Audrey Hind

School admissions and ‘selection’ in comprehensive schools: policy and practice

This article examines secondary school admissions criteria in England. The analysis revealed that in a significant minority of schools, notably those responsible for their own admissions—voluntary‐aided and foundation schools—a variety of criteria were used which appear to be designed to select certain groups of pupils and so exclude others. Specialist schools were more likely than non‐specialist schools to report selecting a proportion of pupils on the basis of aptitude/ability in a particular subject area but voluntary‐aided/foundation schools were far more likely to select on this basis than community/voluntary‐controlled schools. Criteria giving priority to children with medical/social needs were given for nearly three‐quarters of schools; however, community/voluntary‐controlled schools were more likely to include this as a criterion than were voluntary‐aided/foundation schools. Nearly two‐fifths of schools mentioned as an oversubscription criterion, pupils with special educational needs; these were predominantly community/voluntary‐controlled schools as opposed to voluntary‐aided/foundation schools. The evidence reported here reveals that despite attempts by the Labour Government to reform school admissions, considerable ‘selection’ takes place. Implications for policy are addressed.

Accounting for Variations in Pupil Attainment at the End of Key Stage 1

Abstract This article analyses pupil national assessment results at Key Stage 1 (KS1) in the three core curriculum areas (English, mathematics and science) and in terms of an overall measure of performance across these areas for a sample of over 2400 pupils drawn from 62 inner London primary schools. It explores the influence of pupil background characteristics and school attended on attainment at KS1 and provides a contextualised analysis of schools’ performance. The findings demonstrate the greater importance of background factors (gender, age, low income, fluency in English) as influences on English attainment in comparison with other subjects and the implications of this for the publication of raw national assessment results are highlighted. The extent to which process information about school and classroom organisation and teaching practices accounts for school‐level variation in pupils’ attainment is also explored. A number of significant relationships are identified and their implications discussed.

School Choice in London, England: Characteristics of Students in Different Types of Secondary Schools

In England, parents make “choices” (in reality, “preferences”) for the state-maintained secondary schools they wish their child to attend. If there are more applicants than places, the schools published admissions criteria are used to give priority to applicants. This article examines how school composition in London varies by first comparing schools that are overtly academically selective with those that are nominally “comprehensive” (“all ability”); second, comparing “comprehensive” schools that control their own admissions with those that do not; third, comparing schools with and without selective admissions criteria; and fourth, comparing schools that use religious criteria with those that do not. We find that school compositions vary. Academically selective schools have fewer students from poor households than comprehensive schools in the same area and have fewer Black and more Indian and Chinese/Other Asian students. Comprehensive schools with autonomy over admissions admit higher attaining students and have fewer students from poor households and with special educational needs, and those with selective admissions criteria admit higher performing children. There are fewer Bangladeshi/Pakistani students and more Black students in schools with a religious character than in those without. Although a range of factors are likely to play a role in explaining the variation in school composition, the evidence suggests that there is “selecting in” and “selecting out” of more desirable students by some schools. Implications for policy are highlighted. This article is based on a presentation given at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting in San Francisco in 2006. It has since been substantially revised. We are grateful for the comments made by two anonymous reviewers. They would also like to thank Hazel Pennell, RobertWest, Philip Noden, and Peter Currie for comments on an earlier draft of this article.

“Skimming the Cream” Admissions to Charter Schools in the United States and to Autonomous Schools in England

This article focuses on student admissions to charter schools in the United States and to autonomous (foundation and voluntary-aided) secondary schools in England. Analyses of the admissions criteria used by autonomous and nonautonomous secondary schools in England revealed that more autonomous than nonautonomous schools reported using potentially selective criteria. Examination results were higher in autonomous than nonautonomous schools and even higher in those that used potentially selective admissions criteria. Fewer students with special educational needs attended autonomous schools. The similarities between the admissions practices used by certain charter schools and the published admissions criteria used by certain autonomous schools in England are discussed. The evidence is suggestive of both “cream skimming” and “cropping off” educational provision to particular groups of students. It is concluded that the introduction of market oriented reforms into public school systems requires monitoring and effective regulation to ensure that autonomous schools do not act in their own self-interest.

