THE Archbishop of Canterbury today rejected claims that church schools were cherry-picking the brightest and most wealthy pupils, in a speech defending the role of faith schools.

Dr Rowan Williams said Church of England schools provided an education to children from a diversity of social backgrounds and did not offer an alternative to private education for mostly middle-class parents.

"The often-forgotten fact that church schools are the main educational presence in some of our most deprived communities means that it simply cannot be said that these schools somehow have a policy of sanitising or segregating," he said.

His remarks to the National Church Schools Conference in London follow claims that church primary schools in England are less likely to take in children from low income families than local authority schools.

Study

A study from the Institute for Research in Integrated Strategies (Iris), found establishments in the voluntary-aided category admitted fewer poorer children than expected from their area's social make-up.

In his speech, Dr Williams backed a national criteria for admissions to voluntary aided church schools in an effort to make applying to a faith schools easier and more understandable for parents.

Currently the Governors of Church of England voluntary-aided schools must take into account advice from their diocese before setting their admissions policy.

Catholic and Church of England leaders have already backed changes to the Government's school reforms which would ban the practice of interviewing parents.

Church schools - including the Catholic London Oratory where Tony Blair sent his sons - traditionally interviewed parents to establish their level of commitment to the faith.

Tweet