Church still has to work on demonstrating fair admissions procedures in its popular schools, survey shows.

The majority of the population – including those who do not see themselves as Christian – agree that parents should be able to choose a state-run school for their child based on their own religious, moral or philosophical considerations, a major survey released today has found.

Two-thirds of parents (with children under 18) hold this opinion, consistent with the spirit of plurality in education which is protected by the European Convention on Human Rights*. Over six in ten of the population as a whole agrees, underlining the broad-based support for the concept of state schools run with a particular ethos at their core.

The survey, conducted by Opinion Research Business, has been released in the week when two new Church of England academies will open. Today, Tuesday (14th), the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, will open St Lawrence’s Academy in Scunthorpe; on Wednesday (15th), the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, will open the Archbishop Sentamu Academy in East Hull. Both these academies are set to offer new educational opportunities in urban areas, and both have admissions policies which draw students in on the basis of their proximity to school.

In the survey of more than 1,000 adults across Great Britain – similar to one conducted at the same time in 2007 – respondents were asked whether they thought church schools were different to other types of state school. Of the majority (65%) feeling that Church of England schools are not exactly the same as local authority run state schools:

o Six in ten people (58 per cent) consider that church schools do not contribute to creating divisions in society;
o More than seven in ten people (72 per cent) say church schools give places to children of all backgrounds;
o Eight in ten people (79 per cent) believe that church schools provide a broad and balanced education, with less than one in three (32 per cent) holding that church schools offer students narrow religious teaching.

Many respondents acknowledged the benefits of the Christian ethos which underpins the work of Church of England schools. The survey showed that, of those who consider that church schools are not the same as others:

o 78 per cent agree that they promote good behaviour and positive attitudes;
o Eight in ten (79 per cent) agree that church schools help young people develop a sense of right and wrong;
o 75 per cent believe that church schools help young people grow into responsible members of society;
o 85 per cent agree they have a caring approach to pupils.

The results also highlight that the Church still needs to articulate more clearly how admissions policies operate, particularly in oversubscribed Voluntary Aided schools.

Almost half said they did not believe that “children from better off backgrounds are more likely to get in” to church schools (48 per cent of those who agreed church schools are somehow different), while 45 per cent do hold this view.

“ This finding indicates the challenge still facing the Church in communicating our national and diocesan guidance on admissions policies, which stress the importance of setting out simple, transparent criteria for allocating places in oversubscribed schools,” responds the Revd Jan Ainsworth, the Church of England’s Chief Education Officer.

“ The Church of England has consistently supported the ban on interviews or the seeking of other information about the family during the admissions process. Church attendance is the only measure our schools use when allocating places on the basis of faith, and churches are open to anyone, irrespective of background or income. However, governing bodies and the wider sector need to be crystal clear in the way that admissions policies are implemented and communicated.”

While some studies have reached conclusions about the socio-economic background of students in church schools based on specific areas or groups of schools, the Church’s own analysis** shows that, across all its schools (secondary and primary), the Church of England has an almost identical proportion of schools labelled as having ‘severe’ disadvantage (over 30% eligible for free school meals) as the rest of the state sector. The large proportion of Church of England primary school places in rural schools significantly skews some national statistics used to monitor social diversity of school populations.

“ Some seem to believe that the Christian ethos, which is so valued by parents, is like a sort of magic dust that is sprinkled on church schools simply by association. But it is, in fact, achieved through the hard work of staff and governors in building a learning community that is underpinned with Christian values. Clearly, a large number of church, as well as non-church, families are keen to send their children to such schools. We are not going to be forced to apologise for their popularity, or dilute their distinctive and inclusive values, by those who wish to covertly dismantle the foundations of church schools,” continues Jan Ainsworth.

“ Parents are choosing church schools. Rather than criticising popular schools, it is surely better to identify what makes them successful and try and replicate this in other schools. We are actively working on sharing the lessons that popular church schools can offer to other schools – both Church of England schools and others in the state-run sector – through the Government’s National Challenge programme and other initiatives.”

In October 2006, the Church of England committed to reserving at least 25 per cent of places in new Voluntary Aided schools for pupils from the local neighbourhood (i.e. not allocated on the basis of faith). Almost all church-sponsored academies have 100 per cent neighbourhood admissions. Voluntary Controlled schools, which represent around half of church schools, also have 100 per cent neighbourhood admissions. While Voluntary Aided schools are able to allocate places on the basis of faith, in practice the majority fill most of their places based on proximity to the school.

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Figures taken from ORB (Opinion Research Business) survey of 1,008 adults aged 18+, interviews for which were conducted by telephone on 1st and 2nd October 2008. Of those interviewed, 43% considered Church schools to be “fairly or completely” different to those run by local authorities, while a total of 65% considered them to be different in some way. All figures have been rounded to the nearest whole percentage and the data have been weighted according to the age, gender and socio-economic profile of GB.

Full question wording and results, visit the Church of England website: http://www.cofe.anglican.org/info/statistics/orb2008churchschools.pdf

* Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Article 2; “No person shall be denied the right to education. In the exercise of any functions which it assumes in relation to education and to teaching, the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure such education and teaching in conformity with their own religions and philosophical convictions.”
Available at: http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/009.htm

** Context and Performance at GCSE of Church of England Secondary Schools, Professor David Jesson, March 2006
Available at: http://www.natsoc.org.uk/downloads/ce2gcse06.doc