This is a Fact sheet about School Admissions and Appeals complaints. It should be read together with our ‘How to Complain’ webpage, available on the ‘Making A Complaint’ tab.
Complaints about school admissions should be brought to the attention of the relevant Local Education Authority (LEA) first, but complaints about admission appeals can be brought straight to us.
We can:
If you wish to complain to us, please do so as soon as possible.
We cannot:
LEAs and Admission Appeal Panels must have regard to the Statutory Codes on School Admissions and Appeals. Copies may be downloaded from the Welsh Government
website
https://gov.wales/school-admissions-code
https://gov.wales/school-admission-appeals-code
We are independent and impartial; we cannot order public bodies to do what we recommend – but, in practice, they almost always do. Examples of cases that we have looked at can be found on our website, on the ‘Publications’ tab under ‘Our Findings’.
If you are unsure whether we would be able to look into your complaint, please contact us on 0300 790 0203 or ask@ombudsman.wales
Also available in Welsh.