More Children In Scotland Refused Places In Parents’ School Of Choice

Almost 5,000 families have been refused permission to send children to their school of choice according to a report published yesterday. Figures released by the Scottish Executive revealed that 4,838 parents had placing requests refused in 2005-6, compared with 4,547 the year before.

In Scotland, parents can make placing requests, but the final say on where their child is educated rests with their local council.

The most common reason for refusal was that the school did not have enough space. However, one in three placing requests in 2005-6 was turned down because of staffing constraints despite the Executive’s drive to increase teacher numbers to 53,000.

Fiona Hyslop, the SNP’s education spokeswoman, said: “We’re meant to be seeing falling school rolls alongside an increase in teachers pledged by the Labour and Lib Dem government.

“In reality, it seems that staff shortages are to blame for this increase in refused placing requests.”

A spokesman for the Executive said teaching staff were being provided and it was up to councils to make sure they were in place.

He said: “We know we have the teachers – it’s for local authorities to explain why these placing requests have been refused.”

Overall, there were 30,240 applications to local authorities for school places outwith the child’s catchment area – a slight drop on the 2004-5 figure of 30,317.

For the first time, the figures also gave a breakdown of how many requests were made by parents seeking to send their children to schools outwith the local council area.

It revealed that Glasgow had the highest number, with nearly 1,100 parents seeking to send their pupils to schools in neighbouring authorities. A spokeswoman for Glasgow City Council said: “While the figure might seem high, it is only 2 per cent of Glasgow’s school-age population.”

Judith Gillespie, the development manager for the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, said the situation north of the Border was preferable to that in England.

She said: “There are always reasons why some people have to move to a different school, so it’s good to have a degree of flexibility in the system, but the bulk of children who go to their local school are quite content.

“What’s important is that the system of catchment areas in Scotland is better than the free-for-all that they have in England.

“In Scotland, parents have a guaranteed place at their local school, plus the option to ask to send their child elsewhere, which strikes the right balance.”

A spokesman for COSLA, the local authority umbrella body, said: “One of the advantages of the Scottish comprehensive education system is that local government and the Scottish Executive are working to achieve excellence in all schools, not just a selective elite.

“This means every parent should be able to send their children to an excellent, local school.”