Asked by: Viscount Ridley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to the finding of the report <i>An Unholy Mess</i>, published by the Fair Admissions Campaign and the British Humanist Association last year, that a number of religiously selective schools have sought to require all parents to commit to supporting the particular religious ethos of the school as part of the admission process; and what assessment they have made of the impact of any such practice on the encouragement of applications from a diverse range of religious and non-religious backgrounds.
Answered by Lord Nash
I refer the Noble Lord to my response to questions HL5900 and HL5901, submitted to Parliament on 18 February 2016.
Asked by: Viscount Ridley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to the finding of the report <i>An Unholy Mess</i>, published by the Fair Admissions Campaign and the British Humanist Association last year, that a significant number of religiously selective schools have not conducted proper consultations on their admission arrangements, and in many cases have not published any information about their arrangements.
Answered by Lord Nash
Many of the findings of the report by the Fair Admissions Campaign and British Humanist Association echo those reported by the Chief Schools Adjudicator in her Annual Report for the 2013/14 school year.
Admission authorities for all state-funded schools, including schools with a religious designation, are required to comply with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code and other admissions law.
Where an objection is made to the Schools Adjudicator, if the arrangements are found to be unfair or fail to comply with the Code, the admission authority must make changes to ensure their arrangements are compliant. Where an admission authority fails to implement decisions of the adjudicator, the Secretary of State may direct the admission authority to do so.
We continue to keep the Code under review, and, where we consider any changes are necessary to make the admissions system work more effectively for parents, these will be subject to a full public consultation.
Asked by: Viscount Ridley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to the finding of the report <i>An Unholy Mess</i>, published by the Fair Admissions Campaign and the British Humanist Association last year, that a number of religiously selective schools have asked parents for information about their occupational, marital, and financial status as part of the admissions process, and whether they consider this to be acceptable.
Answered by Lord Nash
Many of the findings of the report by the Fair Admissions Campaign and British Humanist Association echo those reported by the Chief Schools Adjudicator in her Annual Report for the 2013/14 school year.
Admission authorities for all state-funded schools, including schools with a religious designation, are required to comply with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code and other admissions law.
Where an objection is made to the Schools Adjudicator, if the arrangements are found to be unfair or fail to comply with the Code, the admission authority must make changes to ensure their arrangements are compliant. Where an admission authority fails to implement decisions of the adjudicator, the Secretary of State may direct the admission authority to do so.
We continue to keep the Code under review, and, where we consider any changes are necessary to make the admissions system work more effectively for parents, these will be subject to a full public consultation.