Modifying school choice for more equitable access in England

Motivation:
• Education inequality is a major precursor to income inequality.
• While the average quality of English secondary schools is relatively high, there are differences in effectiveness across schools, and there are persistent and wide gaps in attainment between more and less advantaged pupils. We define and measure school effectiveness by the progress a school’s pupils make; specifically we use Progress 8, a value-added measure based on GCSE scores.
• The attainment gaps is driven in part by differences in school effectiveness. Pupils not eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) are 43% more likely to be assigned to a highly effective secondary school (defined as in the top 25% of effectiveness) than those eligible for FSM, for example.
• Access to popular and effective schools is commonly rationed by geographic over-subscription criteria, creating demand for housing in the favoured areas, increasing property prices, and so leading to access inequality.
• Our central focus is describing the role of the school admissions system in generating educational inequality, and analysing options for reform (...°