Ombudsman has been clear in a number of similar cases that the LA should have made more attempts to contact you using more than one means of communication before rejecting your application. And failing to flag anything on the portal to show that proof of address was needed is clearly misleading.

You need to get written confirmation that the only thing the LA did was send a single email. You can get that by simply emailing them confirming the contents of your conversation. Unless they respond showing that they did indeed try to contact you multiple times, that will give you proof. Once you have that, you have a good case for appeal.