A 'VULNERABLE' girl missed 14 months of school during her GCSEs, after a council failed to find her a place.

Oxfordshire County Council will apologise to the teenager and pay her family almost £3,000 in compensation, after an investigation by the local government watchdog.

The girl, who has not been named, left her old school as she battled anxiety and other mental health problems.

A delay in finding her an alternative placement means she is now receiving home tuition and support from mental health services, but has had to halve the number of GCSEs she will take.

The council told her it could not force secondary schools in its area to admit her because they were academies, while the special school the girl’s parents wanted her to attend said it could not admit her, without her being on roll at one of the academies.

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However, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman concluded that the council should have used its power to force the special school to admit her.

Ombudsman Michael King said: "Councils have a duty to provide alternative education to children who are out of school.

"In this case, Oxfordshire County Council left a vulnerable teenager without any education at a crucial time in her schooling.

"I welcome the steps the council is now taking to improve its services to children out of school."

The council has agreed to keep the girl's educational provision under review.

It will also pay her £2,400 for the loss of education at an important time in her school life, and a further £500 to her parents for the distress and anxiety it caused them.

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The council has also pledged to ensure she receives appropriate education when she begins her A-Levels.

Lucy Butler, director of children’s services at the council, said: "We have apologised to the family for the issues in the report published by the LGO.

"We accept and agree that the concerns raised in the report were not acceptable and are already using these to inform our practice, policies and procedures moving forward.

"The council is very much committed to supporting the needs of families and children in this area."

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigates complaints about public services, and adult social care providers.

In January the same organisation also found that the council had failed, in the case of another schoolgirl who missed 17 months of school.

That was due to a delay in processing her application, and the council also agreed to a £3,000 payout and a formal apology to the family.