Faith schools again found to ethnically and socio-economically segregate

A new investigation into the changing pattern of segregation in England’s state funded school system has found that faith schools continue to be a major source of socio-economic and ethnic division. Due to the overall levels of division discovered at schools the study has called for government agencies, individual schools and school sponsors – including faith groups – to take action to combat segregation.

The report ‘Understanding School Segregation in England: 2011 to 2016‘, which has been published today, was produced by integration charity The Challenge, community cohesion research body the iCoCo foundation, and the education data analyst website SchoolDash. The report’s statistical analysis comparing the profile of schools with their local area finds that:

• ‘Across all schools in 2016, 26% of primary schools and 40.6% of secondary schools were found to be ethnically segregated or potentially contributing to segregation by our measure;’ (p13)
• ‘29.6% of primary schools and 27.6% of secondary schools were found to be segregated by socio-economic status, using FSM [children’s free school meal] eligibility as a proxy’ (p13)
• ‘Faith schools at primary are more ethnically segregated than schools of no faith (28.8% of faith schools compared with 24.5% of those of no faith) when compared with neighbouring schools. This is particularly pronounced for Roman Catholic schools’ (p15)
• ‘At primary level, faith schools are more likely to cater to more advantaged students, with 4.4% of faith schools having a high FSM intake compared with nearby schools, versus 11.4% for non-faith. This is particularly pronounced for Roman Catholic schools … The relationship at secondary level is similar but not as strong’ (p16)

Chair of the Accord Coalition Inclusive Education said ‘Society needs to urgently challenge the prevailing culture that says it is ‘okay’ for state funded schools to be seen as belonging to and serving certain groups. Achieving this must include changing how faith schools currently select their pupils. This is because faith schools comprise a third of state funded schools in England, and as religious selection of children has yet again be found to be ethnically and socio-economically divisive. Otherwise we risk only compounding disadvantage and leaving a legacy of fragmentation and division for future generations.’

The report recommends that action to combat segregation be taken, including that:

• ‘… the Government should set a clear direction to reduce the growth of school segregation and to reduce segregation wherever it is at a high level and encourage all agencies to act accordingly’
• ‘Local Government, faith authorities, academy chains, and individual schools should review practice, not only in relation to individual schools but also to consider the impact upon neighbouring schools
• ‘School Governors should publish a clear commitment to this end and be required to publish details of their intake, comparing trends over time and taking responsibility for them.’