Annex A
RESEARCH INTO FACTORS WHICH MOTIVATE PARENTS
WHEN CHOOSING THEIR CHILD'S SCHOOL
SUMMARY
1. The research was undertaken for the Department
by Sheffield Hallam University and the Office for National Statistics
(ONS). "Parents' Experiences of the Process of Choosing a
Secondary School" was published in June 2001.
2. Of the more than 3,000 parents interviewed
for the report, 39% listed performance tables as an important
information source in finding out about schools. Other things
being equal, the use of performance tables was more likely among
certain groups, with London parents being twice as likely to use
them as parents in other Metropolitan or Shire authorities.
3. Academic outcomes were the most commonly
quoted single reason for choosing a favourite school. However,
parents often had several reasons for preferring or rejecting
a school, and they relied as much on intuition and informal information
gathering as on formal independent information sources.
BACKGROUND
4. The published research was conducted
in two parts. Stage 1 studied LEAs' admissions systems and modes
of practice. Stage 2 was a nationally representative survey of
3,333 parents of pupils entering secondary school in 1999, 2000
and 2001, conducted by telephone interview. All respondents were
selected from the Labour Force Survey as having children in the
relevant age groups.
KEY FINDINGS
5. The key findings from the telephone survey
of parents were as follows:
— 72% of parents applied to their nearest
state school; 87% of parents applied for places only in their
LEA area; but 33% of parents applied to more than one admission
authority. Other things being equal, parents living in London
were three times as likely to apply to more than one admission
authority;
— 28% of parents didn't apply to their
nearest school; parents in London were two and a half times more
likely than parents in Shire LEAs not to apply to their nearest
school; and
— the main reasons why parents didn't
apply to their nearest school were that the school had poor discipline
(35%), poor academic results (31%) and bullying problems (15%);
12% of parents said that they did not apply to their nearest school
because it was not a denominational school.
6. When parents were asked about the main
information sources used in choosing a school, those most commonly
mentioned were visits to the schools (78%), talking to other parents
(70%), school prospectuses (69%), primary school teachers (49%),
LEA booklets (45%), performance tables (39%), OFSTED reports (25%),
newspaper articles (22%), asking others not elsewhere mentioned
(15%), Parent Teacher Associations (10%) and Internet (4%). 90%
of parents used more than one source; 52% four or more.
7. The high percentage of parents who relied
on school visits and prospectuses may be an indication that parents
do place a degree of importance on the facilities the school offers.
However, the report also found that when parents were asked about
their reasons for choosing a favourite school, only 13% described
resources/facilities as a factor. The other main reasons for choosing
a favourite school were: academic outcomes (43%); the sort of
things that normally feature in schools' over-subscription criteria,
such as siblings there or nearness to home (40%); travel convenience
(35%); child's preference (31%); the school's ethos (15%); quality
of staff (14%); pupil behaviour (10%); curriculum/teaching methods
(8%); school status (6%); gender of intake (4%).
8. Of those who used performance tables
as an information source, 86% said they found them useful, but
only 32% said they were the most useful source of information.
56% saw them in a newspaper, 38% in a school publication, 10%
in a LEA publication, 2% in a Departmental publication, and around
3% on the Internet. (Some parents had seen them in more than one
place.)
9. Other things being equal, use of performance
tables was more likely among certain groups and London parents
were twice as likely, and parents in Unitary authorities significantly
more likely, to use them than parents in other Metropolitan or
Shire authorities. Other factors connected with greater use included
the mother having a degree or higher educational qualification;
owner occupier or private renter as opposed to social rented sector
tenant; mother in social class I, II or III non-manual; and no
previous experience of choosing a secondary school. Compared to
the overall 39% who used performance tables, 49% of London parents
did so, but only 27% of social sector renters and 20% of parents
in a couple where both were unemployed.
IMPACT ON
ADMISSION POLICIES
10. The research prompted many of the admissions
reforms in the 2002 Education Act, designed to create a fairer
admission system which parents would find easier to understand.
These included:
— co-ordinated admission arrangements,
by 2005 intakes;
— mandatory Admission Forums to monitor
arrangements and broker local agreements, including measures to
protect vulnerable groups;
— extending the information LEAs must
provide to parents on the choices available, and how to make those
choices;
— widening the circle of those who
should be consulted on and may object about admission arrangements
(to include all local schools);
— various steps to increase access
to faith schools for those outside the faith, including a repeal
of section 91 of the 1998 Act; and
— ending interviewing by church schools,
from 2005 intakes.
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