Schools becoming socially selective, report claims

Research from The Sutton Trust charity has found that 100 of the most socially selective schools used up to 18 categories to decide on oversubscribed places.

The research compared the social make-up of schools with their local areas and identified schools with the greatest difference between rates of free school meal (FSM) pupils and in their surrounding neighbourhoods.

The schools which were defined as socially selective are those which had FSM rates much lower than the population in their localities. The report found that socially selective schools tended to be faith-based, admitting religious families from higher social groups.

The report said: "The most socially selective primary schools tend to use more complex oversubscription criteria than the typical primary school, which uses about five criteria. In our close examination of the 100 most socially selective primary schools we find as many as 18 oversubscription criteria used in one school and several instances where the school appears to contravene the admissions code.

"In these schools, oversubscription criteria are often faith-based, with governing bodies taking the final decision on admissions. This gives greater choice of schools to church-going families, but this also exacerbates inequalities in choice because those families are more likely to be of a higher social class."

Oversubscription criteria often applied on the basis of the scale of parents’ religious practice, in particular the frequency of church attendance. The study also highlighted that Catholic primary schools were particularly socially selective, choosing pupils purely on the basis of faith, while Church of England schools included a quota of pupils from non-religious families.

However, the Catholic Education Service has argued its schools are the most ethnically and socially diverse in the country and in general had a catchment area 10 times larger than the average school.

It added: “What's more, because of the high standards achieved by Catholic schools they are extremely popular with parents of all faiths and none. We do however, welcome the report's recommendations that religious admissions criteria should be simple, consistent and properly enforced.”

The report said: "We classify 13 per cent of Ofsted's 'outstanding' schools as socially selective, compared to seven per cent of 'requires improvement' schools and 65 per cent of 'inadequate' schools."

A Department for Education spokesman said: "Determining admissions policies on the basis of wealth is both morally wrong and against the law. All schools must follow the School Admissions Code which should make sure school places are allocated fairly, with an admissions policy that does not unfairly disadvantage children from a particular social or racial group, or those with a disability or special educational needs.

"Parents with concerns should report them to the Schools Adjudicator, who can intervene."

Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust, said: "Disadvantaged young people should have the same chance of accessing the best state school in their neighbourhood as their better off neighbour.
"We have previously documented social selectivity in secondary schools, but today's findings warn us that primary school admissions are far from a level-playing field."