ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the impact of parental choice legislation on school admissions in Edinburgh and Dundee. Prior to the passage of the Education Act 1981, education authorities in Scotland, like their counterparts in England and Wales, enjoyed considerable freedom in determining which school children should attend. In the first four years following the implementation of the Scottish legislation, the number of placing requests doubled from 10,456 in 1982 to 20,795 in 1985. In the course of a wide-ranging programme of research on the origins and impact of the Parents' Charter in Scotland, the chapter examines the impact of parental choice on admissions to primary and secondary schools in the education authorities. In both cities, some schools made substantial gains while others made substantial losses. However, substantial losses and gains were more common in Dundee than in Edinburgh. In Dundee 50 of the 55 moves between non-adjacent schools were towards schools with catchment areas containing less council housing.
