Can a primary school withdraw an offer once accepted and offer to someone else?

[Starlight987]

I’m looking for some advice about a school admissions issue because I’m not sure what’s happened here.

Last week I was offered a place for my son at a primary school for an in-year admission. I accepted the offer over the phone, and yesterday I went to view the school. When I arrived, the office manager asked why I wanted to move my son. I explained that I don’t feel he’s getting the right support at his current school and that he has special needs.

I could tell something felt a bit off during the conversation she seemed quite reluctant. She said she would speak to the headteacher to arrange a meeting, but I never heard back. When I called today to follow up, she told me they’d now offered the place to another child who has an EHCP and apologised, saying she only found out when she spoke to the headteacher.

I’m finding the timing quite suspicious, especially as everything seemed fine until I mentioned my son’s additional needs. I’ve already spoken to the council and they said the school shouldn’t really have done that, and they’re going to speak to their manager about it.

Has anyone had anything similar happen or know if this is allowed? Can a school just withdraw a verbal offer like that after a visit? I’d really appreciate any advice or experiences I just want to make sure I’m doing the right thing for my son.

I will tag one of the admissions experts in the hope they can guide you.
It may be helpful for you to give the exact days of contacts as there are precedents iirc giving more than 3 days as unreasonable.

It sounds a bit dodgy to me ....

@prh47bridge will probably be able to advise further.

Does your child have a EHCP?
I agree the timing is suspicious you could get your dp to ring and enquire and see if there’s availability.

it could be the local authority has arranged a Sen child (with EHCP) to join which the school would be obliged to prioritise.

Was it n official offer and acceptance?

It’s been 5 school days since they offered the place, they called me last week Thursday to offer it

No the offer only was made verbally by the phone last week Thursday, they invited us to come see the school yesterday

No unfortunately my child doesn’t have an EHCP in place yet, I’ve been trying to push his current school to put one in place but they haven’t been very supportive

Yeah so I assume they have accepted this other child with an EHCP ( which they have to do as a priority and only if they can prove they wouldn’t be able to cope or meet their needs significantly would they be able to refuse a place) the school will get funding for the child with the EHCP and not with your child , even if they are on a send support plan it won’t be the same level so I imagine that probably helped with their decision. But it’s frustrating because had you applied two weeks earlier, and made the transfer and then this other child applied with an EHCP , if the class is full they still have to accept. So I think it’s just rotten timing that you hadn’t got an official start date and weren’t already transitioning over. They should really have accepted you both but I’m guessing with it being this way around they can say they are too full to you now, if official paperwork hasn’t been drawn up as apposed to saying that to the child with an EHCP. Still think it’s been dealt with poorly though and I’d want a more detailed explanation .

Not an expert.

But if they offered and the OP accepted then the place is surely hers? The EHCP child could be taken as an excepted child.
However if they offered and the OP said, 'I'd like a look first then decide' then that might work in the school's favour.

So was the look around part of transition, or part of move decision? The OP implies the former I think.
Though it may not matter, because she was offered the place and was clearly progressing on it, so surely they can't withdraw?

I was in a situation where we moved house and we couldn’t find a school place at all for one of my dc. It was one in one out at every school!

I’m wondering whether the school have a place, they have said ‘sure we have a place, come on over and have a look’. Then in the meantime someone has applied to the LEA admissions for a place and been allocated one. The school wouldn’t have known about it until admissions told them and it was a done deal. With in year admissions, if there is a place and something applies for it, they get it.

When they offered me the place last week Thursday they had asked me which day would be a good day next week to come in and see the school, meet the headteacher, I had said to them I already was going to come in on the Tuesday which was a viewing day for parents, I was meant to meet with the headteacher after the viewing yesterday but he was still with another group of parents whilst he was doing the viewing whereas as the school office manager gave us the tour. It was at the end of the tour when she had asked me why I wanted to move
my son, I even had said to her I will be happy to wait for the headteacher to finish the tour with the other group of parents but she insisted that we went as she didn’t know how long he would be and that she would give me a call to arrange a meeting with him. Since I hadn’t heard back this morning, I called the school and spoke to the same school office manager and that’s when she had said that the headteacher yesterday had said the place was already offered to another student with an EHCP plan. It’s the timing of everything that makes it suspicious

I think it’s very unfortunate but, with no written offer, I’m not sure where you can go with this. Do you know that the class will be full with the addition of the EHCP child? If there is a space, they must follow their admissions criteria and offer it to the first child on the list. They can’t be selective. If there’s no space, you may just have to stay on the waiting list. An EHCP application is different and it could well be the case that the local authority have placed a child which would be ahead of the waiting list.

So the admissions manager from the LA have just contacted me apologising saying it was an error from the schools part. I explained to them that from my understanding that the EHCP child should be admitted once it’s named on their plan, even if the school is full (with your child the one making it full) and that an EHCP child doesn’t count towards the PAN - and doesn’t affect places for others. But she said no both Y3 classes were already full 60 kids in total and that the EHCP child would be the additional child.

