Children face travelling miles to school as cap on faith admissions scrapped
Children may be forced to travel miles to primary school because of Government plans to scrap a cap on faith-based admissions, teaching unions and campaigners have warned.
Current rules mean religious free schools in England are only allowed to offer 50 per cent of places to pupils based on faith, but ministers have announced plans to remove the cap, after providers said it was stopping them from opening new schools.
If the cap is removed, new faith-based free schools will have the ability to choose up to 100 per cent of their intake according to pupils’ religious beliefs, if they are oversubscribed.
It is understood that existing faith schools which currently have to adhere to the 50 per cent rule will also be able to apply for the cap to be lifted.
More than a third (37 per cent) of primary schools in England are faith-based – the vast majority Church of England or Roman Catholic – and critics have warned non-religious parents in many areas could be left with fewer choices.
Campaigners have pointed to figures showing that in parts of Liverpool, such as the Kensington area of the city, some parents would have to travel 1.3 miles to their nearest non-faith primary, as four of their closest five schools are Church of England or Roman Catholic.
In the London borough of Southwark, a proposed merger of Charlotte Sharman Primary School and St Jude’s Church of England Primary School would leave the St George’s ward – with a population of 8,500 – with no non-faith primaries.
In more rural areas, such as Crewkerne and Ilminster in Somerset, where around two-thirds of primaries are faith schools, it means non-religious parents could face drives of several miles if their children cannot gain a place at their local school.
The Department for Education (DfE) launched a consultation on Wednesday, alongside plans to establish faith-based academies for children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send).
Paul Whiteman, General Secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said the proposals to lift the cap could lead to “unintended consequences” such as “parents struggling to find school places for children in their local area”.
He added: “NAHT is concerned that the move to remove the faith cap is an unnecessary and potentially retrograde step.
“We are concerned that there is a danger that such a move could inadvertently lead to a sense of selection through the back door, and could potentially make it harder for some pupils to get a place at their local school.”
If all faith schools in a local area become oversubscribed, some children could be forced to “travel a further distance as they because they can be rejected by the school they live next-door to”, according to Kathy Riddick, from Humanists UK.
Analysis by think tank The Sutton Trust suggests that lifting the 50 per cent cap could exclude disadvantaged students from the best local schools.
Sir Peter Lampl, founder of The Sutton Trust: “The proposal to remove the 50 per cent cap and allow 100 per cent faith-based access to schools will make it much harder for disadvantaged pupils to get into good faith schools in their area.
“Sutton Trust research has shown that almost all of the top 20 most socially selective schools are faith schools.
“With the yawning attainment gap between poorer pupils and their better off peers at the highest level for many years, we shouldn’t let top performing faith schools become even more socially segregated.”
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “The 50 per cent cap was introduced for a good reason – to provide a balance between the needs of faith groups to have access to schools which reflect their ethos and beliefs, while also ensuring that schools are accessible to local communities.”
A spokesperson for Humanists UK said: “We are particularly concerned about the impact on social cohesion this change would bring. Schools should admit children from their local community, not select on the basis of any protected characteristic.
“The proposal to allow 100 per cent religious discrimination in state faith schools will increase religious and racial segregation in our schools at a time when integration and cohesion has never been more important.”
Out of 20,000 mainstream state schools in England, more than 4,500 are Church of England, 1,955 Catholic, 139 of other Christian demoninatoins, 50 are Jewish, 34 are Islamic, 12 are Sikh and two are Hindu.
A Southwark Council spokesperson said: “Faith criteria are only used when a school is over-subscribed. This is not the case with most of our schools currently and is certainly not with St Jude’s.
“All our faith schools serve the needs of children irrespective of whether they are from all faiths and none.”
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said: “Faith groups run some of the best schools in the country, including in some of the most disadvantaged areas, and it’s absolutely right we support them to unleash that potential even further – including through the creation of the first ever faith academies for children with special educational needs.”
The Department for Education has been contacted for comment.