End this school places inequality with impartial admissions procedures | Jonathan Clifton

schools should not be responsible for their own admission - is divisive and encourages wealthy families

This weekend, thousands of families are facing the end of an anxious wait game - whether children took the school of their choice. Many parents put a lot of effort and money to get your child into a good school -. Moving home, pay the supplement, or the church in order to qualify for a school of faith

The choice of school is important for parents, who naturally want to do the best for your child. However, the best schools with higher housing prices beyond ? 20,000 in its area of ??influence, is the rich who are able to take greater advantage of this election. They are the ones who can afford to play the game of admission, and make sure your children in the best schools.

Therefore Britain is one of the most isolated schools in developed socially. This leads to divided communities, as children grow up without the means to interact with people from different backgrounds. You can also hamper efforts to improve schools as disadvantaged schools struggling to recruit and retain the best teachers and educational lose the advantage of having a combined fuel consumption.

This problem is compounded by the fact that schools have control over their own admission process. Then they must comply with a national "code", are able to establish criteria and manage themselves. But there is a strong incentive for schools to engage in subtle forms of selection because it attracts students richest and light is a quick way to climb in the rankings. This was highlighted by a recent survey conducted by Christine Gilbert, the former head of Ofsted, found that some schools engage in social activities for parents, or issuing application forms large to "cherrypick "private families.

• authorities should increase parental choice, and give schools control their own admissions, helping disadvantaged children to move to better schools outside their immediate vicinity. But research shows that schools are coming IPPR become more distinct as a result of these policies.

While the right of parents to choose schools for their children is an important principle that must be made to work in a way that is transparent and fair to all families, not just the rich . Schools have considerable autonomy - including setting budgets, reward staff and teach children - it gives managers the tools they need to do their job. However, it should have control over income because they are not neutral in this process and benefit from subtle forms of selection. It would be better for admissions to be administered by an impartial tribunal, as Commissioner of the local school. This would avoid accusations of cheating, unless the directors of endless rounds of calls and free schools to focus on the business heart of teaching and learning.