School Admissions: Fair choice for parents and pupils
Article
The school admissions system is one of the most contentious areas of education policy, and secondary school admissions in particular have become a highly controversial political issue.
Parents naturally want their children to go to the best possible school, and the process of choosing and being allocated a place can be extremely stressful. Each year this is reflected in media features about the 'best' schools, and in stories about over-subscribed schools, disappointments, appeals and the various strategies employed by parents to get what they want for their children.
The current system is often described as being based on the principle of parental choice. Yet it is a matter of fact that not all parental choices can be satisfied when popular schools are over-subscribed.
We argue in this paper that the current admissions system is a cause of segregation by social class and ability across our schools system, and is thus likely to hamper efforts to improve all schools. In addition, it is likely to lead to systematic unfairness in terms of whose preferences can be satisfied. We argue that a system of fair choice would take into account the need to achieve a balanced intake in every school.
Related items
The transport challenge for low-income households
Many people living on low incomes in the UK are limited in their ability to access the building blocks of a good life because of poor transport provision.Towards universal opportunity for young people
Outlining a vision for young people which could increase social mobility while also reducing inequality and disadvantage, so that every young person has the opportunity to build a decent life.Harry Quilter-Pinner on Channel 4 News discussing one year of Labour and Starmer in power