Comprehensives are more socially exclusive than Grammars

[Dad40]

Apparently.....

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_a ... 094925.ece

[Rugbymum]

I can believe that - I have a friend whose children go to one of the best comps in Solihull and apparently, the vast majority if not all of the children come from a very comfortable background. This is reflected in Solihull's high house prices.

The same goes for other areas (e.g Harpenden in Herts).

It seems that money is one of the best ways of securing a good education - by buying a house in a good catchment area or paying for private schooling/tutoring.

[magwich2]

Some schools more socially exclusive than others?

Good.

[wonderwoman]

not socially exclusive here - just very rural

[pheasantchick]

I've had first-hand experience of education in Harpenden. Nearly all pupils come from good homes, and people from neighbouring towns and villages (Luton, dunstable etc) try to send their children there.

[Daogroupie]

I prefer the headline in the Telegraph ""Grammar Schools better for poor people"" It is definitely much more expensive to buy a house to get into a good school than to work hard with your dc to get a grammar school place. I have friends who teach in Harpenden who tell me how none of the teachers can afford to live there and have to live in Luton and Dunstable. When there is fog on the motorway a lot of teachers are late because they live in Luton but all the children are there because of course they all live locally. There are also lots of jokes about the number of posh cars in Harpenden because nobody has to spend money on education. If the selective schools can continue to crack down on those who buy their way in by renting in the catchment areas then the selective schools will continue to be more open than the highly priced catchment areas of the top comps. I thought the comment about PE and school uniform and school trips all pricing out those on lower incomes was interesting. I had not heard that before. It is of course very ironic that comps brought in to even the social divide have instead made it worse.

[sherry_d]

The report, Worlds Apart — social variation among schools, by Professor Alan Smithers and Pamela Robinson, of the University of Buckingham, recommended a lottery or ballot to make admissions fairer.

Gosh lottery or ballot. I am not sure of that either. I guess there will never be a perfect system to make everyone happy

[bromley mum]

Mods: Could we please merge this with the post under "Everything else" as both are discussing the same thing and it would be nicer to have both discussions in the same place. Thank you

[Daogroupie]

Can you imagine trying to explain to your Year 6 dd that all their friends got in and they didnt and it was all down to pure chance, My dd's would definitely be able to cope better with not getting in because of not doing well enough in an exam rather than not having their name picked out in a lottery

[bromley mum]

Mine are opposite.They would be able to cope with the fact that their name was not the one picked out of the hat but they would be devastated if they missed out (especially if it was by a mark or two) after putting in all the hard work. This just goes to prove that there is no right or wrong answer to this question. Parents will do what they can and how they can to get their DC into good schools. In a perfect world the government should be able to bring up the failing schools up to an acceptable standard.But this is a complex issue and needs all involved parties (parents, government, teachers) working together. Till that happens those who can afford to go private will do so, those who can afford to buy a house to get into a good school will do so and those who can put in the work or pay s tutor to do so to get their DC into a grammar will do so. And who can blame them.