The clerk seems to be doing exactly what I have written in the Q&As:

Quote:
Some admission authorities will undoubtedly use paragraph 2.27 [of the Appeals Code] to discourage parents from requesting a copy of the clerk’s notes.

I cannot see that they have given any legitimate reason under the Data Protection Act for refusing to comply with your request.

We have only ever had one instance on here where the clerk and school refused to hand over the clerk's notes, and had an apparently legitimate reason (the issue was the way in which the notes were stored - the school completely shifted its ground from a ridiculous claim that Part IV Section 30 of the Data Protection Act applied, and started claiming instead that the notes were not part of an accessible filing system).
The forum member was Zeinab, and we subsequently obtained the notes by other means.

If you want to pursue this further, I suggest you telephone the ICO (Information Commissioner's) helpline for advice.
https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/helpline/

Coincidentally, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect today, 25th May 2018, superseding the Data Protection Act. If anything, it strengthens your rights.
One difference is that Subject Access Requests under the Data Protection Act used to cost £10, but now they will normally be free of charge!

Unfortunately the introduction of GDPR means that the ICO helpline will be inundated with calls, so they are likely to be exceptionally busy.

It could be useful to see the clerk's notes before making a complaint because they are considered to be the authoritative record of your hearing.
It's just possible that mistakes have crept into the decision letter you received, and that the letter is not an accurate reflection of the notes.

There is also the possibility that the clerk's notes might reveal things that are not in the decision letter, which could strengthen the grounds for a complaint.

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Etienne

Hi Sam10

The Appeals Box is unmonitored, so any emails risk being overlooked unless we are notified on here.

You should also post any questions here, otherwise we do not necessarily know which points are for information only, and which points you are asking us to comment on.

Thanks

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Etienne

Hi Etienne

Would we need a letter from teacher to confirms sats scores are in greater depth not standard as stated in appeals decision letter if we pursue a complaint?

Do you feel the appeals code has been breached?

Is it right that a child who has higher academic evidence and has extenuating circumstances but is further away from the pass mark but does not win an appeal compared to other children with less extenuating circumstancess and have less grades but were upto 6 points away from the required standard were successful?

Thanks again for your advice

The nature of the process means that there is a degree of subjective judgement involved. You are presumably not privy to the extenuating circumstances of the other children and even if you know a little about them, you do not know how they were presented at appeals or how the panel judged the impact of them on the test result compared to the children's usual school levels. Each case is viewed holistically - there is no quantifiable formula that allocates points to the various elements of test scores, academic evidence and extenuating circumstances. Each case is judged on its merits.

I don't think so. The issue is the evidence that was in front of the appeal panel at the time of the hearing, and whether or not they considered it properly.

As I've already mentioned, there's always the possibility that a mistake has crept into the decision letter.
If it turns out that the decision letter is not an accurate reflection of the clerk's notes, I think the ESFA would criticise the decision letter and confirm that this is a breach of the Code - but at the same time you wouldn't be entitled to a re-hearing if the clerk's notes show that the panel did in fact give proper consideration to the evidence in front of them, and there was therefore no injustice in the way in which they arrived at their decision.

I agree with anotherdad's post.
It is entirely up to individual panel members how much weight they give to each bit of evidence (such as the extent of the shortfall in marks, or the impact of any particular set of extenuating circumstances).
It is not possible to complain about the panel's judgement, however much we might disagree with it.

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Etienne

Dear Etienne

I have submitted complaint to ICO regarding the council not providing me with the clerks notes. I have just received an email from ico to say that the council are saying that the clerks notes have already been disclosed as part of the decision letter. The decision letter having inaccurate information. Please could you advise on what I should do now and do you need to see the decision letter again as I have previously emailed it to you? Thanks for and advice.

Hi Sam

I suggest you send the ICO a copy of the letter someone (presumably the clerk?) sent you in May:

Quote:
My notes would be provided if required by Ombudsman or Skill’s funding agency if requested.
So it wouldn’t be possible for you to have a copy.

The clerk's notes are the contemporaneous record of the hearing.
The decision letter is written afterwards. It is based on the clerk's notes, but it is a separate document.

Hope this helps.

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Etienne