25th March 2017 1:00
By Blue Tutors
Research by the social integration charity, The Challenge, has found that 40% of secondary schools and almost as many primaries are ethnically divided, with state schools in some areas having a significantly reduced number of white British students over the past 5 years. Furthermore, one in three primaries and one in four secondary schools are divided along students’ socio-economic differences. This effectively means that at a local level, schools populations are made up disproportionately of either white British or ethnic minority students, from either richer or poorer than the average of their local community.
The study used data from 2011-2016 from the Casey Review, a government report on diversity and opportunity. It compared both the proportion of white British students and the number of students on free school meals in 20,000 state schools with the nearest schools around them, which draw from the same local population. A school was deemed to be ‘segregated’ if the proportion of either of these two markers was significantly different to other schools nearby, drawing from the same population make-up. The measure does not indicate segregation of communities within schools, but an unequal distribution of those from different backgrounds between neighbouring schools.
The extend of this segregation was extremely dependent on the type of school. Schools designated by Ofsted as inadequate are more likely to be segregated than better performing schools, with outstanding schools proving to be the most representative of local demography (least segregated). Primary faith schools were found to be 16% more segregated based on ethnicity, with a 4% points increase, and 59% more likely to have students of significantly weather backgrounds than neighbouring non-faith schools. A staggering 98% of selective schools had significantly fewer less wealthy students. This is particularly a problem as when one school in an area taking a much higher proportion of any social group, this makes it much more difficult for other surrounding schools to remain representatively diverse.
The trend worryingly points to increased segregation between schools in half of the 150 districts investigated over the last five years. This suggests that those with more means or options are moving their children out of state schools in these areas, or out of the school district. Many have criticised the government for the lack of faith in the state education system, the residential segregation this is a symptom of, and poor guidelines on school intakes. Department for Education spokesman said: "We expect all schools to promote social integration and the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect for different faiths and beliefs.”
Many, however, feel that the methodology of the study and data used to measure segregation was misleading. The race equality thinktank the Runnymede Trust has called the report ‘unnecessarily alarmist’ and misleading. Their data shows that cultural, racial and religious segregation is decreasing overall in Britain. “White British people and ethnic minorities are much more likely to live near and know people of other backgrounds than they have been at any time in our nation’s history.”