DfE doesn’t know how many schools have discriminatory admissions

Posted: Mon, 1 Nov 2021 13:09

The government has admitted it does not know how many schools apply religious discrimination in their admissions.

The Department for Education has said it "does not hold information on which schools select on the basis of religion as an element of their admissions criteria", in response to a freedom of information request from the National Secular Society.

Exemptions in the Equality Act 2010 enable some kinds of faith schools to prioritise children from particular religious backgrounds if they are oversubscribed.

The DfE has also refused to record which schools practice faith-based selection on their public data service, after the NSS urged the new schools' minister to provide transparency over school admissions.

Currently the Get Information About Schools (GIAS) service, which provides data on all schools in England, only records whether a school is academically selective. The NSS has warned this could be confusing for parents, as hundreds of schools that can select all their pupils based on faith list their admissions policy as "non-selective".

The NSS has previously warned that use of the term "non-selective" can be potentially misleading, particularly in proposals for new religiously selective schools.

NSS head of education Alastair Lichten said: "If religious groups are given exemptions from equality laws to facilitate discrimination on grounds of religion or belief, then there needs to be transparency around that. If the DfE do not and will not record which schools discriminate on this basis, and to what extent, transparency and scrutiny is impossible.

"Are they trying to spare the blushes of faith school groups who know discriminatory admissions are unpopular and morally bankrupt?

"It's long past time we ended faith-based selection. No publicly funded school should be able to discriminate against children based on their parents' beliefs."

Explaining their decision not to record religiously selective admissions, a spokesperson from the DfE told the NSS this would "constitute an additional burden for schools designated with a religious character".

The DfE also said such transparency isn't necessary because local authorities are required to provide a composite admissions prospectus, which explains the admissions policies for all schools in the area.

However, such prospectuses are inconsistent, and it can often be difficult to understand faith schools' selection criteria from the prospectus. The NSS's request would have seen a simple indication of either whether a school has religiously selective oversubscription criteria, or the number of places subject to such criteria.

How many schools have religiously discriminatory admissions?

Although the DfE does not hold data on school admissions policies, various estimates have been made of these figures. One method is to look at the numbers of different school types. The latest NSS analysis has found that in England there are:

• 2,639 voluntary aided faith schools, which may be able to religiously select up to 100% of their pupils.
• 105 faith based free schools, which may be able to religiously select up to 50% of their pupils.
• 1,624 voluntary controlled faith schools, which can only rarely religiously select pupils with the agreement of their local education authority.
• 1,952 faith-based converter academies and 490 other faith schools, which may be able to religiously select pupils, though the level of religious selection would depend on many factors including their predecessor school.

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Why is the Catholic church allowed to hinder secondary school choice?

Posted: Thu, 21 Oct 2021 11:33

A case in Leicestershire shows the mess faith groups make of admissions and why secular accountability is necessary, argues Alastair Lichten.

The practice of state funded faith schools discriminating in favour of prospective pupils on the basis of their parents' religion is well known. 'On your knees, avoid the fees' has become common parlance in conversations about religiously selective state schools. But the ways in which faith schools undermine families' choices can be more diverse, complex, and occasionally counterintuitive.

The problem of families being pushed into a faith school, because of a lack of options or faith groups' influence over other education decisions, is less visible. A case in Leicestershire, now the subject of a legal challenge, provides one such example.

Parents at St Thomas More, a Catholic primary school in Leicester, claim the Catholic Diocese of Nottingham which runs the school is fostering discrimination by impeding a meaningful choice of secondary school. The diocese is blocking local non-faith (community-ethos) schools from listing St Thomas More as a feeder. This leaves parents at the school with almost no options but St Paul's Catholic School, a secondary school run by the diocese's trust.

Another community-ethos academy affected by the diocese's meddling is Beauchamp College. When they consulted on listing St Thomas More as a feeder, the diocese wrote to all parents, in a tone described as "intimidating", criticising support for the plan. In 2020, 45 St Thomas More parents called for the move, followed by 60% of consultation respondents. However, the diocese remained adamant that St Thomas More pupils are expected to transfer to St Paul's.

The head of the diocese's academy trust Neil Locker said neither they, nor the bishop, would allow any Catholic school to associate as a feeder with any non-Catholic school, because the relationship between primary and secondary schools "is fundamental and sacrosanct".

Another community ethos secondary school affected is Manor High School. When this school consulted local primary schools on its plans to update its feeder schools, St Thomas More's academy trust decided not to inform parents, in a possible breach of the School Admissions Code.

St Thomas More parents have been fighting for years to be given an equal choice of secondary schools. They describe the decision not to designate the school as a feeder for Manor High School as "a complete surprise and shock".

Frustrated by the diocese's influence over school choice, one parent is taking legal action with the Office of Schools Adjudicator (OSA), a body which helps to clarify the legal position on admissions policies, seeking to challenge the decision of the non-faith secondary schools not to list St Thomas More as a feeder.

