APPENDIX
SUTTON TRUST SURVEY OF SECONDARY SCHOOL ADMISSIONS
PROCEDURES
THE RESEARCH
In 2001, the Sutton Trust conducted a study
of secondary school admissions procedures. The research analysed
DfES reports and data, supplemented by a study of schools' and
LEAs' admissions booklets and a survey of 56 LEA's. This is a
summary of the main findings.
INTRODUCTION
The LEA is the admissions authority for 70%
of schools. For the other 30% of self-governing but LEA maintained
schools the school's governing body is the admissions authority.
In total, there are 1,208 separate admissions authorities, each
of which can have its own admissions policies.
Central government has a dual role. Its admissions
policies specify whether a school can select by ability or on
faith grounds, and it now maintains a list of such schools. At
the time of our survey (2001), there were 724 such schools[1],
teaching 18% of 14 year olds. The remaining 2,772 secondary schools
are not selective by ability or faith, although any school's admissions
authority can declare a specialism and admit up to 10% by aptitude
for a particular subject.
Most secondary schools have one admissions policy
for their entire intake, but about 10% have a different policy
for the minority of their intake. This includes schools partially
selecting by aptitude, Church schools which reserve a percentage
of places for non-members, and sometimes comprehensives which
due to historical reasons select a minority of students.
Central government's second role is to design
and enforce the regulatory framework for schools' admissions policies,
procedures and oversubscription criteria. The main element is
the Code of Practice, which all LEA maintained admissions authorities
(but not CTCs) have to operate.
THE COMPLEX
NATURE OF
ADMISSIONS
The phrase "admissions criteria" usually
refers to oversubscription criteria. Within the Code of Practice
and the law, each admissions authority can select their own oversubscription
criteria. A survey of 56 LEAs for the Sutton Trust suggests that
18 different criteria are used, which can be grouped into seven
main categories[2]:
|
| Main categories | |
Criteria | Examples
|
|
| Priority Groups | 1 | Catchment area
| School named on the SEN statement |
| 2 | Partner primary
| Attend feeder/linked/partner school, may be automatic or priority entry
|
| Distance | 3 | Home to school
| Straight line, safe/lit/paved route, public transport
|
| 4 | Home to alternative school
| Straight line, safe/lit/paved route, public transport
|
| Family connection | 5 | Sibling at school
| At application or entry-may include or exclude 6th form
|
| 6 | Past relation
| Recent or at any time-may include parent, aunt/uncle, grandparent
|
| 7 | Parent employee
| Parent employed by/governor of school |
| Religious Belief | 8 | The faith
| Commitment (baptism/attendance) letter from a priest
|
| 9 | Related faiths
| Commitment to a related faith |
| 10 | Other/no faith
| Recognised other faith or acceptance of main faith's ethos
|
| Testing | 11 | Ability
| Score on entry test/s |
| 12 | Banding
| Score on entry test/s |
| 13 | Aptitude
| Demonstrated aptitude for a subject |
| Personal request | 14 | Single sex
| Request (with reasons) for single sex |
| 15 | Religious Education
| Request (with reasons) for religious education
|
| 16 | First preference
| Given to 2nd choice by LEA if allocated nearest school is full
|
| Special need | 17 | SEN statement
| School named on the SEN statement |
| 18 | Supported need
| Medical, social or educational need (with supporting letter from appropriate professional)
|
|
TYPICAL PROCEDURES
In the autumn preceding a child's move to secondary school,
parents receive the new LEA secondary admissions booklet, and
visit schools. Application forms are completed and submitted to
the admissions authorities in December, which administer preferences
and oversubscription criteria in the next two months. In March
and April acceptances of first and other preferences are made,
and appeals may be lodged.
LEAs operate two main kinds of preference system for community
and voluntary-controlled schools. Around 80% of LEAs allow multiple
preferences, usually ranked, but sometimes of equal preference.
The remainder have a single preference system, sometimes with
a suggested school filled in.
Arrangements also vary between LEAs as to how many forms
parents need to fill in and how the forms are processed. Only
two-thirds of LEAs have synchronised the dates for applications,
offers and acceptances across all their schools.
On average, parents apply to 1.9 schools (1.8 outside London,
2.4 in London), with almost half of parents outside London only
applying to one school. 20% of London parents apply to four or
more schools.
ACCOUNTABILITY
In 1999, there were significant changes to the procedures,
publication and regulation of admissions arrangements, which mark
a watershed from earlier practices. Firstly, there is a new code
of practice on admissions. Secondly, every admissions authority
for a state funded school must now publish its admissions arrangements,
especially its oversubscription criteria and the degree of oversubscription
by school. The LEA is responsible for publishing an admissions
booklet in autumn each year for parents which should contain the
admissions arrangements for every school within the authority,
including those which are self-governing.
