Unfair School Admission Policies Creates Selective and Discriminatory Access to Central Bristol Schools – St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School, Colston’s Girls’ School and Bristol Cathedral Choir School

Playing the middle class School Admissions Game has been going on for years. But what if it didn’t matter how close you lived to your local Ofsted outstanding school? That’s exactly what happens in Central Bristol. There are four Ofsted Outstanding secondary schools in Central Bristol. All but one has created an admission policy which keeps out local children and selects through the back door.

Getting a place at a Central Bristol school is literally a lottery or a matter of faith. And this is an incredibly unfair way of allocating school places. Central Bristol houses some of the most deprived areas and lowest income families in the entire city. With the abolition of catchment areas and the setting of admission policies, this not only affects the poorer and less aspirational families but is a future echo of what might be once all schools become academies and may set their own entrance criteria

These are the Schools closest to the central BS1 & BS2 areas of Bristol

Bristol Cathedral Choir School – Ofsted Outstanding

Former private school now academy
Ward – Cabot (Central BS1)
Admission number 2016: 120
September 2015 on time applications – 785
September 2015 Allocations:
9 SEN
3 Looked After Children
8 Probationer Choristers
12 Music specialists
43 Siblings,
1 Medical and Social
3 Children of staff
41 Random Allocation

Admission policy
With BCCS named on an EHC plan
Looked after or previously previously looked after’ children
8 places to cathedral choristers
10 per cent as part of the ‘music specialism’
siblings which would be full, half, adopted or a step brother or sister
One place allocated on a medical or social need
Children of the employees of Bristol Cathedral Choir School working 28 hours or more per week for two or more years
Finally, a random allocation will take place to children living in Bristol postcodes – more details on the website.
Random Allocations are made using a mathematical formula with names not identifiable during this process.

How does it discriminate against local people?
Entry is done through a lottery system. There is every chance a family could live opposite the school yet not get a place and have to bus miles away to the next under subscribed school.

Savvy and pushy parents could also take advantage of the chorister and music specialism

St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School – Ofsted Outstanding
State school
Ward – Lawrence Hill (Central BS1)
Admission number 2016: 216
September 2015 on time applications – 628
September 2015 Allocations:
7 SEN
3 Other Faith
16 Local children
8 Children in Care
182 Christian

Admission policy
Children with an Education, Health and Care Plans) where the school has been named
Looked After Children or previously Looked After Children and must meet the church attendance conditions
196 places allocated to children who attend church in attendance priority where children who attend more than three times a month for three years being given top priority
Other Looked After Children or Previously Looked After Children without church attendance
16 places to children who live within 500 metres of the school
Up to 4 places for children who are Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism
Other applicants

How does it discriminate against local people?
St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School (SMRTS) is in the ward of Lawrence Hill. That is the most deprived area of Bristol. It’s Ofsted report in April 2015 noted that the school is below national average for its number of disadvantaged students in receipt of free school meals.

Approximately two thirds of the students are white British. Yet the Bristol School Census of 2014 shows that the highest proportion of Somalian school children live in Lawrence Hill Ashley and Easton.

Only 16 places are allocated to children living within 500 metres of SMRTS and only 4 places allocated to children who are not Christian.

Admission to SMRTS is a box ticking exercise. Parents who are able to attend church regularly from at least 2 full school years prior to application year are in with a good chance of securing a place. There is no commitment to continue church going afterwards. This means single parents, parents who work on Sundays, those of different faiths or those with a disability which affects their church attendance will not make it through the application process successfully.

Colston’s Girls’ School – Ofsted Outstanding
Former private school now academy
Ward – Ashley (Central BS6)
Admission number 2015 – 140 places
September 2015 on time applications – 583 
September 2015 Allocations:
4 SEN
2 Children in Care
14 Foreign Language
25 Siblings
1 Child of Staff
94 Random Allocation

Over subscription criteria
From 2017 Colston’s Girls’ School will admit 140 pupils moving from its primary year 6 to year 7
Children with Colston’s Girls’ School named in an EHC Plan
Looked After or Previously Looked After Children
10 per cent with a foreign language specialism
Siblings, full, half, step or adopted sister
Children of staff who have been employed for two or more years
75 per cent of places go through Random Allocation to those who sat a Non-Verbal Reasoning assessment in BS1-BS16 – applicants will be chosen on the basis of the results of this assessment to create a representative ability range for the school with an equal number in each band.
25 per cent to those in an outer catchment area
Remaining places offered to others

How does it discriminate against local people?
Colston’s Girls’ School does give local children who can speak a second language an advantage, but only by 14 places. The rest have to win through lottery allocation again. Further selection takes place through a non-verbal reasoning assessment rather than selecting from the entire community on a local basis.

Cotham School – Ofsted Outstanding

Former grammar school now academy
Ward – Cotham (BS6 10 minutes on bus from central Bristol)
Admission number 2015 –
September 2015 on time applications – 662
September 2015 allocations: 216

No Sen!
23 In Area Siblings
79 Area of First Priority
45 Outside Area Siblings
69 Outside Area
Furthest Distance 1.751 km