Lady Margaret School Ordered to Pay Compensation to Parents
Top state school, Lady Margaret, has been ordered to pay two sets of parents £500 each after a local government ombudsman deemed their daughters had been had been unfairly turned down for a place.
The ruling, made after an investigation into admissions for September 2005, could open the door for parents wanting to challenge the purportedly common use of selection techniques employed by top state schools and could also open a floodgate of compensation claims.
Ombudsman Tony Redmond highlighted "very serious faults" in Lady Margaret’s admission procedures and ordered the former grammar school to pay two lots of £500 compensation and offer the children places.
The ombudsman’s report noted that Lady Margaret used far-reaching background details on applicants when deciding places, a practice common in faith schools where there can be up to ten applications for every available place. The report also stated that the school insisted on meeting prospective parents. Whilst this method is in breach of Lady Margaret’s admission policy, the nearby Catholic London Oratory School won their appeal to continue.
Some parents of school aged children are all too familiar with some schools admissions procedures which can include giving priority to children of school staff or former pupils and to those who state the school as first choice.
Education ministers have introduced a tougher admissions regime from September 2008 in an attempt to catch out the schools who use less than transparent methods to decide where the places are offered.
Lady Margaret stated they will be conducting a full-scale review of admissions and is considering introducing a lottery to replace many of its current criteria.
March 30, 2007