Top ranking religiously selective faith schools have been found to be some of the most socio-economically segregatory schools in the country, exposing their dependency on social sorting for their academic performance.

The Government’s latest league tables on GCSE performance, released today, show that religiously selective secondary schools comprise 47 of the 100 best performing non-grammar schools. This is when religiously selective schools comprise only 16% of state funded secondary schools. However, findings from the Fair Admissions Campaign show that the 47 schools admit 44% fewer pupils entitled to free school meals than would be expected if they instead admitted their nearest local children. For the top 10 ranked religiously selective schools the figure is 56% fewer.

This compares to religiously selective secondary schools in general admitting 26% fewer. Secondary faith schools that do not religiously select admit just 1% fewer pupils entitled to free school meals than would be expected. Entitlement to free school meals is a key government indicator of deprivation.

Chair of the Accord Coalition for Inclusive Education, Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, said ‘Religiously selective admission arrangements provide a way for more affluent families to get their children into higher performing schools. Today’s league tables highlight how the success of religiously selective schools rests on serving the affluent at the expense of the deprived. Many people of faith will be appalled that schools that should focus on serving the poor should become so elitist.’

Pavan Dhaliwal, Head of Public Affairs at the British Humanist Association, commented, ‘The evidence from the academic literature shows that any difference in academic performance between religiously selective schools and other schools is down to the pupils that they admit. That the highest performing schools also turn out to be the most socio-economically selective is hugely disappointing. These schools are using complex admissions policies to deny the poorest pupils a chance to receive an academically strong education, thereby exacerbating existing divisions. It is time they stopped doing so.’

A survey commissioned and released last month by the Sutton Trust revealed that 10% of upper middle class parents in England with a child at a school admitted to attending church services when they did not previously, so their child could go to a church school. Meanwhile, a surge in late Roman Catholic baptisms of children over the last decade has recently been observed. Most state funded Catholic school show preference to children who are baptised, rather than according to Church attendance.

Top five religiously selective secondary schools

Notes

More information on the social and ethnic inclusiveness of religiously selective schools can be found at https://fairadmissions.org.uk/groundbreaking-new-research-maps-the-segregating-impact-of-faith-school-admissions/ 

Follow

A new study by academics at the University of London has found that cross ethnic friendships in schools make children more resilient to perceived ethnic discrimination. To date studies have suggested a positive effect on community cohesion from ethnically mixed schools, as they allow more cross ethnic friendships to development. However, the new report suggests ethically mixed schools also have a direct and positive effect on the psychological well-being of pupils themselves.

Follow

New research published by the Pastoral Research Centre has shown that while the number of baptisms of children under the age of one is in long term decline, the number of baptisms of those aged over one has risen dramatically over the past decade. The trend, which is also seen in statistics for Church of England baptisms, might indicate that more and more parents are now only having their children baptised in order to gain entry to Catholic schools – virtually all of which have baptism as a requirement in their oversubscription policies. The Fair Admissions Campaign has called for the scrapping of such admissions requirements.

In total, the number of Catholic baptisms of children under one fell by 5% from 44,130 in 2001 to 41,937 in 2012, with half the fall happening in the last year. Conversely, the number of late baptisms (almost all by age 13) rose 29% from 19,528 in 2001 to 25,225 in 2012 – although there was a 5% fall in the last year.

The number of Church of England baptisms of children under one fell 26% since 2000 to 83,850 in 2011. The number of baptisms of children aged 1-12 (the vast majority being at ages 2-3) rose by 18% since 2000 to 45,260.

In its coverage of the statistics, The Telegraph quotes a father who got his three children baptised at a Polish Catholic church two weeks before the school application deadline, in order that they would meet the entry requirements for a local, high performing Catholic school: ‘I didn’t think it would be possible to go to our local parish to get the children baptised. The priest is not that friendly, and he might have smelt a rat if we asked to have our children baptised so last minute. The priest at the Polish church just asked me if I go to church. I said we go to a different church and we want to start going to this one.’

Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, chair of the Accord Coalition for inclusive education, commented, ‘Many Catholic schools will only take children whom they have baptised, so for parents desperate for a school place, baptism is a significant entry ticket to a local school. As Catholic schools are publicly funded, they should be open to the community at large rather than using faith as a way of discriminating between children and enabling some families to jump the queue.’

Pavan Dhaliwal, Head of Public Affairs at the British Humanist Association, commented, ‘Research published last month by the Sutton Trust found that 6% of parents attend worship specifically to get their children into Church schools. This latest research could be construed as suggesting that parents are similarly being motivated to get their children baptised not for religious reasons but for school admissions reasons. It is past time that such admissions policies are replaced with others that ensure that all state schools are made open to all children, regardless of their parents’ religion or belief.’

Notes

For further information or comment please contact Paul Pettinger on 020 7324 3071 or email info@fairadmissions.org.uk.

