Accord has responded today to a report funded by RISE (Research and Information on State Education) which shows that complex admissions procedures in faith schools can lead to social selection of pupils. Research led by Professor Anne West of the London School of Economics looked at the admissions criteria of every publicly funded secondary school in England. They found that changes made by the Government to the School Admissions Code have led to improvements, but that some schools still have practices that deter poorer families, or those whose first language is not English.

Chair of Accord, Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain said:

“We agree with the authors of the report that while there has been progress in the way that school admissions are determined, tackling covert selection should still be a priority for the government. Voluntary aided schools—which are overwhelmingly religious—control their own admissions arrangements. This can lead to a serious conflict of interest, particularly in an education culture focused on success in the league tables, when a strong intake will lead to better results and behaviour.

The report suggests that faith school admissions should be administered by an independent body according to simple, objective criteria that are the same between schools. This would certainly be a step forward from the current situation, with parents sometimes required to meet a bewildering number of religious criteria, including discretionary or open-ended questions.

But while simplifying and centralising religious admissions might address some of the issues around covert selection in faith schools, it still won’t tackle the fundamental problem: that it is wrong for schools to divide children by their beliefs, or those of their parents. We therefore call on the Government to change the law so that schools are open to all families in their community”