Schools admissions 'baffling parents'
Tuesday, 3 March 2009 12:00 AM
By politics.co.uk staff
Research out today reinforces schools secretary Ed Balls' calls for a shake-up of the schools admission system.
Mr Balls made his call for a review of lotteries, which are being increasing used for oversubscribed calls, on Sunday.
And today's report for the Research and Information on State Education group finds parents struggle to understand the admissions process because it is so complex.
"Despite improvements our research suggests that the system is still too complex, particularly for parents/carers who are not highly educated or proficient in English, and especially where there are schools responsible for their own admissions," Professor Anne West of the London School of Economics, who conducted the research, commented.
"The complexity is exacerbated by some schools seeking additional information from parents, often of a personal nature and unrelated to the admissions criteria."
The use of supplementary information forms is seeing parents, in some instances, asked for information not permitted by the schools admissions code, a new version of which was released last month.
Prof West added: "If the government is genuinely interested in ensuring fair admissions, school admissions should be administered by an independent body with no vested interest in the outcome."
Around one-third of the 3,134 secondary schools in England are responsible for their own admissions and manage them accordingly. Placing them in the hands of a local authority or relevant church body would provide "procedural fairness", the report suggests.
Ultimately the report warns even such fairness will not address the complicated nature of the admissions process, which lies at the heart of the problem.
There is a strong case for admissions to all schools to be as simple and straightforward as the community schools (and some academies) identified in this report," it concludes.
"Choice advisers may assist with the admissions process, but they do not address the inherent complexity and lack of clarity."
A Guardian/ICM poll out today found 44 per cent of those with children at school thought pupils in the state system were not given a fair chance by the admissions system.
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