In a case regarding a complaint against Poole High School, she found that the admissions panel for the school had followed the government's 2009 School Admission Appeals Code of Practice.
But in her report Martin said the code did not give detailed guidance on what to do once a panel has decided that some, but not all, of the children making appeals could be admitted to the school, resulting in confusion for the parent and potentially limiting parental preference.
"While it is understandable that the complainant was confused by the outcome and felt that the reasons for her preference had not been properly considered, I consider that this was a consequence of an unclear appeals code and not the fault of the appeal panel," she said. "This is unlikely to be an isolated approach by an appeal panel and there may be many other parents who are being refused places on appeal that according to the law should have been allowed."
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