Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the selection processes used by faith schools on academic attainment in those schools.

Faith schools are amongst some of the highest performing in this country and are more likely to be rated good or outstanding by Ofsted as compared to non-faith schools. The department does not routinely collect information about individual schools’ admission arrangements. Schools designated with a religious character can choose to give priority to children on the basis of their faith, where the school is oversubscribed. It is though for the admission authority of the school to decide whether or not to prioritise some or all of their places on the basis of faith within their oversubscription criteria.

On 9^th September the Prime Minister announced that we will remove the 50 per cent cap on new faith free schools and consult on a new set of much more effective requirements to ensure that new faith free schools are properly inclusive. The consultation document, 'Schools that work for everyone', is available at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/school-frameworks/schools-that-work-for-everyone