School’s admissions ‘unfair’

AN independent watchdog has ordered Crompton House to change its admissions policy.

Schools adjudicator David Taylor said the points system used by the Church of England school if it is oversubscribed is not procedurally fair or equitable for all groups of children.

His ruling comes after Oldham Council complained that the arrangements were not clear, objective or easily understood.

Officers told the Office of the Schools Adjudicator that the points system was over-complicated and open to misrepresentation.

They added that assessing Christian commitment by asking clergy to award points for the involvement of children, their parents and grandparents in church activities such as social events, bible study or drama groups was discriminatory because not all churches ran such events.

Crompton House is one of Oldham’s top performing secondaries and as a voluntary-aided school its governors are responsible for the admissions policy.

Heavily oversubscribed, it receives more than 780 applications for 195 places and 45 parents appealed this year after their children were turned down. No formal complaints were made to the council’s admissions officers but they are aware that many parents regard the arrangements as unfair.

The school revised its admissions policy in 2007 but did not address issues which the local authority said did not comply with legislation.

Mr Taylor said there was a considerable delay in the school’s response to the objection — which came as it was searching for a new head teacher following the departure of Victoria Musgrave.

He said governing bodies must not make subjective decisions or use subjective criteria and added: “A child’s success or failure to secure a place could in principle hinge on whether a parent, grandparent or guardian has attended social events at the church.

“I find the onus on clergy to make these fine-meshed assessments equitably is excessive, and further doubt whether ticking a set of activities (which in some cases are certainly vague and undefined) is a reliable way of assessing Christian commitment.”

Crompton House must remove part of its policy for 2009 and review its arrangements for 2010.

A Government survey published in April claimed that the majority of faith schools were breaking the law on admissions.

Councillor Kay Knox, cabinet member for children, young people and families, said: “Oldham Council has a duty to ensure that all school admissions policies are fair and comply with the School Admissions Code 2007. When the local authority feels that a school is acting against the code it must notify the school adjudicator.”

Chairman of governors Leon Ashton said the admissions committee would assess the decision at its next meeting. A spokesman for Manchester Diocese said it would offer guidance.