Y3 isn't covered by infant class size rules.
Hopefully prh or maybe @PanelChair or @PatriciaHolm can help.

That’s what I’ve read too.

I made sure to contact the admissions manager from the LA by email too to ensure I have a written record of everything. She’s apologised for the confusion and said the offer for my son was made “in error” because the Year 3 place had already been allocated to another child with an EHCP. They said that under the School Admissions Code 2021, an offer can be withdrawn if it was made in error, and that this applies in my case.

They apologised for the distress and said they’ll help me look for a place at another nearby school instead.

Does that sound right legally? Can they really withdraw it like that five days later? Especially if there’s no class size rules.

The are rules regarding withdrawing places made in error. I'm sure I have seen 3 days mentioned before. But I am not an expert. Hopefully at the end of the day one of the experts will come along to advise you.

Someone has advised me to make a FOI to discover whether that is true or not and that It’s possibly a lie to protect school from an expensive direct discrimination claim the cost would be footed by the council

Once a place has been offered and accepted, the offer can only be withdrawn if the application was fraudulent or deliberately misleading (e.g. parents giving an incorrect address to get a place), or the place was offered in error. Admission authorities only have a limited amount of time to withdraw an offer made in error. Given that the offer was made last week, withdrawing it today was too late. Even if it was made in error, they could not withdraw it.

The terminology saying they have offered a place to a child with an EHCP is suspicious. If a child has an EHCP, they are not offered a place. They are guaranteed admission even if the school is already full. It may be that, after offering you the place, the school found out that they had to accept a child with an EHCP, but that doesn't justify them taking away your place.

The only issue you have is that the offer was made verbally and you don't have anything in writing. I suggest you email the school setting out the full timeline, in particular when the offer was made and accepted. Say that the withdrawal of the offer appears to be a breach of Admissions Code paragraph 2.13 and ask them to reinstate the place. Hopefully, they will not dispute the timeline, which will mean you can use your email as evidence.

If they refuse to reinstate the place, you should appeal.

Thank you for your advice. Would you advise I cc in the school office manager as well the headteacher AND the councils admission manager?

I’ve drafted this email asking them to review the decision, because from what I’ve read it might breach the School Admissions Code. Before I send it, I’d love to know if this sounds reasonable or if I should change anything.

Email draft:

Dear Headteacher,

I am writing to confirm the sequence of events regarding the Year 3 place for my son and to request a formal review of the withdrawal decision.

Please know that my intention is simply to understand what happened and ensure the admissions process has been applied correctly. I have great respect for the school and wish to maintain a positive relationship, but I do need to clarify the position formally for my records.

On Thursday I received a verbal offer of a Year 3 place by phone, which I accepted.
Yesterday I visited the school.
Today I called the school and was informed that the place had been withdrawn and “offered to a child with an EHCP.”

I note that my son has since been placed on the waiting list, but I wish to make clear that this does not resolve my concern. The issue is not waiting-list position, but the lawfulness of the withdrawal after an accepted offer.

Under paragraph 2.13 of the School Admissions Code 2021, an offer can only be withdrawn if it was made in error, if a parent failed to respond, or if it was obtained fraudulently. Where an offer is withdrawn due to an error, it must be withdrawn promptly once the error is discovered.

In this case, the offer remained open and accepted for five days before being withdrawn. A delay of this length does not appear to meet the requirement for prompt withdrawal, and similar delays have been found by the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman to amount to maladministration.

Furthermore, paragraph 3.9 of the Code states that a child with an EHCP who names a school must be admitted even if the school is full. As Year 3 is not covered by infant-class-size limits, such an admission would not normally justify withdrawing another accepted offer.

I would also like to note that the terminology used — that the place was “offered to a child with an EHCP” — appears inconsistent with how EHCP admissions normally operate. A child with an EHCP is not “offered” a place; they are guaranteed admission once the school is named in their plan, even if the school is already full. If the EHCP was finalised after my son’s offer, the correct process would have been to admit both children, not to withdraw my son’s accepted place.

Given that the withdrawal occurred the day after I discussed my son’s special educational needs with the school office, I am also concerned that this sequence of events may amount to unfavourable treatment connected with disability, contrary to the Equality Act 2010.

I therefore request:

1. Confirmation of the exact date the EHCP naming the school was finalised and recorded on your system;
2. Confirmation of the date and time my son’s offer was entered and accepted on the admissions system;
3. A review of the decision to withdraw the offer, in light of paragraphs 2.13 and 3.9 of the Admissions Code; and
4. Written confirmation of whether the place will be reinstated, or, if not, the process for appealing the decision.

I would appreciate a written response within five working days so that I can decide whether to escalate the matter to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman.

It can't do any harm to copy them all in.

Re your draft email, I would say, "On Thursday 16th October I received a verbal offer..."

Apart from that minor comment, I think your email is fine. Go for it.

This is the softened version which I may think better as the last thing I want is the new school to have something against me

I am writing to confirm the sequence of events regarding the Year 3 place for my son and to request a formal review of the withdrawal decision.

