The Fair Admissions Campaign’s map rates every mainstream state secondary school in England based on how socio-economically inclusive it is. It does this by comparing the number of pupils in the school who are eligible for free school meals (FSM) to the number of pupils in the school’s local area who are eligible, and finding the difference. The results are clear. Religiously selective schools are socio-economically selective.

But critics often allege that the comparison it makes looks at too local an area for each school – particularly as religiously selective schools take from a wider geographical area than other schools do. Instead the Church of England prefers to make national comparisons between different groups of schools, where the differences are smaller because of the fact that religious schools tend to be in cities, which have greater concentrations of poorer families than the national average. Such national comparisons are clearly comparing schools across too wide a geographical area, as no school takes pupils from across the nation.

The Catholic Education Service (CES), meanwhile, would rather look at an alternative measure, the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI), which shows that Catholic schools take more pupils from the most deprived areas. However, a simple analysis shows that the schools themselves are even more likely still to be in the most deprived areas, so all the CES is showing (once again) is that Catholic schools are more likely to be in cities than other schools. They are not showing that their schools are inclusive but in fact highlighting figures that, when explored fully, demonstrate quite the opposite.

But does the initial charge stand – are we looking too closely with our map? That is a claim we can test, and so test it we have.

The answer is no, we are not.

The context: comparing each school to its local area

Below we re-present the figures from the FAC’s map:

How much more or less inclusive is each group of school than expected when the schools are compared to their local areas on the basis of free school meal eligibility?

So, to explain what the above table means: schools with no religious character take, on average, 5% more pupils eligible for free school meals than would be expected, given their local area. Catholic schools take 28% fewer, Church of England schools take 15% fewer, Jewish schools take 63% fewer and Muslim schools take 29% fewer. Catholic, Jewish and Muslim schools are invariably 100% religiously selective, when oversubscribed, but in CofE schools this varies widely, so for comparison we also include the figure for 100% selective CofE schools, where we find they take 35% fewer.

(A few housekeeping notes: in this and the following tables we exclude grammar schools, University Technical Colleges and Studio schools, so that we do not have the peculiarities of their admissions policies confusing our comparisons based on religious selection. And what we mean by ‘local’ is that we are comparing each school to the pupils living in its middle super output area (MSOA, a local population cluster consisting of 5,000-15,000 people) and neighbouring MSOAs added until there are more pupils in the local area than in the school. This is explained in more detail in the ‘How are schools ranked on the basis of free school meal eligibility and English as an additional language?’ FAQ in the map.)

Zooming out: comparing each group of schools to wider and wider areas

What if we compare each school to wider areas, as the Churches would have us do? Let’s start with the local authority in which each school resides:

How much more or less inclusive is each group of school than expected when the schools are compared to their local authorities on the basis of free school meal eligibility?

Here we see that Church of England schools, as a whole, are looking a bit more inclusive, as are Muslim schools, but they still fall short of being representative of their area. And for Catholic and 100% selective CofE schools there has been no change, while Jewish schools have actually got less inclusive.

Is this still too close though? What if we compare each school to all the pupils living in its local authority and all neighbouring local authorities?

How much more or less inclusive is each group of school than expected when the schools are compared to their local authorities and neighbouring local authorities on the basis of free school meal eligibility?

Now Catholic schools have got a little more inclusive but not by very much. Jewish schools have got less inclusive still. Muslim schools have got a lot more inclusive. This perhaps reflects the fact that all nine Muslim secondaries are in northern or Midlands cities, where the cities themselves are a lot more deprived than the surrounding countryside. But at any rate, by this point we would argue that we are definitely looking at too wide a geographic area compared to schools’ intake areas.

Even so, what if we then compare each school to their regions as a whole?

How much more or less inclusive is each group of school than expected when the schools are compared to their regions on the basis of free school meal eligibility?

We see little change from the chart as above. No-one could argue that schools take from across an entire region (unless they are the London Oratory and Greater London). And yet Catholic, CofE and Jewish schools remain highly uninclusive.

Thus the falsehood of the churches’ defence is demonstrated.

Finally, for completeness, we compare each school to the country as a whole:

How much more or less inclusive is each group of school than expected when the schools are compared to the national as a whole on the basis of free school meal eligibility?

Only here do we see Catholic schools starting to look more inclusive – but still far from fully inclusive. 100% selective CofE and Jewish schools remain decidedly exclusive. But it doesn’t matter. Because schools don’t take pupils from across the country as a whole and to claim that they do is misleading.

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A group of parents who opposed the decision of a Church of England school in Kingston upon Thames to end selection by religion have failed in their attempt to reinstate faith-based admissions criteria. St Luke’s Primary School announced in April this year that they would no longer admit children on the basis of the church attendance of their parents, after the local vicar raised concerns about parents only attending his services in order to get their children into school. However, a group of parents sought to challenge the change through an objection to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA), but that objection has now been quashed. The Fair Admissions Campaign (FAC) has welcomed the OSA’s decision and hopes it will encourage more schools to become similarly inclusive.