The parent leading the legal action said: "I am doing this because many parents were unaware that they were being implicitly tied into a rigid sort of 'contract of Catholic faith education' that, effectively, means parents forgo their choice of non-Catholic secondary schools.

"This was not an informed decision for a substantial number of parents. Being locked into a consumer or employment contract with no exit strategy would never be accepted in any other area of society."

NSS research shows 260 pupils across Leicester and Leicestershire were assigned faith schools against parental preferences this year. Thirty-six per cent of pupils in the county have little choice but a faith-based primary, and the diocese's policy will leave many with little choice but a faith-based secondary school.

A representative of the Doyle Clayton legal firm supporting the case said, if successful, it "will help to ensure that children's secondary school choices are not restricted by the faith of their primary school and by a 'feeder school' system that funnels children into faith schools."

"By operating in this manner, the current system is limiting parents' choices of non-faith 'good' schools in their area, ultimately forcing a Catholic education onto children due to a lack of choice for their parents."

Designating a faith school, as a feeder to a community-ethos school is not straightforward. If this creates an advantage for the faith school pupils, it may risk indirect discrimination. However, in this case all the other local primary schools have been listed by both Manor High School and Beauchamp College. Only St Thomas More is being treated differently, and only at the diocese's behest.

But whatever the arguments for or against specific feeder arrangements, they should not be a matter for the diocese to decide.

The case also raises questions about academisation, and the decreased role of local authorities in admissions. Our research shows that half of former community schools now in multi-academy trusts have some form of religious (normally C of E) governance. If faith-based academy trusts can insist on controlling the admissions of other schools as well as their own, many more families will be locked into faith-based education.

Everywhere you turn, faith schools' institutional and privileged role in admissions creates unnecessary hardship and complexity for parents. It leads to decisions being continually taken in the interests of faith bodies, with little or no genuine transparency or consultation. It's time we had an open, community-led and accountable admissions system, and seriously reevaluate the suitability of faith groups running public schools in an increasingly secular society.

The NSS will be following the case closely. If you have been affected by similar issues, please get in touch.

If you would like to support parents' legal action, a Crowd Justice fundraiser for the legal action is aiming to raise £5,000 by 31 December.

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NSS calls for transparency over discriminatory school admissions

Posted: Thu, 14 Oct 2021 11:37

The National Secular Society has urged the new schools' minister to increase transparency over school admissions.

The NSS has written to the minister responsible for faith schools, Diana Barran, calling for information about whether schools have religiously selective oversubscription criteria to be included on a government database.

The Get Information About Schools (GIAS) service provides data on all schools in England. It is used by parents deciding on school choices, in addition to estate agents providing information on local schools. But GIAS does not currently record whether a school has a faith-based selective admissions policy.

Exceptions in the Equality Act 2010 allow faith schools with a religious character to religiously discriminate in their admissions if oversubscribed. The extent to which faith schools can discriminate depends on factors including school types, local policies, and number of applicants.

In response to a freedom of information request regarding the number of faith schools that can religiously discriminate, the Department for Education provided GIAS data on school type. But this data can mislead users, the NSS warned.

While GIAS records admissions policies as "selective" or "non-selective", the NSS said this information could "potentially serve to confuse or mislead users, as it only refers to academically selective admissions", which are far outnumbered by religious selection.

The NSS raised the example of voluntary aided (VA) Catholic schools. Almost all Catholic VA schools have admissions policies which allow them to select up to 100% of pupils based on faith if oversubscribed, but the vast majority (1,012) put "not applicable" in the GIAS field regarding admissions policies.

One hundred and sixty-two Catholic schools list their admissions policy as "non-selective", a term the NSS labeled "at best confusing and at worst misleading". Only two Catholic secondary schools, both grammar schools, list their admissions policy as "selective". The NSS has previously warned that such use of the term "non-selective" can be potentially misleading, particularly in proposals for new religiously selective schools.

Researchers have made various estimates on the number of schools or proportion of places with religious selection. However, admissions policies are often complex and can obfuscate the true level of religious discrimination.

Earlier this year the former schools minister Nick Gibb admitted that the DfE has not made an estimate of the number of pupils unable to access their nearest school because of religiously selective admissions.

The NSS's head of education, Alastair Lichten, said: "This lack of transparency and data is unjustifiable, regardless of one's view on the underlying issue of selection. If the state shamefully continues to sanction religious discrimination, it must at least record it. Families seeking school places need clarity over the barriers they may face, and we all need clarity over the numbers of pupils facing faith-based discrimination to allow for an informed public debate."

Update 18/11: In response to a written question in parliament from Dick Taverne, Diana Barran has said: "The department does not collect information on the number of schools that include faith-based criteria in their admission arrangements, nor the proportion of places allocated on the basis of faith. We have no plans to collect this information or to include this information in school statistics."

