Parents' Experiences of the Process of Choosing a Secondary School

Parents in Shire authorities were more likely than parents in other LEA types to express a
preference for their local school. A common-sense explanation suggests this relates to the
greater distances between schools in Shire LEAs making the choice of an alternative school
less realistic, especially since travel convenience and nearness to home are key factors in
parental preference. However, the explanation may be more complex than this because the
population density of different Shire authorities varies considerably and, for example, some
have extensive urban developments within their boundaries or are close to urban centres of
population in other LEAs.
8. The application process
The report examined the information given to parents and several features of the
application process to see what variation existed across the country and whether or not this
had any impact on parental satisfaction with the process.
An analysis of LEA composite prospectuses was carried out and one finding to emerge was
that the majority of LEA prospectuses do not make clear the consequences of not
expressing a preference for school(s). All prospectuses make the point that a parent must
express a preference in order for it to be considered but many are not explicit about what
the consequences are likely to be if a preference is not expressed.
The number of forms that parents have to complete to apply for a school place varies from
one LEA to another: around one-third of LEAs require parents to complete just one form to
apply for community schools and voluntary controlled admission authorities and separate
forms for other schools; one-third allow parents to use one common form for all admission
authorities, and just over a third of LEAs expect parents to complete a common form to the
LEA but to apply direct to other admission authorities. At one extreme a parent can
complete just one form to apply for all types of school in an LEA and also schools in
another LEA. At the other extreme a parent may have to complete a form for each school
applied for within an LEA and separate LEA forms for any schools applied for outside the
LEA. Over 60% of LEAs use common dates for applications and decisions about
admission.
Two-thirds of parents applied to a single admission authority and 9 out of 10 completed an
application form provided by their own LEA. Two-thirds of parents reported that they were
asked by their LEA to list their preference for school in rank order on their application
form. Around 10% of parents reported that their children had been interviewed by at least
one of the schools that they had applied to and 9% of parents reported that a test formed
part of the application process for one of the schools to which they applied. With regard to
the reports of being interviewed it seems most likely that this refers to those parents who
apply for a place at a denominational school where participation in Church activities and
religious commitment is one of the criteria for admission. Thus, whilst children cannot be
admitted or refused entrance to a school on the basis of an interview it can be used for
eliciting information about an application to a denominational school. The reported
incidence of testing may refer to the use of tests by selective schools or it may be that some
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