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Families in the most affluent areas are twice as
likely as those in the poorest to secure their top choice of
school through the appeals and waiting lists system.
-
Families from some ethnic minority groups are more
likely to miss out on their top choice compared to White
British families.
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Around 86,000 families in England were not offered
their first choice school. Of these, around 1 in 7 (13,000)
successfully appealed or used waiting lists to secure their
top choice.
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Government should deliver on its promise to review
school admissions. Failure to reform may entrench inequality
in the school system.
New research from the Education Policy Institute (EPI)
examines the school appeals and waiting lists system in England.
Drawing on newly available parental preferences data, and an
overall dataset of over half a million pupils, the study examines
how parents use these routes to secure a school place for their
child.
The report is the first, detailed, analysis of the
secondary school appeals and waiting lists
system. Up until now, little has been known about
the routes parents take if not initially offered their first
choice of school.
The schools that pupils attend have an impact on their life
chances. Ensuring that there is fair access to school places in
all parts of the country is crucial if the government’s objective
of improving social mobility is to be met.
Key findings
How many families use school appeals and waiting
lists?
Thousands of parents in England appeal or use waiting lists each
year in order to access their preferred school:
- Out of the half a million (545,000) total school offers in
2016/17, around 459,000 (84 per cent) of these were
offers to parents for their top choice of school.
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Around 86,000 offers were made to parents that were not
their first choice of school.
-
Of those families that
were not offered their top choice of
school:
- 1 in 7 (13,000)
families successfully appealed or used waiting
lists to secure
their top choice of school
- 1 in 5 families (16,000) were
successful in using these routes
to secure any school that was
higher on their list than the one they were
originally offered.
Which groups are more successful at using the
school appeals and waiting lists system?
The likelihood of getting into a first choice school through the
appeals and waiting lists system varies considerably by family
background, ethnicity, and pupil attainment at primary school:
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For pupils in the least deprived areas, the odds of
securing a first choice school through the appeals and waiting
lists system are twice as high as those living in the most
deprived areas.
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Black and Asian pupils are less likely to get a place
in their top choice of school through the appeals and waiting
lists system than White British and Chinese
pupils. Just 10 per cent of Black pupils and 12
per cent of Asian pupils get their first choice through this
route, compared to 21 per cent of White British pupils and 17
per cent of Chinese pupils.
-
Disadvantaged pupils (those eligible for the Pupil
Premium) are also more likely to miss out on their first choice
through appeals and waiting lists,compared to
non-disadvantaged pupils (13 vs 18 per cent).
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Those with low attainment at the end of
primary are less likely to access their first
choice of secondary school after using these routes than those
with high attainment (15 vs 23 per cent).
-
Even after controlling for factors such as a family’s
location, poorer families and those from ethnic minority
backgrounds are still less likely to secure their top choice of
school through the appeals and waiting list
system.
Characteristics of schools secured through
appeals and waiting lists
The appeals and waiting lists system is a route for accessing
schools with higher Ofsted ratings, and socially advantaged
intakes:
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Around 95 per cent of those who successfully use the
school appeals system to secure their first choice get into a
good or outstanding school. This more than halves
(to 42 per cent) for parents who are offered a school that is
not on their preference list at all. This highlights the risk
for parents of not using all their preferences, as they are
more likely to receive a school place with a poor Ofsted
rating.
-
First choice schools secured by parents through the
appeals and waiting lists system are much more socially
selective than other schools. These schools have
fewer pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds than the average
school initially offered (10 per cent compared to 18 per cent),
and are also much less deprived than their local areas.
Does applying for fewer schools boost parents’
chances?
The number of schools parents apply to may have an impact on the
school they are offered. Parents are better off applying
for more schools, rather than fewer schools,
as has often been suggested:
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Parents who omit slots on their school applications
form could be more at risk of ending up with a school place
they are not happy with. Those who miss out a slot when
applying for schools end up being more likely to resort to
appeals and waiting lists, compared to those that fill
out all of their slots.
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Overall, nearly three-quarters of parents in
England do not fill in the maximum number of
schools available to them.
Policy recommendations
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The government should deliver on its promise to review
the school admissions system, which should include a
detailed evaluation of how school appeals and waiting lists are
used. If it wishes to address inequalities in school access,
and reduce socio-economic gaps, then such a review is
imperative.
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Parents should have better information to navigate the
admissions and appeals process. All families have
the right to use the appeals and waiting lists system, though
it is unclear whether all parents are aware of this. Parents
should also be encouraged to use all their available
preferences when applying to schools.
-
Support should be in place to ensure a level playing
field for parents when appealing for a school
place: the requirement to produce a written
statement may be a barrier to some parents.
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Commenting on the new research, report author and Senior
Researcher at the Education Policy Institute, Emily Hunt,
said:
“This research shows that the school appeals and waiting lists
system in England is reinforcing inequalities in education, with
more deprived families and those from some ethnic minority
backgrounds less likely to get into their preferred schools.
“If you are a family from the very poorest neighbourhood, then
your odds of securing your top choice of school by appealing or
using waiting lists is half that of a family from the most
affluent neighbourhood. This is particularly concerning as
parents use these routes to access schools with higher Ofsted
ratings, and these schools also have socially advantaged intakes.
“It is clear from our research that the current appeals and
waiting lists system is not consistent with the government’s aim
of an education system that prioritises the most disadvantaged.
The government should deliver on its recent promise to review the
schools admissions system, or risk damaging social mobility."
Rt. Hon , Executive Chairman of the
Education Policy Institute, said:
“The appeals and waiting list system should be giving poorer
children a fair chance of getting into the best schools – but
this research shows that it is failing to deliver equal access. A
review of the schools admissions system is urgently needed.”
Notes to editors
- The Education Policy Institute (EPI) is an independent,
impartial, and evidence-based research institute that promotes
high quality education outcomes, regardless of social background.
We achieve this through data-led analysis, innovative research
and high-profile events. Find out more about our work
here: https://epi.org.uk/
- This report follows the September 2018 EPI
publication, Secondary school choice in
England, which examined how parents initially
choose secondary schools and whether this varies for different
groups of parents in different parts of the
country: https://epi.org.uk/publications-and-research/secondary-school-choice-in-england/
