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Families 'should take religious test for faith schools'
Nicholas Cecil, Political Correspondent20.03.08
A simple religious test for families should be introduced to stop church schools "cream-skimming" able pupils, say two academics.
They told MPs the admission policies used by church schools varied significantly, with as many as 10 different criteria used.
Parents were left confused by the system and became involved in a "faith race" to show how devout they were to win a place at a Catholic, Church of England or other religious school.
The academics proposed a national eligibility test, such as having to attend Sunday service at least twice a month over two years and being baptised.
If a school was oversubscribed, other criteria such as how near families lived, siblings at the school or even a lottery could be used.
Professor Anne West, of the London School of Economics, and Rebecca Allen, of the Institute of Education at the University of London, made a joint submission to the Commons children, schools and families committee.
They said: "One way to simplify the admissions process would be to establish a nationally-agreed criterion of 'religious adherence' that families are deemed to have either met or not met.
"Once this is established, religious schools could rely solely on a signature from a religious leader to decide who has priority. This would avoid the need for schools themselves to collect additional background information.
"A policy such as this could remove the means by which covert creamskimming is possible, while simplifying the admissions process for parents."
Research by the academics found church schools in London had a higher proportion of pupils with ability and lower free school meal intakes compared with their neighbourhoods.
Some community schools had 50 per cent more pupils on free school meals than voluntary aided schools in the same area. Communities with more faith schools had more social segregation.
Ms Allen said that overall around 15 per cent of pupils in secondary community schools had free school meals, 13.5 per cent in Catholic schools and 11 per cent in Church of England schools. The Department for Children, Schools and Families said it was down to religious authorities to decide how to judge people's commitment to a faith.
A spokesman said: "Every school has a duty to promote community cohesion and every major faith body has signed up to the school admission code, which outlaws unfair admission practices which lead to social segregation."
Shadow education secretary Michael Gove called for "fairness and transparency" in admission policies but warned against a "one-size-fits-all approach" imposed by the Government.
He said: "It's important that we respect the individual and distinct ethos of different faith schools."
The Church of England defended its current guidance on school admissions based on people at the heart of the church, attached to the church or known to the church.
A spokesman said: "We believe this framework is simple and clear."
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Reader views (5)
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I chose to educate my children both in the practices of the church and in a church school.
We met the criteria usually set out by these schools. My children are baptised, confirmed, did and still do attend regularly and took part in church life singing in the choir etc.
No we are not a well off middle class two parent family.
I am a widowed,disabled mum with two children and I strove to do the best I could for them with limited means.
They have grown into caring, concerned adults. Not because they have been privileged but because they have been nurtured.
- Barbara, Northe Ast
Those percentages quoted are all the same order of magnitude and the tiny differences are irrelevant. One thing about Catholic schools though, they do have standards of discipline and morality which are enforced.
- Dr Nick Ashley, Huntingdon England
Black Caribbean children (including boys)do better at religious schools. They respond better to the discipline and at least one parent is likely to have had a strong religious background, given that almost all schools in the Caribbean are faith-based, whether or not they are state-run. Since the affluent middle classes dominate the independent sector and can use the property market to secure places for their offspring in excellent comprehensive schools, should the faith schools not focus their admissions on the faithful and the needy (i.e. white working class children)whose parents are prepared to submit to the school's disciplinary requirements in order to redress the balance?
- Maureen, London UK