Selectivity, admissions and intakes to ‘comprehensive’ schools in London, England

This study focuses on admissions criteria used for ‘comprehensive’ secondary schools in London, UK. It was found that schools whose admissions were controlled by the local authority were more likely to report giving priority to children with medical/social needs and special educational needs than were schools that controlled their own admissions; the latter were more likely to report the use of various potentially ‘creaming’ criteria. There was also more ‘selectivity’ among London comprehensive schools with autonomy over admissions, with higher proportions using potentially selective admissions criteria than in the rest of England. Moreover, it was found that schools with responsibility for their own admissions had lower proportions of pupils with special educational needs and obtained higher scores in public examination ‘league tables’ than schools whose admissions were controlled by the local authority. The findings suggest that some schools, although nominally ‘comprehensive’, appear to restrict access to certain groups of pupils.

Secondary school admissions in England 2001 to 2008: changing legislation, policy and practice

The distribution of pupils amongst schools is fundamental to concerns about equality of educational opportunity and it is for this reason that the process by which pupils are admitted to schools is of significance. This paper focuses on admissions criteria and practices used by English secondary schools in 2001 and 2008 in light of changes to legislation and the regulatory context. In 2008, unlike 2001, virtually all schools gave priority to children in care and very few used interviews. In a minority of schools, predominantly those responsible for their own admissions, criteria designed to ‘select in’ certain pupils were used, with partial selection by aptitude/ability increasing over time. An analysis of ‘supplementary information forms’ revealed that a minority of schools requested information that was prohibited and unrelated to admissions criteria. Notwithstanding some positive impacts, further changes could make the admissions process easier for parents/carers and enhance equality of educational opportunity.

Quasi-Regulation and Principal-Agent Relationships: Secondary School Admissions in London, England.

Market-oriented reforms and school choice policies have had a high political profile in a number of developed countries. This article examines the issue of school choice through the lens of the English market-oriented reforms; it focuses on the quasi-regulation and regulation of admissions to publicly funded secondary schools. It examines admissions to state-maintained secondary schools in London in terms of the criteria and practices used in the event of there being more applicants than places available. It also explores changes in admissions criteria and practices between 2001 and 2005 given the legislative and policy changes introduced in the intervening period. Principal—agent theory is used heuristically to explain the differing responses of schools with responsibility for admissions and local authorities to the legislative and policy framework. It is argued that while local authorities act broadly in line with government guidance and regulations as the agent of the government, schools acting as agents do not necessarily do so and more appear to select particular groups of children as opposed to others. This, it is argued, is because the regulatory mechanisms have been insufficient to motivate them to act as intended in relation to their admissions policies and practices in the light of the other policy goals and incentives accompanying the market-oriented reforms.

Secondary school admissions in England: selection by stealth

T he education reforms introduced by previous Conservative administrations in the Eighties and, in particular, the Education Reform Act 1988, led to the development of a ‘quasi-market’ in school-based education. One of the consequences of the reforms was a doubling in the percentage of secondary schools that are responsible for their own admissions (from 15% in January 1988 to 30% in January 1999) (West & Pennell, 2003). (The local education authority is the admissions authority for other state secondary schools.) Schools that are their own admission authority (i.e. voluntary-aided and foundation schools) are in a privileged position compared with other schools. In circumstances of oversubscription, where the demand for places exceeds the supply they have the possibility, if they so wish, to ‘cream skim’ those pupils who would be likely to maximise their examination ‘league table’ position or, conversely, not select those who are likely to have a negative impact on their school’s examination results. The Labour Party in its 1997 election manifesto committed itself to improve school admissions. Subsequently, the 1998 School Standards and Framework Act and accompanying regulations set a new legal framework for admissions. Associated with the legislation is a Code of Practice on School Admissions. It also provides a new mechanism – the adjudicator – for resolving local disputes in relation to, amongst other issues, school admissions (West & Ingram, 2001). The first Code of Practice came into force on 1 April 1999; a new and improved code supersedes it and will apply to applications for places at primary and secondary schools from September 2004 onwards. Key aspects of the Code of Practice relate to the provision of information for parents and guidance concerning the admissions process. In relation to oversubscription criteria, the Code of Practice (DfES, 2003) states: “The admission authority has a fairly wide discretion in deciding what these oversubscription criteria should be, provided that: