Schools: Admissions

Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton Excerpts

Tuesday 21st October 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Nash]

We have. The current rate is that 87% of parents get their children into the school of their first choice and 96% get them into their top three. As I said, we are intent on making sure that every school is as good as it can be.

[Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (Lab)]

My Lords, would the Minister care to comment on his repeated use of the term “better schools” and his comparing of schools—for example, his remark this afternoon about church schools by and large being better? My experience of church schools is that they want to be as good; they do not see education as a competition. But surely if schools are assessed by parents on the basis of Ofsted reports, among other things, those reports ought to be conducted on equal terms for all schools, with no warnings being given favourably to some.

[Lord Nash]

The noble Baroness and I probably disagree in principle on the concept of competition, but we are aiming for all schools to be as good as possible. Ofsted now gives minimum notice to all schools. It is quite clear that Ofsted conducted a thorough investigation relating to recently reported events. Its findings were very clear and it made a statement on that last night.