When parents find that all their local schools are oversubscribed, many start into a frantic series of late applications for others much farther afield. Photograph: iStock
When parents find that all their local schools are oversubscribed, many start into a frantic series of late applications for others much farther afield. It has a profound effect on children, too. They see their classmates excited about starting school, discussing school uniforms and attending open days, while they face the prospect of leaving their community for an education.The deep problems facing Britain will continue to dog LabourPlanning failures are at the root of the problem.
Schools, with few exceptions, don’t co-operate when it comes to admissions; they compete with each other. It results in overlapping applications to post-primary schools, leaving many unsure as to where they really are on waiting lists. Only when duplicate school offers are eliminated, and waiting lists are whittled down, is it clear if a child has a place or not. This can be as late as the start of a new school year.
There is a rich irony in that the Constitution protects the concept of parental choice when it comes to education. In reality, parents often don’t have any meaningful choice. They simply take what they can get