THE Archbishop of Canterbury may be keen to make Anglican schools more inclusive, but readers of the Church Times believe priority for places must go to children of Christians.
Nine out of 10 readers who responded to a poll on its website thought church schools should still give priority to children from practising Christian families.
The result follows Church of England moves to give their diocesan authorities greater powers to make Anglican schools more inclusive.
It is urging the Government to legislate to help it outlaw religious discrimination by amending the education Bill to give it more power to ensure that its schools admit pupils of other faiths or none.
One consequence of this might be that fewer church-school places are available for the children of Christian parents. Only last week the Anglican House of Bishops insisted that church schools must be open to the whole, diverse community they serve.
It followed the lead set by Dr George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury, in an article in The TES (“Archbishop opposes all-Christian schools, January 11) saying C of E schools should not just admit Christians.
There is fierce demand for places at the 193 C of E secondaries and it is not uncommon for six pupils to be turned away for every one accepted. Popular schools face 60 or 70 appeals a year.
But Dr Carey said all schools, however oversubscribed, should reserve places for children of other faiths or none. He said Anglican schools that only take in children of practicising Christians must admit other pupils.
The Church Times poll is based on responses from more than 400 readers at the time The TES went to press.
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