Over-subscribed schools

This section examines parents’ experiences of applying to over-subscribed schools and considers the implications of their experiences for fair admissions. When asked whether any of the schools they had actively considered applying to were over-subscribed, just under half of parents (44%) said that at least one was while a further 12% said that they didn’t know. Of those who said they did actively consider over-subscribed schools, 25% said the oversubscription criteria influenced their choice of which schools to apply to and 85% actually applied to a school that was over-subscribed. Of all the parents who completed an application form, 38% applied to at least one school that they reported to be over-subscribed. When applying to an over-subscribed school, it is important for parents to know the chances of their child being offered a place as this will affect the other schools that parents express a preference for. The majority of parents found out about the oversubscription criteria from an official source – the secondary school that was over-subscribed, the local authority or the child’s primary school. A minority relied on word of mouth and general knowledge about schools.

Table 3.27: Where parents found out about oversubscription criteria

Column % Where parents accessed oversubscription criteria

The secondary school that was over-subscribed (including prospectus, website)

41

The local authority booklet 31

Talking to other parents, friends or neighbours 17

Child’s primary school 14

Talking to someone else 3

General knowledge 3

Other 2

Unweighted N 265

Base: Respondents whose choice of schools was influenced by the oversubscription criteria. Note: Percentages sum to more than 100 because multiple responses were allowed.

Of those who accessed the oversubscription criteria, the majority of parents found them useful to helping them choose which schools to apply to but one-fifth thought they were of little or no use. This may be because of the complexity of oversubscription criteria in some admission authorities or because the criteria do not provide certainty about whether or not a child will be offered a place.

Table 3.28: Usefulness of over-subscription criteria in helping parents choose which schools to apply to

Row %

Very useful Fairly

useful

Little or no use

Unwt N

Oversubscription criteria 36 42 20 265

Base: Parents who used oversubscription criteria to help them find out about schools. The 6 respondents who replied ‘don’t know’ are included in the base.

Based on parents’ reports of oversubscription49, a third listed an over-subscribed school as their first preference. Of the other schools, between 15% and 20% were over-subscribed. This shows that over-subscribed schools were more likely to be parents’ first choice than to be listed as a ‘back-up’ school.

49

Although the over-subscription status of all schools was collected for Strand 1, it is not possible to compare parent report with the administrative data because the over-subscription status was unknown for over 40% of schools within each preference category.

Table 3.29: Proportion of parents whose preferred schools were over-subscribed (according to parent report)

Row % Unwt N 1st preference school 32 2189 2nd preference school 19 1487 3rd preference school 15 902 4th preference school 19 164 5th preference school 18 76

Applied for at least one over- subscribed school

38 2190

Base: Respondents who completed an application form.

Note that one respondent did not know how many schools they applied for and is excluded from this table.

Fewer than 50 respondents applied to 6, 7 or 8 schools and are not included in the table.

Parents who applied to an over-subscribed school were asked which factors they expected the schools to take into account in allocating places. The most frequently cited reasons were living within the catchment area and sibling attendance at the school. The importance of the location of the family’s home in relation to the school is clearly evident in the mentions of catchment and proximity in this list. Table 3.30: Factors that parents expected over-subscribed schools to take into account

Oversubscription criteria parents expected schools to take into account

Column % Catchment related 57 Sibling related 43 Proximity related 23 Faith related 20 Feeder related 13 First preference 8 Medical/social 6

Children of associated adults 1

Other (including child ability) 26

Unweighted N 856

Base: Parents who applied to an over-subscribed school.

Note: The number of times criteria were mentioned sum to more than the base because multiple responses were allowed.

Under the 2007 School Admissions Code, schools will not be permitted to take into account performance in primary school, whether the school was listed as first preference or whether a parent teaches at the school.

Of the parents who reported that their first preference school was over-subscribed, 76% thought their child met the oversubscription criteria and 8% didn’t know. This

shows that a quarter of parents felt that there was some risk that they would not be awarded their first preference school. The proportion of parents stating that they met the oversubscription criteria declined with each additional over-subscribed school applied for (55% for the second school and 38% for the third school). This shows that there was a strong correlation between the order of preference and parents’ perceptions of how likely the application was to be successful.

