15 June 2007
Pupils in faith primary schools do no better than children in secular state primaries once covert selection has been eliminated, research from the London School of Economics has found.
In their June 13 report, Faith primary schools: better schools or better pupils?, researchers Stephen Gibbons and Olmo Silva say: 'There is clear positive selection of pupils into faith schools on the basis of observable characteristics that are favourable to education…
'Once we control for these types of selection, our lowest estimates suggest that there is no difference between expected attainment in faith primary schools and expected attainment in any other school type.'
At best, pupils attending faith primary schools can expect just a 1% advantage over children attending non-faith primary schools – parental background and other advantages being held equal, the report found.
The research comes amid criticism that the government's policy to promote faith schools and other forms of autonomously governed 'trust' schools undermines social inclusion and community cohesion.
The researchers drew their conclusions from a study of the Department for Education and Skill's own database of more than 1 million primary-age children from more than 14,000 schools. It compared the attainment levels of faith and non-faith school pupils from similar socioeconomic backgrounds and postcodes between the ages of 7 and 11.
The data led the researchers to state: 'Any performance impact from “faith” schools in England seems to be closely linked to autonomous governance and admissions arrangements, and not to religious character.'
Along with other 'voluntary aided' schools that have control over their admissions arrangements, 'covert selection' by faith schools was carried out either by the schools themselves in selecting more able children, or by such schools being preferred by more affluent parents, the researchers said.
PFjun2007
