We need fairer admissions and more good schools, including Academies

The Oli De Botton Schools Column

The row last week about pushy parents bending the rules to get their kids into good schools was instructive for progressives. It neatly highlighted two key problems that stand in the way of greater educational equality. First, we need a fairer admissions system that allows the least advantaged to get into the best schools. Second, we need to increase the supply of good schools, including Academies, and do so even if there is local opposition. And in truth, you can’t do one without the other.

At present, our admissions policies allow certain parents to play the system and give their children privileged access to the best provision. The 2006 OECD PISA study into education systems around the world estimated that 29% school children in the UK were admitted to their secondary school on account of their faith, their aptitude or a recommendation from their primary school.

More worryingly still, where schools are oversubscribed disputes are almost always settled by how close families live to the school. You know the rest. Richer parents buy (and rent and lie about renting) houses close to good schools, raising the property prices and keeping out poorer families. And since good schools lead to improved outcomes for all children, it is difficult to bridge the achievement gap when access is the preserve of those who can afford to live in a certain area. Whether you use a lottery to allocate places, as they have done in Brighton, or other systems, we need to tackle the unfairness of admissions that leads to unfairness in outcomes.

But reforming admissions is not enough. If we are really serious about improving achievement we need to be tougher on poor performance and be prepared to let good providers take over and replace failing schools. Indeed you can never get a perfect admissions system and we of course care about the performance of every school. Therefore we need more excellent schools, whoever provides them. If Academies, Trust Schools and others can get the job done, then we need to make that happen and spread their good practice around.

Some argue that Academies and now emerging school franchises which fragment the system or take power away from Local Authorities. But we need to understand them differently. They are a strategic tool to create more good schools in areas where there aren’t enough. And combined with a fairer admissions policy, these new schools can provide access for traditionally excluded groups.

Oli de Botton is a former assistant head teacher in London. This is the first of his weekly LabourList columns on education.