Letter from the Chairman of the Education
and Skills Committee to David Miliband MP, Minister of State for
School Standards
Thank you for your letter dated 9 February 2004.
Your reply to the first two points raised in my letter of 28 January
is clear. However, I am not satisfied that you have addressed
the third point regarding the wider use of structured discussions.
For your convenience, our remaining question is repeated below.
Finally, we understand from your evidence
that structured discussions, because they are not interviews,
are permitted under the Code of Practice on School Admissions.
If this is indeed the case, is there any barrier to prevent all
schools from incorporating structured discussions into their admissions
process? Would you support wider use of this admissions device?
Should you not support the wider use of structured
discussions in publicly funded schools other than CTCs, and in
order to ensure that we receive the fullest possible reply, I
should be grateful if you would explain exactly what means are
available to you to prevent their use more widely.
Chairman, Education and Skills Committee
27 February 2004
|