Read the latest research: http://www.prct.org.uk/

Read the equivalent figures for the Church of England: http://www.churchofengland.org/media/1737985/attendancestats2011.pdf

The Fair Admissions Campaign wants all state-funded schools in England and Wales to be open equally to all children, without regard to religion or belief. The Campaign is supported by a wide coalition of individuals and national and local organisations. We hold diverse views on whether or not the state should fund faith schools. But we all believe that faith-based discrimination in access to schools that are funded by the taxpayer is wrong in principle and a cause of religious, ethnic, and socio-economic segregation, all of which are harmful to community cohesion. It is time it stopped.

Supporters of the campaign include the Accord Coalition, the British Humanist Association, Professor Ted Cantle and the iCoCo Foundation, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, British Muslims for Secular Democracy, the Campaign for State Education, the Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education, the Christian think tank Ekklesia, the Hindu Academy, the Green Party, the Liberal Democrat Education Association, Liberal Youth, the Local Schools Network, Richmond Inclusive Schools Campaign, the Runnymede Trust, the Socialist Educational Association, and the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches.

Follow

Three Church of England secondary schools recently highlighted by the Fair Admissions Campaign as amongst the most socio-economically and ethnically selective in the country have been found by the Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA) to have admissions policies that break the School Admissions Code. Twyford Church of England High School in Ealing, Archbishop Blanch CofE VA School in Liverpool, and the Grey Coat Hospital in Westminster, will both now have to rewrite their policies to bring them in line with the OSA’s determinations. The Fair Admissions Campaign has welcomed the decisions.

Twyford CofE High School

In addition to requiring weekly worship attendance by parent and child for at least five years, Twyford Church of England High School currently prioritises pupils on the basis of activities such as ‘Bell ringing’, ‘Flower arranging at church’, ‘Assisting with collection/counting money’, ‘Tea & coffee Rota’, ‘Church cleaning’, ‘Church maintenance’, ‘Parish Magazine Editor’ and ‘Technical support’: the school has the most extreme admissions policy the Campaign is aware of. As a consequence, 10% of pupils are eligible for free school meals (FSM) and 10% speak English as an additional language (EAL), compared to 28% locally on FSM and 56% on EAL. This puts it in the top 1% most exclusive on both measures, when compared to all other schools. The school was recently featured in The Times because of the extremity of its criteria.

The school’s head defended its policy as ‘We believe that it is… implicit that practical assistance in the running of a church or other place of worship is acceptable, provided these activities are clearly related to the spiritual life of the community.  Activities such as flower arranging and church/mosque/temple cleaning are an essential aspect of the setting up for, or clearing up after, worship.’ However, the Schools Adjudicator determined that the list of activities constitutes requiring financial and practical support for a place of worship (which is not allowed) and so must be removed. In addition, the criteria were found to break the Code in specifically discriminating against those of no faith, in requiring participation in religious activities for the 30 places each year set aside as for those of ‘World Faiths/No faith’. A number of further breaches were found, such as requiring both parents to put details on forms, and prioritising those with a lower door number in a block of flats over those with a higher number.

Archbishop Blanch

In addition to requiring weekly worship attendance by parent and child for at least four years, Archbishop Blanch gives applicants points for ‘Involvement of the family in Church life beyond simple attendance at weekly worship’. The meaning of this is not defined, but elsewhere there is reference to ‘e.g. certificate of reception into the church, baptism, communion and confirmation certificates. Other evidence could include altar server certificates, or letters of support from Sunday School or Children’s Liturgy etc.’ It admits 13% eligible for FSM, compared to 43% locally – again putting it in the worst 1% nationally. It also admits 11% speaking EAL, compared to 28% locally – which puts it in the worst 3%.

Here the Schools Adjudicator determined that ‘the arrangements do not conform with the requirements of the legislation and the School Admissions Code in relation to the fact that parents must easily be able to understand how any faith-based criteria will be reasonably satisfied and priority must not be given on the basis of any practical support.’ The school was found to also break the Code in eleven other places, including failure to consult.

Grey Coat Hospital

Meanwhile, the Grey Coat Hospital not only requires weekly church attendance for five years but also gives points for ‘Parent holding elected office in the church’, ‘Regular practical involvement by a parent in the church’ and ‘Regular involvement in other aspect of church life’. 14% of pupils are eligible for FSM, compared to 33% locally – putting it in the worst 1% of schools nationally. 25% speak EAL, compared to 48% locally – putting it in the worst 2% of schools nationally.

The Schools Adjudicator determined that this constitutes requiring practical support to the Church, is unclear and in addition ‘some families and especially single parent families could find it harder to get involved in church activities because the absence of a second parent to either take part in the scored activity, or to look after any siblings while another participates, creates child care and other issues.’ A number of further aspects of the admissions criteria were found to also break the Code, including their general complexity.

Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, Chair of the Accord Coalition for inclusive education, commented ‘Whereas the founder of their faith urged followers to “suffer the children” and welcome them, some Church schools are doing the exact opposite, by making admission demands that discriminate and exclude.’

Notes

For further information or comment please contact Paul Pettinger on 020 7324 3071 or email info@fairadmissions.org.uk.

The Fair Admissions Campaign wants all state-funded schools in England and Wales to be open equally to all children, without regard to religion or belief. The Campaign is supported by a wide coalition of individuals and national and local organisations. We hold diverse views on whether or not the state should fund faith schools. But we all believe that faith-based discrimination in access to schools that are funded by the taxpayer is wrong in principle and a cause of religious, ethnic, and socio-economic segregation, all of which are harmful to community cohesion. It is time it stopped.

Supporters of the campaign include the Accord Coalition, the British Humanist Association, Professor Ted Cantle and the iCoCo Foundation, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, British Muslims for Secular Democracy, the Campaign for State Education, the Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education, the Christian think tank Ekklesia, the Hindu Academy, the Green Party, the Liberal Democrat Education Association, Liberal Youth, the Local Schools Network, Richmond Inclusive Schools Campaign, the Runnymede Trust, the Socialist Educational Association, and the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches.

Follow

On Tuesday the Fair Admissions Campaign published new research in the form of a map which looks at all secondary schools in England and which found that Church schools are less inclusive than others, and that more religiously selective faith schools are more likely to socio-economically segregate. However, in response to the findings the Church of England has claimed that its schools do not socio-economically select.

The CofE claims that ‘The latest national data, published in the Department of Education’s 2013 School Census, shows that 15% of pupils at CofE Secondary pupils are eligible for Free School Meals. This is the same as the average for non CofE schools.’ And speaking in today’s Church Times, their Chief Education Officer, Rev Jan Ainsworth, dismissed the findings as a ‘wilful misrepresentation… We do not recognise the picture of church schools the survey paints. We are proud of the way in which our schools enable children from disadvantaged backgrounds to succeed.’

In fact, the Census shows Church secondaries admit 14% of pupils eligible for free school meals. However, such a comparison between the national average for CofE secondaries and for other schools is overly simplistic as it does not take account of the fact that different denominations of secondaries are in different areas – with Church secondaries more likely to be in cities where the rates of eligibility for free school meals are higher. This is why the Campaign’s research, which is also based on the 2013 School Census, compares schools to their local areas, not to the national average. It finds that CofE schools are 15% less inclusive than would be expected if they admitted children living in their local community, while schools with no religious character are 5% more inclusive.

Furthermore, CofE schools whose admissions policies permit all their places to be allotted on religious grounds admit 35% fewer children eligible for free school meals than would be expected, while CofE schools whose admissions criteria do not allow religious selection admit just 1% fewer.

Trinity CofE High School, Manchester

Finally, the Church Times also reports that ‘The survey has also angered the heads of church schools in challenging areas. David Ainsworth, the head of Trinity C of E High School, Manchester, listed in the survey as one of the worst offenders because 100 per cent of its places are offered on faith grounds, said: “We don’t demand that our pupils are Christians – just that they have a faith.” Comments in the most recent OFSTED report confirms Trinity’s multicultural make-up: “The majority of students are from mixed ethnic backgrounds, mainly black British, African, and Caribbean. This is well above the national average.” The school also has a higher-than-average percentage of children eligible for free school meals, and pupils with statements of special educational need, the OFSTED report adds.’

In fact, while 24% of pupils at the school are eligible for free school meals – above the national average – locally 46% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, much higher than at the school. And while 31% of pupils speak English as an additional language, locally the figure is 50%.

Notes

For further information or comment please contact Paul Pettinger on 020 7324 3071 or email info@fairadmissions.org.uk.

View the map: https://fairadmissions.org.uk/map

Read the accompanying press release: https://fairadmissions.org.uk/groundbreaking-new-research-maps-the-segregating-impact-of-faith-school-admissions/

The Fair Admissions Campaign wants all state-funded schools in England and Wales to be open equally to all children, without regard to religion or belief. The Campaign is supported by a wide coalition of individuals and national and local organisations. We hold diverse views on whether or not the state should fund faith schools. But we all believe that faith-based discrimination in access to schools that are funded by the taxpayer is wrong in principle and a cause of religious, ethnic, and socio-economic segregation, all of which are harmful to community cohesion. It is time it stopped.

Supporters of the campaign include the Accord Coalition, the British Humanist Association, Professor Ted Cantle and the iCoCo Foundation, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, British Muslims for Secular Democracy, the Campaign for State Education, the Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education, the Christian think tank Ekklesia, the Hindu Academy, the Green Party, the Liberal Democrat Education Association, Liberal Youth, the Local Schools Network, Richmond Inclusive Schools Campaign, the Runnymede Trust, the Socialist Educational Association, and the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches.

Follow