Almost a third (30%) of professional parents know someone who has
used ethically dubious tactics to get their children into a good
school, such as buying or renting a second home to use that
address, or using the address of a relative, according to new
Sutton Trust research published today.
One fifth (20%) of parents from the highest social group said
they knew someone who had bought or rented a second home in the
catchment area of a good school, compared to 6% of those in the
lowest social class. 16% of all parents said they knew someone
who had used a relative’s address. Both of these strategies are
potentially fraudulent.
Parent Power
2018 draws on a YouGov survey of 1017 parents of
school-age children and shows the extent to which parent power is
dependent on ability to pay. Respondents were asked questions
about how they choose schools, the strategies they undertake to
get into those schools, and the extra support they give their
children.
The most common tactics for getting into a good school cited by
parents included attending church services (31%) and appealing
against admissions decisions (29%). These were popular across all
social groups, potentially due to the lack of financial
implications.
However, there were substantial social gaps in the strategies
that cost money – moving house to the catchment area of a good
school, for example. Parents in the top social group were twice
as likely to say they knew someone who had moved to get into a
particular school (33% vs 15%) and almost four times as likely to
say they knew someone who had paid for private tuition (37% vs
10%) to pass an entrance test.
Parents were also asked about the reasons they considered when
they made their school choice. Local reputation (93%), meeting
the particular needs of the child (92%) and proximity to the home
(83%) were the most commonly cited reasons given by
parents.
There were also rising concerns among working class parents about
the hidden costs of a state school education: the cost of travel,
uniforms, and the recent trend of schools asking parents for
‘voluntary’ contributions. In fact half of state school parents
(49%) reported having been asked for an extra financial donation
to their school in the last year. Despite such payments being
voluntary, parents also felt under pressure to contribute, with
more than one in three parents (31%) saying they felt that there
would have been negative consequences for their child if they had
not paid.
Parents were also asked about the support they gave their child,
whether though extra-curricular activities, or academic help.
Across all social groups, the majority of parents do regularly
help with their child’s homework, with over 50% of parents in
every social class doing so more often than once a week. However,
those from higher social classes were more likely to help with
homework on a very regular basis.
There was a similar pattern for parents’ evening, with the
majority of parents from all social groups said that they always
attend parents’ evenings. However, when parents are not able to
help with homework, middle class parents turn to private tuition,
with professional parents five times more likely to have paid for
private tuition than working class parents (31% compared to 6%).
But when it came to extra-curricular activities like music
lessons, language classes, sports and performing arts clubs,
results varied considerably by social group. Just 45% of parents
in the lowest social group said that their child took part in
such activities, compared to almost twice as many (84%) of
parents in the highest social group. Money here was also clearly
a barrier, with those from less well-off homes were more likely
to take part in activities that didn’t need to be paid for.
Sir Peter Lampl, founder of the Sutton Trust and chairman
of the Education Endowment Foundation, said today:
“Parents from all backgrounds and walks of life want to do the
best for their children. Those with money, education and
confidence are more able to give their children the best possible
chance of succeeding.
“Middle class and professional parents gain an advantage for
their children at every turn. They do this by buying homes in the
catchment areas of good schools, paying for private tuition and
out of school extracurricular activities, and providing support
with post-18 educational choices.
“However, there are some practical measures that can be taken to
level the playing field, such as fairer school admissions and
providing tuition to those who can’t afford it.”