Logistic regression analysis was undertaken to identify what characteristics were independently associated with listing as first preference a school that they reported to be over-subscribed. Five variables were found to be significant:

• Household income: parents with higher incomes were much more likely to apply to over-subscribed schools.

• The level of educational qualifications of the mother: mothers who had education qualifications were more likely to apply to over-subscribed schools. Mothers who had qualifications at level 4 or higher (degree level) were four times as likely to apply to such schools as those who had no qualifications and twice as likely as those whose highest qualification was at Level 2.

• Active practising of religion: parents who actively practised religion were more likely to apply to an over-subscribed school.

• Child’s special needs: parents of children who had special needs were less likely than other parents to apply for over-subscribed schools.

• Taking action to maximise their child’s chances: parents who took special action such as coaching their child or arranging extra tuition were more likely to apply for a first preference school that was over-subscribed.

Table 3.31: Factors associated with listing as first preference a school that was over-subscribed

Listed as first preference a school that was over- subscribed N Odds ratio 95% confidence interval Household income (p<0.001) £0-£9,999 119 1.0 £10,000-£24,999 923 2.5* 1.4 -4.4 £25,000-£39,000 344 3.5* 2.1 -5.9 £40,000-£59,999 140 2.5* 1.3 -4.7 £60,000+ 68 4.7* 2 -10.9

Highest qualification of mother (p<0.001)

No qualifications 270 1.0

NVQ level 1 or 2 or equivalent 685 2.2* 1.4 -3.5

NVQ level 3 or equivalent 290 3.8* 2.1 -6.8

NVQ level 4 or equivalent 349 4.2* 2.9 -6.1

Parent actively practising religion (p<0.001)

No 1060 1.0

Yes 534 1.6* 1.1 -2.2

Child has special needs (p<0.001)

No 1365 1.0

Yes 229 0.5* 0.4 -0.7

Took actions to maximise child’s chances (p<0.05)

No 1250 1.0

Yes 344 1.6* 1.1 -2.3

Unweighted N 1594

Base: Respondents who applied for schools on the common application form. Base includes only those cases that have values for all variables in the model.

*these odds ratios denote the individual categories that were significantly associated with the outcome variable at the 95% confidence level. If an odds ratio is significant, a value greater than one indicates higher likelihood of the outcome variable occurring for that category compared to the reference category, and odds lower than one indicate lower likelihood.

3.3.10 Summary

The findings in this section show that making an application was fairly straightforward for most parents while a minority experienced significant elements of complexity or risk.

The application form itself was felt to be easy to complete in its paper form. Although internet options were available in some areas and were felt to be acceptable there, they were not yet a large part of the process.

The process of choosing schools also appeared to be straightforward for the majority of parents. Most used fewer than the three or more preferences available to them because they were confident of getting a school of their choice. Indeed, most parents stated that none of the schools they applied for were over- subscribed. Where oversubscription applied, parents generally felt able to access the information that they needed about the oversubscription criteria, usually from the school itself or the local authority. Many of those who noted that their first preference school was over-subscribed were nonetheless confident of a successful application because they believed that they met the oversubscription criteria.

The application process was more complex for parents who applied to a school outside their local authority (one-in-ten parents did this). These parents tended to include a larger number of schools on their list of preferences and were more likely to apply to schools that were over-subscribed. Many of them lived in London, where competition for places was stronger than average, as in 2000.

Another area of complexity was special admissions arrangements such as formal meetings, supplementary information and tests. The most commonly required supplementary information was the proof of religious affiliation that was requested by faith schools (for which 20% of parents expressed their first preference). Parents who applied to a school that had special admissions requirements were more likely to be applying to a Voluntary Aided school or Academy, to live in London and to have taken special action in furtherance of their child’s application. These sorts of special actions are considered in the next section which explores how parents made their choices.