Ever since making the announcement, St Luke’s has become the subject of significant media attention, and its governor and local vicar Father Martin Hislop has been vocal both in his uneasiness about religious selection and in his desire to ensure that Church schools are run to best serve  their local communities. Indeed, the school’s announcement came just a few weeks after 20 prominent members of the Church of England published an open letter calling for a move towards less faith-based selection and more inclusive admissions arrangements.

Despite this, the objecting parents claimed that the decision was ‘unfair on those who live further from the school’ and said that the governing body had failed both to consult widely enough and to properly consider alternative proposals that had been put forward. However, information provided to the Adjudicator by the school confirmed that the local diocese, the local authority, other local schools, and the local community had all been part of an extensive and transparent consultation process. The OSA therefore decided not to uphold the parents’ objection, concluding that ‘the governing body met the requirements of the [School Admissions] Code’ when setting the new arrangements.

Reacting to the news, coordinator of the local Kingston Fair Admissions group, Guy Shirley, said ‘We’re very pleased, but not surprised, that the Adjudicator has ruled in favour of the governors of St Luke’s, who were both fair and diligent in how they conducted their consultation. The vast majority of people in Kingston recognise that the move represents a change for the good, and we’ll continue to campaign for more schools in the area to follow the example set by St Luke’s’.

Chair of the Accord Coalition for Inclusive Education, Rabbi Jonathan Romain, added ‘We welcomed St Luke’s’ decision to end religious selection when it was first announced, and we’re happy that the change is set to go ahead. This may only be one school, but the message it sends about eradicating religious discrimination in the education system is an important one and a powerful one.’

Notes

For further information, please contact Jay Harman on 020 7324 3078 or email info@fairadmissions.org.uk.

Read the OSA’s full determination on the parents’ objection: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/456209/ADA2905_St_Lukes_Primary_School_Kingston_26Aug15.pdf

Read the FAC’s previous news item on this story: https://fairadmissions.org.uk/church-of-england-school-in-kingston-to-scrap-discriminatory-admissions-policy/

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.

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New findings have revealed that a group of Church of England Dioceses have embraced calls for change from Anglican clergy who have recommended that their schools move away from selecting any pupils by faith. The research, carried out by the Fair Admissions Campaign member group the Accord Coalition, found 3 of the Church’s Dioceses now advocate that their schools do not select pupils on religious grounds when oversubscribed. The Dioceses are Oxford, Lincoln and Leicester.

In addition, the Dioceses of London and Chichester were found to recommend that new schools should not select by faith. The Diocese of London also recommends that its existing schools do not select more than half of pupils by faith, while Chester and Southwark recommend their schools should admit some children without recourse to faith, but do not specify a limit. However, analysis from the Campaign shows a significant mismatch between the inclusive ambitions of most the Dioceses and the policies being implemented by their schools on the ground.

Chair of the Accord Coalition, Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain said ‘Many Anglican schools have yet to act on the more inclusive policies being advocated by their own Diocese, so we welcome the new direction, but urge that its implementation be speeded up. Church authorities should demonstrate their words will be followed by action.’

The Rev Stephen Terry, who co-organised an open letter published at Easter from 20 members of the Church calling for its schools to move away from selecting pupils by faith, welcomed the news. He said ‘Church of England schools should be inclusive, as an expression of the warmth and generosity of the Church’s mission to the whole community. The lead being provided by these Dioceses should be encouraged and supported.

‘In 2013 the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said that it was not necessary to select by faith to get a really good school. The inclusive approaches of the Dioceses reaffirm his point and should motivate local schools to change, and inspire others throughout the country.’

Dioceses have an important role to play in school admission arrangements. When state funded Church of England schools determine their own admissions policy, they must have regard to any Diocesan guidance when setting faith based criteria, as the statutory School Admissions Code sets out. A wide range of approaches are currently pursued within the Church of England sector.

Research in 2013 from the Fair Admissions Campaign found that the average proportion of pupil places that could be allotted by faith in the oversubscription criteria of Church of England secondary schools was 49.7%. In contrast, only 10.9% of places at the growing number of generically ‘Christian’ schools were apportioned by faith. Currently, almost all pupil places at state funded Methodist schools and all places at state funded United Reformed Church schools are rewarded without recourse to religion.

The latest research found some Dioceses were helping to advance inclusivity in other, more subtle ways. The Diocese of Chester provides schools with template admissions policies, thereby helping prevent schools inadvertently breaching the Admissions Code. The templates suggest schools give highest priority to children in care regardless of faith (many faith schools admit co-religionists before considering children who are in care and not of the faith) and that siblings should be admitted before those that meet church worship criteria, so helping keep families together in the same school.

Notes

The table below sets out how religiously selective are the secondary schools in each of the Dioceses found to be advocating their schools operate open or partly open admission arrangements. It shows that, while the secondary schools in the Dioceses of Leicester have become almost entirely open, there is still a large mismatch between the stated aims of the other Dioceses and reality. Most of the Dioceses are not yet bringing to bear the influence they hold over their school’s ability to religiously select.

