More schools opt for lotteries to allocate places

Jan 27 2008

Growing numbers of popular schools are using lotteries to allocate places to children, according to a survey released today.

But some parents are unhappy with the system, claiming it is not fair that chance should deprive their children of a place at their local school.

A survey by the BBC found schools allocating places by lottery in Hertfordshire, Milton Keynes, Northamptonshire, London and Derbyshire.

The decision by Brighton and Hove council last year to adopt a ballot as a tie-breaker for awarding places at oversubscribed schools provoked outrage from some parents.

Chris Murrell, head of St Albans Girls’ School, in Hertfordshire, told the BBC that random allocation of places was fairer.

She said: “There has been a large section of parents who have never had the opportunity to have a place for their child in a school like this.

“That has changed and that in itself is a good thing because it all depended in the past on where you lived. That can’t be fair.”

But local parent Jackie Bell said the idea of her daughter’s future being decided by lottery “just breaks my heart”.

She did not win a place at her chosen school through the ballot but succeeded after an appeal.

The survey of local authorities across England found seven schools in Hertfordshire using lotteries to allocate places, four schools in Northamptonshire, another four in London and individual schools in Milton Keynes and Derbyshire.

Over-subscribed schools typically use catchment areas and allocate places to families living closest.

But many of the best state schools in affluent suburbs have become largely the preserve of families who can afford to buy expensive homes nearby.

The Government’s new school admissions code recommends lotteries as one way to stop middle-class parents buying their way into the most popular secondaries, giving poorer families a fair chance.

The school admissions watchdog has also backed the use of lotteries.

Chief schools adjudicator Philip Hunter acknowledged that lotteries were likely to be “deeply unpopular” with articulate parents.

But councils must act to prevent the most sought-after schools selecting pupils from wealthier backgrounds who are “easier to teach”, he said.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Children said: “It is down to councils and schools, not ministers, to choose the most appropriate arrangements for their area.

“Random allocation is not new.

“It has always been an option schools could use to allocate places at oversubscribed schools, taking into account parental demand and local circumstances.

“Parents and any other interested parties can appeal to the independent adjudicator if they have objections to the use of any admission criteria.”

Shadow Children’s Secretary Michael Gove said: “Lotteries are being introduced because there simply aren’t enough good school places.

“Instead of rationing access to good schools through the process which denies parental choice and makes our children’s future a gamble, we should be developing policies that give every parent the chance to see their children in a school they want.”