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School admissions has interested arbitrary constant for some time. In particular, it has been noted that admissions procedures involve both overt and covert selection and that this is to the detriment of those towards the lower ends of the socio-economic scale, and (of particular interest to me) pupils with Special Educational Needs.

Yesterday's late announcement that:

"significant" numbers of schools are flouting admissions laws

... should not come as a surprise. That faith and foundation schools are disproportionately included within this number of schools that flout admissions rules is especially not a surprise.

I have argued before that choice within the education system is the best way to achieve good education for all, but that this should be supported by ensuring the right policy conditions are in place. These include non-selective enrolment — perhaps even a system of random allocation — and some form of socioeconomic weighting in order to address the issue of cream-skimming. The government introduced a stronger set of rules governing admissions, which have already gone a long way to addressing the overt and covert selection that yesterday's reports highlighted. I do think, however, that random selection should continue to form part of this policy.

Tags — Politics