Last year the incoming Chief Education Officer of the Church of England, the Rev Nigel Genders, suggested many new C of E schools opening would be fully inclusive in their admissions policies. The Fair Admissions Campaign investigated the claim and found a mixture of approaches being  pursued. Recently opened schools included the Green School for Boys in Hounslow, St Mary’s Church of England Primary School in Ealing and Fulham Boys School (all located in the Diocese of London), and the the King’s School in Hove (located in the Diocese of Chichester). All five schools have opted to select up to 50% of pupils by faith in their oversubscription criteria – despite both Dioceses stating they want new schools to be fully non-religiously selective.

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Every week, the Fair Admissions Campaign receives calls and emails from parents who are unable to get their children into their local schools due to the religiously-selective admissions criteria that many of them employ. On its own, this is little more state-sanctioned, state-funded religious discrimination, but it also has the corollary effect of unfairly limiting the choice of vast swathes of the population who are either of the ‘wrong’ religion, or who aren’t religious at all. Of course, this can be more of a problem in some areas than it is in others.

Take, for example, the case of one mother from Farnham in Surrey, who got in touch with us last year:

‘Of the 10 schools closest to us, only 2 do not require you to attend Church or follow the Christian faith. My daughter was rejected by the 4 schools we listed and instead placed in the worst school in our area. It is a failing school that has been placed in special measures and we have heard of numerous accounts of parents removing their children due to bullying. We chose to live here because of the schools and to be close to one set of parents. At the time we made that decision, neither of us were aware of the admissions policies.’

She went on to say that ‘to judge a FOUR YEAR OLD on her religious beliefs is ridiculous.’

Regrettably, limits to parental choice of this kind are extremely common. In Kensington and Chelsea for instance, around 60% of places are subject to religious criteria:

‘My wife and I have been going through the process of applying for a primary school place for our son.  We live in Kensington and Chelsea.  Forced to take a close look at how the system worked, we were appalled to see the distorting effect that faith schools had on our choice.  We’re not fans of the concept in general but were particularly aggrieved when it became clear that, because all even half-decent schools in K&C are oversubscribed, we had less choice of taxpayer-funded schools than someone whose child was a Catholic, has been baptised, etc.  Any of those people can of course apply to a non-faith school and get an equal chance of a place to us but the converse is not true.’

Unsurprisingly, parents of the wrong or no faith are disproportionately disadvantaged by such criteria. The consequences of this are well-documented, as attested to by this mother who wrote to us last year:

‘Like many parents, my nearest three schools are faith schools which are able to prioritise church-going children over non-church-going ones (two Christian, one Catholic). They are always heavily oversubscribed…Speaking to other parents, I’ve confirmed what I thought were simply my negative suspicions – parents attending church purely to get a place at these schools. They begrudge their lost Sundays, but they do it.’

Unwilling to do the same, she was forced to apply for a place at a  school with no religious character further away from home and, in her own words, ‘cross my fingers, expecting to spend 2012/3 in appeals’. As it currently stands therefore, the system rewards parents who lie about their religion in order to get their children into school, with a recent poll suggesting that as many as 36% of parents have done this or would be willing to. Conversely, the system penalises and drastically limits the choice of parents who rightly feel uncomfortable with this. As this particular mother put it, ‘my child should not be penalised and put at the bottom of a long, long list just because his parents don’t have a particular belief. This just seems all so, so wrong’.

Notes

For further information please contact Jay Harman on 020 7324 3078 or 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.

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A new study for the think tank Demos has revealed that schools in England are not keeping pace with the changing ethnic profile of society and are a major source of segregation. The detailed search found that between 2008 and 2013 ‘… the levels of segregation in English schools has remained stable or only somewhat declined as the nation’s diversity has increased substantially’.

In regards to faith schools, the author’s observed that ‘Religious identities often overlap with ethnic identities and therefore some faith schools effectively exclude other ethnic groups’. The study found that primary schools in the Blackburn, Bradford and Oldham local authority areas were the most ethnically segregated in the country. All three boroughs experienced race riots in the summer of 2001.

Chair of the Accord Coalition for Inclusive Education, Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, said ‘The culture where some schools are seen as for and belonging to certain groups is made worse by faith schools. The Government can help to de-escalate the situation by extending to all faith schools the limit placed on most new faith schools to not religiously select more than half their pupils.

‘The education system has to change and adopt itself to the fact that it exists in an increasingly diverse society. Schools that purposely divide by religion or ethnicity cannot be part of a more integrated and cohesive future.’

British Humanist Assocation Campaigns Manager, Richy Thompson, commented ‘The BHA’s own research has shown that the most ethnically segregated schools are minority religious schools, while religious selection amongst Christian schools directly contributes to their failure to admit a representative share of the local Asian population. Ending religious selection in school admissions would go a long way to ending ethnic segregation in Blackburn, Bradford, Oldham and elsewhere.’

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