Research shows poorer children less likely to be accepted than richer peers, even when they live near same number of schools

Poor families have a smaller choice of primary schools than their better-off neighbours even when they all live near the same number of schools, research published next week will show.

Academics at Bristol University and London University’s Institute of Education analysed how a child’s postcode was linked to the number of primary schools that would admit them. Their study looked at where every five-year-old in England goes to school.

They found that poor and rich families live within two miles of 12 primary schools on average. The poorest fifth of pupils are likely to be accepted by four local primaries, on average, while the richest fifth are likely to be admitted to at least five. In towns and cities, the poorest pupils are likely to be accepted at only three local schools, while their richer peers stand a high chance of being admitted to more than four.

The findings come ahead of Sunday’s deadline for parents to submit applications for secondary school places, and before the chief schools adjudicator for England gives his verdict on how admissions are working, due on Monday.

The study – Parental Choice of Primary School in England: What types of school do different types of family really have available to them? – also reveals that the poorest families stand less chance of getting their children into the highest performing primary in their neighbourhood.

When the poorest parents list the top school as their first preference on the application form, they stand an 80% chance of getting their child accepted there. When the richest parents do so, they stand a 91% chance of getting their child admitted.

The research, which will be published on Bristol University’s Centre for Market and Public Organisation website, also found that the schools available to the poorest pupils had lower academic results than those available to the richest.

The academics found that at the poorest pupils’ schools 26% of pupils were on free school meals, while at the richest pupils’ schools 12% were. Previous studies have shown that the higher the proportion of pupils on free school meals a school has, the worse its results.

Anna Vignoles, professor of economics of education at London University’s Institute of Education and one of the main authors of the study, said well-off families located themselves close to top-performing schools.

“Schools tend to admit children based on how close they live to the school gates, and so this means many low socio-economic-status children are not getting the chance to go to high-performing schools,” she said.

“Our results suggest that preferences for schools do not vary greatly between different socio-economic groups. Rich and poor parents both prefer high-performing schools, but low socio-economic status parents have less access to the higher performing schools.”

Last month, academics at the Institute of Education, Sheffield Hallam University, and the London School of Economics called for the school admissions code to be tightened because there was “still much room for discretion” in the kind of information teachers could ask prospective parents.

The academics’ study reported: “It would be helpful if what is and is not acceptable were made more explicit.”

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