Schools flouting the law

Huddersfield Daily Examiner (Huddersfield, England), Jan 18, 2008

SOME schools are flouting new laws designed to give all parents a fair chance of winning places for their children, ministers warned.

Official complaints over admissions suggest some families are still falling victim to unfair discrimination by schools and councils, the Government says.

Schools minister Jim Knight said he was "very concerned" that headteachers were breaking the legallybinding admissions code, introduced a year ago to end so-called "covert" selection.

The new code bans schools from interviewing children or parents, or asking for extra information designed to weed out pupils from poorer homes who may be more difficult to teach.

Speaking as new rules on admission appeals came in, Mr Knight said: "The vast majority of schools have adhered to the mandatory school admissions code.

"But I amvery concerned that formal complaints and other anecdotal evidence suggest that some local authorities and schools are not complying with the law."