Thirdly, the proposed admissions arrangements for every LEA
maintained school must be circulated beforehand each year to other
admissions authorities in the area, and be discussed in the new
Schools Admissions Forum. If the forum cannot resolve a problem,
then any admissions authority can raise an objection with the
Office of the School Adjudicator (this power does not extend to
parents, except where schools select wholly or partially by aptitude
or ability).
The fourth new accountability mechanism is the Office of
the Schools Adjudicator (OSA), which applies the code of practice.
When a Schools Adjudicator investigates an objection, their decision
is final, unless subject to judicial review for process. One of
the ways of measuring dissatisfaction with the admissions procedures
is to look at the number of decisions made by the OSA. In 1999-2000,
the first year of operation, there were 68 decisions, but there
were fewer than twenty in each of 2000-01 and 2001-02.
SELECTION
There are three types of selective admissions policy:
(a) Grammar schools-wholly selective by academic ability;
(b) Partial selection by ability; and
(c) Partial selection by aptitude.
There are 164 grammar schools in England, accounting for
4.7% of schools and 4.5% of secondary school students. A study
by researchers at Sheffield Hallam University for the DfES found
that an additional 61 schools (1.7% of the total) use partial
selection. Sutton Trust research, which looked at 56 LEAs, found
that 76 out of the 1,292 schools surveyed (5.9%) use partial selection.
If this pattern was repeated across the country, this would mean
5.6% of schools use partial selection.
We feel that this is likely to be an overestimate[3],
but given that the Sutton Trust partial survey found more schools
selecting than the "complete" DfES study, it seems clear
that the DfES figure is a significant underestimate.
Our survey also found significant differences between different
types of schools. No voluntary-controlled schools selected part
of their intake, and only a small number of community schools
did. The percentage was much higher for both voluntary-aided and
foundation schools:
|
| Sample
| By ability
| By aptitude
| Both | Total using
partial selection
|
|
| | | %
| | % |
| | % |
| Community | 807
| 4 | 0.5
| 7 | 0.9
| (1) | 10
| 1.2 |
| V-controlled | 27
| 0 | 0.0
| 0 | 0.0
| (0) | 0
| 0.0 |
| V-aided | 238
| 14 | 5.9
| 15 | 6.3
| (5) | 24
| 10.1 |
| Foundation | 220
| 11 | 5.0
| 35 | 15.9
| (4) | 42
| 19.1 |
| Total | 1,292
| 29 | 2.2
| 57 | 4.4
| (10) | 76
| 5.9 |
|
We estimate that about 80% of schools which use partial selection
are self-governing, even though self-governing schools account
for just 30% of the total. The percentage of schools which select
is also much higher in London than elsewhere. Only 10% of partially
selecting schools are in Metropolitan LEAs, even though Metropolitan
area schools make up 31% of all schools.
OVERALL
It is clear that school admissions is a very complicated
area. Over 1,200 admissions authorities apply different policies
on selection by faith and/or academic and/or aptitude, using a
selection from 18 different oversubscription criteria. The picture
is further complicated if parents decide to make multiple applications,
which may cross LEA borders and procedures.
But despite-or perhaps in some cases, because-of this complexity,
parental satisfaction with the system is high. 85% are satisfied
with the admissions process[4],
and 91% are satisfied with the outcome. Just 0.5% of parents felt
they had no or limited choice. 85% were offered a place at their
favoured school, with just 4% not being offered a place at one
of their named preferences. Interestingly, half of those who were
dissatisfied with the outcome had been offered a place at their
favoured school, suggesting they felt constrained as to which
schools they could apply. And this is the key: in the case of
school admissions, "choice" is something which is disproportionately
available to the middle classes.
This is particularly the case in London, where school quality
is starkly different between and even within boroughs. In London,
just 68% of parents are offered a place in their favoured school,
and 12% launch an appeal (compared to 4% elsewhere). London parents
are much more likely to apply for a place outside their own LEA
(33% against 11%) and apply to more than one admissions authority
(54% against 30%). 40% of London parents did not apply to their
nearest state school (30% elsewhere). It is clear from a large
number of press articles (The Observer, 24 August 2003)
that this is a very important subject for parents in London. We
would suggest that the relative ease of travel in the capital
and high concern about the state of schools in some boroughs-whether
justified or not-contributes to the problems in London.
October 2003
1
This is based on January 2000 statistics. The DfES counted 162
grammar schools and 583 faith schools, 21 of which were also grammar
schools. The DfES now recognises 164 grammar schools, although
no new grammar schools have opened since then. Back
2
Also, an Islamic school due to open in 2002-was to include selection
by lot as an over-subscription criteria. Back
3
Our survey did not include the North East (where there are no
grammar schools) Yorkshire and Humberside (where there are a small
number) and the South West (where there are slightly more than
the national average). Back
4
Data on parental satisfaction and appeals comes from the DfES
survey Parents' Experiences of the Processes of Choosing a
Secondary School (2001). Back
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