Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to ensure that children within the catchment area of a school with 100 per cent religious intake are not disadvantaged in the choice of schools available to them.

The government is committed to offering parents and children a diverse education system consisting of a wide variety of schools, and this includes faith schools.

Parents are able to express a preference for at least 3 schools they would like their child to attend and, subject to very limited exceptions, local authorities and school admission authorities must comply with that preference. However, where a school receives more applications than it has places available, places must be allocated in accordance with the school’s published oversubscription criteria.

It is for the admission authority of individual schools to decide which oversubscription criteria are most suitable for their school, according to the local circumstances.

Admission authorities of schools with a religious designation can choose to adopt faith-based oversubscription criteria. However, some faith schools choose to only allocate a proportion of their places with reference to faith, and some do not apply any faith criteria at all. Where a faith school has places available, it must admit all applicants, without reference to faith.

Anyone who believes that a school’s admission arrangements are unfair or unlawful may make an objection the Schools Adjudicator.