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Locked in and locked out: how faith schools restrict families’ choices

Posted: Wed, 25 Aug 2021 11:38

State funding of faith schools means many families are left without suitable schools. The narrative that faith schools are justified on the grounds of choice should be confronted, says Alastair Lichten.

The latest figures from the National Secular Society's choice delusion project, along with other research on discriminatory admissions, show how seriously faith schools are restricting choice across England. Hundreds of thousands of families a year face either being effectively locked in to faith schools, because there are few or no alternatives, or locked out of their local schools by religious discrimination.

At first glance, these may appear to be opposite problems. But both are caused by the proliferation and exclusionary nature of faith schools. This is a serious problem that left unconfronted will only grow as the country becomes more diverse and less religious.

Thirty per cent of people have little or no choice but a faith school at primary level, and 10% at secondary level. These figures represent around 475,000 pupils a year. Over 20,000 a year are assigned faith schools against their families' preferences. Estimating the number of pupils subject to direct religious discrimination in admissions is extremely difficult, but researchers have found that around half of C of E and all Catholic secondary school places are potentially subject to religious selection. It can be easy to forget the human stories behind these huge numbers and shocking statistics.

We regularly provide advice and support to parents experiencing the sharp end of the choice delusion. We hear from parents like Abhi from west London, whose four year old daughter was turned away from all their local schools on religious grounds. Rachael and David from Liverpool faced similar problems at secondary school for their son. Parents like Roxana from Bristol could pretend to be religious to access their local schools, but don't want to teach their children that dishonesty pays.

Michael from Bath told our No More Faith Schools campaign that he was effectively forced into putting all three of his children into a Catholic school. He had three schools to choose from: a terribly performing C of E school, and two Catholic schools.

Victoria from Medway told us: "My son has been placed into a faith school at the secondary school allocations. This was not one of my six choices, but no other school is available. The school say that they must attend all Catholic services even if they don't pray!"

Our research has revealed that 53% of rural primary schools are faith-based, and parents in some rural areas raised particular concerns about a lack of access to secular education. One told us she was looking at moving to a village – but the only school there, and the only schools in the next two villages, were all Church of England schools. Another said it was "impossible" to find a non-faith based school in the local area. Others said their children weren't being given the chance to make up their own minds about their own beliefs – for example because they were being forced into prayers, or were subject to evangelism.

Despite repeated parliamentary questions, research and lobbying by the NSS, the government recently admitted that it still has no estimate of its own on the extent of these problems. This means the choice delusion figures remain the best available and, combined with the new local authority scorecard, a powerful research tool for policymakers.

Breaking down these figures by local authority not only confirms the extent of this problem but provides important new insights. Serious questions must be asked about whether the worst performing local authorities are failing in their legal duties to ensure adequate suitable school provision, particularly where they are considering new school proposals. Public scrutiny and transparency around new faith schools is extremely limited, and claims that proposals will improve choice are often unevidenced and unchallenged, making reliable local data even more valuable.

And although the data only applies to England, the same problems affect families across the UK (where different methodology would be needed to work out how many are affected). Rohan from Newport told us: "My children have no choice but to attend a Church in Wales faith school, as with all our local council schools. It indoctrinates and teaches biased religious education. This is religious discrimination. Other faiths and atheism are dismissed." In Northern Ireland, over 90% of schools are segregated despite demand for integrated options.

Far from being the knockdown argument some supporters believe, 'choice' is actually one of the worst inequities caused by faith schools. Community ethos schools are suitable and accessible for pupils of all religious and non-religious backgrounds. The same cannot be said of schools organised around an exclusive faith ethos, let alone those with religious selection.

If we are to justify faith schools though this narrow concept of choice, this invites the question of why the 'choice' of schools organised around atheist, political or other ideological belief systems or identities is not also catered for.

The idea of choice is often wielded against families. Often when supporting someone dealing with inappropriate evangelism in schools, biased RE, religious sex ed, or coercive worship, they will tell me that their faith school was the only practical option. They didn't select it for faith but are told "you chose a faith school, what do you expect". Many faith schools openly state that they demand parents accept all aspects of a school's ethos if they have 'chosen' it.

Critics of faith schools are also accused of 'hypocrisy' when they have no choice but a faith school, or told to mind their own business if they are lucky enough to have the choice.

And choice focused narratives around faith schools are extremely limiting. They mischaracterise both the real-world options families have, and the social role of public education. Schools are community assets, not consumer products where individuals can choose freely between 100 brands to suite their personal taste. The harm caused by religious discrimination in school admissions and the exclusionary ethos of faith schools extends far beyond the inconvenient restriction of choice, and legitimises wider prejudices.

Moving towards a fully inclusive community-ethos education system, where all schools are suitable for pupils of all backgrounds, would be the best way to solve these problems. But in the meantime, the government must at least ensure that all families have a real option of a non-faith school.

Find out more about the NSS's research, let us know if you've been affected, and share our findings with your MP, through our Choice Delusion page.

Image: patat/Shutterstock.com.

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