Please know that my intention is simply to understand what happened and ensure the admissions process has been applied correctly. I have great respect for the school and wish to maintain a positive relationship, but I do need to clarify the position formally for my records.

My son was really looking forward to starting, and we had already begun preparing for his transfer, so this sudden change has been very upsetting and confusing for him.

Thursday last week, I received a verbal offer of a Year 3 place by phone from [Office Manager’s Name], which I accepted during that call.
Yesterday I visited the school to view it.
Today I called and I was informed that the place had been withdrawn and “offered to a child with an EHCP.”

I note that my son has since been placed on the waiting list, but I wish to make clear that this does not resolve my concern. The issue is not waiting-list position, but the lawfulness of the withdrawal after an accepted offer.

Under paragraph 2.13 of the School Admissions Code 2021, an offer can only be withdrawn if it was made in error, if a parent failed to respond, or if it was obtained fraudulently. Where an offer is withdrawn due to an error, it must be withdrawn promptly once the error is discovered.

In this case, the offer remained open and accepted for five days before being withdrawn. A delay of this length does not appear to meet the requirement for prompt withdrawal, and similar delays have been found by the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman to amount to maladministration.

Furthermore, paragraph 3.9 of the Code states that a child with an EHCP who names a school must be admitted even if the school is full. As Year 3 is not covered by infant-class-size limits, such an admission would not normally justify withdrawing another accepted offer.

I would also like to note that the terminology used — that the place was “offered to a child with an EHCP” — appears inconsistent with how EHCP admissions normally operate. A child with an EHCP is not “offered” a place; they are guaranteed admission once the school is named in their plan, even if the school is already full. If the EHCP was finalised after my son’s offer was made, the correct process would have been to admit both children, not to withdraw my son’s accepted place.

I therefore request:

1. Confirmation of the exact date the EHCP naming the school was finalised and recorded on your system;
2. Confirmation of the date and time my son’s offer was entered and accepted on the admissions system;
3. A review of the decision to withdraw the offer, in light of paragraphs 2.13 and 3.9 of the Admissions Code; and
4. Written confirmation of whether the place will be reinstated, or, if not, the process for appealing the decision.

I would appreciate a written response within five working days so that I can decide whether to escalate the matter further if needed.

This is the softened version which I may think better as the last thing I want is the new school to have something against me, what do you think?

I am writing to confirm the sequence of events regarding the Year 3 place for my son and to request a formal review of the withdrawal decision.
Please know that my intention is simply to understand what happened and ensure the admissions process has been applied correctly. I have great respect for the school and wish to maintain a positive relationship, but I do need to clarify the position formally for my records.
My son was really looking forward to starting, and we had already begun preparing for his transfer, so this sudden change has been very upsetting and confusing for him.
Thursday last week, I received a verbal offer of a Year 3 place by phone from [Office Manager’s Name], which I accepted during that call.
Yesterday I visited the school to view it.
Today I called and I was informed that the place had been withdrawn and “offered to a child with an EHCP.”
I note that my son has since been placed on the waiting list, but I wish to make clear that this does not resolve my concern. The issue is not waiting-list position, but the lawfulness of the withdrawal after an accepted offer.
Under paragraph 2.13 of the School Admissions Code 2021, an offer can only be withdrawn if it was made in error, if a parent failed to respond, or if it was obtained fraudulently. Where an offer is withdrawn due to an error, it must be withdrawn promptly once the error is discovered.
In this case, the offer remained open and accepted for five days before being withdrawn. A delay of this length does not appear to meet the requirement for prompt withdrawal, and similar delays have been found by the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman to amount to maladministration.
Furthermore, paragraph 3.9 of the Code states that a child with an EHCP who names a school must be admitted even if the school is full. As Year 3 is not covered by infant-class-size limits, such an admission would not normally justify withdrawing another accepted offer.
I would also like to note that the terminology used — that the place was “offered to a child with an EHCP” — appears inconsistent with how EHCP admissions normally operate. A child with an EHCP is not “offered” a place; they are guaranteed admission once the school is named in their plan, even if the school is already full. If the EHCP was finalised after my son’s offer was made, the correct process would have been to admit both children, not to withdraw my son’s accepted place.
I therefore request:
Confirmation of the exact date the EHCP naming the school was finalised and recorded on your system;Confirmation of the date and time my son’s offer was entered and accepted on the admissions system;A review of the decision to withdraw the offer, in light of paragraphs 2.13 and 3.9 of the Admissions Code; andWritten confirmation of whether the place will be reinstated, or, if not, the process for appealing the decision.
I would appreciate a written response within five working days so that I can decide whether to escalate the matter further if needed.

I would still put the actual date rather than "Thursday last week". In all honesty, I don't think it matters which version you send. Some parents worry about schools holding it against them if they raise concerns about the admissions process or appeal for a place, but I have never known it happen. And I don't think your first version is at a level that they would hold it against you.

Do you have any paperwork indicating a firm offer? If so, you would have grounds for appeal.

This post at least shows in an email that the school admits they offered you a place and says it was offered in error. So it absolutely confirms it was offered.