A third of Islington pupils have been refused places at their first choice secondary schools.11-year olds across the borough were told last week which school they will attend in September, with one in ten missing out on places at any of their top three choices.
Under the system, families apply to six schools, ranked in order of preference. Some schools are hugely oversubscribed because standards at Islington secondary schools vary widely.
At the borough’s highest performing school, St Aloysius, 73 per cent of pupils achieved five A* to C GCSE grades this summer. In contrast, only 42 per cent of students at Holloway School managed those results.
This has left parents playing the system in an attempt to get their children into good schools. Susan, an Islington mother, explained: “It’s no good putting down only massively oversubscribed schools.
“You have to have at least one backstop – a school that may not be outstanding but looks OK.
“The alternative to that is to be faced with an allocation to a school you ruled out on sight, because those are the only ones with places left.”
Like many in Islington, Susan ended up sending her son to a private school when he missed out on his top choices.
Another mother, who did not want to be named, said: “Islington Arts & Media and Holloway School are schools that I would leave my job and home-educate my kids to avoid.”
In 2009 Islington was named as the worst performing London borough for secondary schools, with poor GSCE results and high truancy rates.
Richard Watts, the council’s executive member for children and young people, said: “The council is working with parents who did not get their first few choices of school, but the quality of our secondary schools is such that parents can be sure their child will get a good education at whatever Islington school they attend.”
A spokeswoman for the Pan London Admissions Board, the body responsible for schools admissions, defended this year’s figures.
“It is important to emphasise that, however proficient the admission system is – and our arrangements are about as efficient and fair as is possible – it cannot create additional places at the most popular schools.”
