Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of pupils whose choice of school is limited to a faith school; and what steps he will take to ensure pupils have access to a non-faith school.

Faith schools have played a longstanding and important role in our education system. Faith schools are popular with parents, with many being high performing and are more likely to be rated good or outstanding by Ofsted than non-faith schools.

The Department has not made an estimate of the number of pupils whose choice of school is limited to a faith school.

Parents are able to express a preference as to the school they would like their child to attend and, subject to very limited exceptions, local authorities and school admission authorities must comply with that preference.

The vast majority of parents are offered a place at a school of their choice. In 2021, 98% of parents received an offer from one of their top 3 choices of primary school, while 93.4% received an offer from one of their top 3 choices of secondary school.