Posted on Monday 18th Apr 2016
The poorest people are losing out on places at the best primary schools in England, research suggests on the day parents receive news of allocations.
The least wealthy families have less than half the chance of the wealthiest of sending a child to a top-rated school, analysis from Teach First says.
The teacher training group adds poorer families' children are four times more likely to be at weaker schools.
The government says many more pupils are now in good or outstanding schools.
The claim comes as councils say they will need 336,000 more school places by 2024.
And as the crunch in primary school provision intensifies, council leaders in some areas say the scramble for places at good schools is even more acute.
In Milton Keynes, where there are twice as many pupils going into reception as will be leaving sixth form, council leader Peter Marland says his officials are working hard to keep pace with demand.
It is one of the biggest areas for house building in England, so schools are being built to cater for the occupants of new housing.
But, he says, these schools are fast being filled up by children already living in the city, who cannot get a place nearer their homes.
Cllr Marland says not only are more children travelling further to take up school places, but those from less affluent backgrounds are at a disadvantage in an increasingly complex admissions system.
He says: "Unless schools, or someone, steps into coaching the poorest families on admissions, then it's those from affluent backgrounds that will get the good places."
Teach First analysed data on Ofsted rankings for all schools in England and mapped it against the areas with the poorest children living in them.
The report explains that schools serving poorer communities are less likely to be rated good or outstanding as they face more challenges because of the nature of their pupils.
This means that families from such areas can find it difficult to get places in highly-rated schools.
Teach First suggests recruiting more highly qualified teachers and school leaders in these areas could be a solution.
Can't find what you are looking for?
Don't worry, please call us anyway to discuss your ideal job.
Latest News
11/04/25Leave school phone bans to head teachers, children's commissioner says
Banning phones in schools should be a decision for head teachers and not "imposed nationally by the government", England's children's commissioner has said.
24/03/25Ex-Ofsted boss says education secretary wants 'to please unions'
The former head of Ofsted, Amanda Spielman, has criticised the education secretary and accused her of giving "a great deal of time and attention" to the teaching unions. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Ms Spielman claims "effective reforms are being reversed" - referring to potential changes to academy schools' powers.
20/03/25Childcare costs fall for the first time in 15 years – but nurseries are worried
Annual nursery costs for a child under two in England have fallen for the first time in 15 years, according to the children's charity Coram. It comes as the government continues to roll out its funded childcare scheme, which will provide all eligible working parents of pre-school children, not only three and four-year-olds as currently, with 30 hours of childcare per week from September. However, some nurseries and childminders say they may have to drop out of the scheme as government funding struggles to meet rising costs, including National Insurance increases from April.
17/03/25Poorest children missing more school and further behind after Covid
The poorest children are missing more school and falling further behind classmates, research shared with the BBC suggests. According to new analysis by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) - which looked at pupil performance after the Covid-19 pandemic - children from the lowest income families are now up to 19 months behind peers by the time they are 16 years old.
13/03/25The government faces a "now or never moment" to hit its target of recruiting 6,500 new teachers in England
The government faces a "now or never moment" to hit its target of recruiting 6,500 new teachers in England by the end of its term, a new report has suggested. Analysis by the National Foundation of Educational Research (NFER) says unfilled vacancies are at a record high and recruitment into teacher training remains "persistently low." All but five secondary subjects missed this year's recruitment targets for new trainee teachers, which are set by the Department for Education (DfE).
News Archive