Parents in England feel ‘cynical, fatalistic and disempowered’ by school choice, research finds

New study challenges 30-year push to give parents more choice over where they send their children, reports Laurie Churchman

Choosing a school is seen as a ‘chore’ (PA Wire)

Parents given a choice over where their child goes to school have been left feeling “cynical, fatalistic and disempowered”, according to a new study.

It is a “chore” that raises families’ expectations and leaves them dissatisfied, the research found.

In England, parents can list a number of state schools they would like their children to attend.

But in Scotland, children are mostly assigned to the nearest one – and families are much happier with the results, the research found.

The study was carried out by the Social Market Foundation and combined an online survey with in-depth interviews.

Dr Aveek Bhattacharya, the independent think-tank’s chief economist, said: “While parents in England tend to say they have more choice than their Scottish counterparts, they are no more satisfied with the level of choice that they have.”

Three-quarters (75 per cent) of parents in England said they had enough choice. In Scotland, 76 per cent said the same, even though they are offered fewer options in the admissions process.

The paper, published in the Journal of Social Policy, notes there has been great emphasis on promoting choice in England, while “policymakers north of the border have tended to play it down”.

Dr Bhattacharya said the paper added to “growing evidence that school choice policies have failed to bring the benefits they were supposed to”.

The research draws on a survey of nearly 1,000 parents in both England and Scotland overall, as well as interviews with 57 families.

The survey found the desire for choice over schools is “almost universal”, with 99 per cent of English parents and 94 per cent of Scottish parents reporting it was at least somewhat important to them.

But the paper also notes in England, it is often seen as “a necessary evil in order to protect their child’s interests”.

Just over a third – 35 per cent – of parents in England said they had a “great deal” of choice over their child’s school, compared with 18 per cent of parents in Scotland.

But the paper found that “among English parents in particular, there was a widespread sense that choice is not meaningful or genuine because their applications may be rejected”, with many participants describing choice as an “illusion”.

“Understandably, the less likely families are to get into the school of their preference, the less meaningful they feel their choice is,” the paper says.

“Being invited to make a choice and then receiving something altogether different is a recipe for frustration and disempowerment.”

Some English parents described the system as a “gamble” or “lottery”.

In Scotland, there is an opt-out system for parents unhappy with their local school. They can make a “placing request” for another, which tends to be seen as enough, according to the study.

It adds the English system involves more uncertainty, with families facing a wait to learn the outcome of applications, whereas Scottish families generally know their child’s school place months or years in advance.