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Every year a large number of Harrogate children are disappointed not to get their first choice school, and are, further, effectively debarred from applying to two high-achieving state schools.
Harrogate is typical in that the admission process has been complicated by state-funded senior schools operating their own admissions policies.
Two of the five schools are church schools, so many parents who are not religious are left with the choice of the remaining three schools that abide by the local authority's admission procedures.
The one that achieves the best academic results according to national league tables is massively over-subscribed
Even the local parents who choose the faith schools are disadvantaged because both church schools draw from well outside the local area. One of the schools appears to operate a covert admissions policy which awards additional points to middle class families.
What CASE thinks
CASE believes that church schools should be subject to the same local authority admission policy as other schools in their area. Community cohesion should have a greater priority than religious persuasion .
What you can do
Local CASE member, Helen Flynn, wrote to her local paper to stimulate a debate. Her letter is printed here.
Unfair Admissions in Harrogate
FAITH SCHOOLS SERVE SELVES
The County Council consultation on admission arrangements for community secondary schools states that in 2008 Harrogate Grammar School had about 170 more applicants than places. Elsewhere it states that St Aidan’s and St John Fisher’s between them offer 422 places each year, of which 217-250 come from the Harrogate area. Doing the maths here leads to the obvious conclusion that 172-205 pupils come from outside the catchment area.
If the two faith schools, state-funded by the taxpayer, were not allowed to choose their intake, and followed the admissions process that applies to the three community schools, the pressure on places in Harrogate schools would cease to exist.
Nationally, a poll conducted in June (conducted by YouGov plc) found that 57% of people ‘agreed or strongly agreed that “state-funded schools that select students by their religion undermine community cohesion”’, while only 19% ‘disagreed or strongly disagreed’.
Is it not time that faith schools stop serving themselves and become part of the wider community?
We should be proud of our three community schools and their lack of discrimination amongst children, and encourage in every way that we can the two faith schools to adopt a more inclusive, and some may say more ‘Christian’ approach to admissions.
Helen Flynn
Campaign for State Education
Darley, Harrogate
Published date: 25 September 2009