ABSTRACT
Faith schools are currently popular, both with parents and with the government. They are often oversubscribed, and parents may fight hard to gain a place for their child. Faith schools can be seen as part of the Blair government’s drive to raise standards and promote diversity. The recent White Paper Schools Achieving Success (DfES, 2001) advocated an expansion in their number, although this suggestion has met strong opposition, usually on the grounds that segregated education could damage race relations and increase divisions in a community
Why, then, are faith schools so popular? Evidently they are perceived by some to be ‘better’ than other state-funded schools, but in what sense? A poll reported in the Times Educational Supplement (30 November 2001) indicated that support among the general population for church schools was focused mainly on good discipline and religious ethos. Good examination results were cited by only 10 per cent, although academic excellence is one reason for the government’s support for expansion.
