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The public favours choice - but won't pay for it

Does declining solidarity endanger Michael Gove's school reforms?
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A pupil fills in a multiple choice exam paper
A pupil fills in a multiple choice exam paper Photograph: Alamy

New schools, by increasing choice, force existing schools to "raise their game".

That's the argument made by Michael Gove in defence of free schools. But increasing choice only raises standards for all pupils if everyone can exercise their choice. Otherwise you have a situation where, as the judge remarked: "In England, justice is open to all - like the Ritz hotel."

That's where the state can flex its financial muscle to even up choice.

As David Willetts put it when he was shadow education secretary: "If a parent's request for their child to get to the school of their choice is written on the back of a cheque to pay for it then the letter is going to get far more attention."

But what happens when the public isn't prepared to write such a fat cheque?

As the British Social Attitudes survey shows, public opinion favours school choice. More than two-thirds (68%) agreed that parents should have this right.

But the study found that opinions had hardened when it came to making choices easier for poorer families.

Researchers sketched out the scenario of a parent on a low income who couldn't afford the bus fare to send their child to a more desirable school that was further from home. What should happen?

In 2007, 49% said the government should pay the bus fare. In 2010, just 33% supported this intervention.

More than six in ten said the child should go to his or her local school.

The study says: "One explanation for this change might be that, while people think facilitating choice in this way is desirable during times of economic prosperity, they see it as a luxury and do not think it should be a priority during times of economic downturn, where cuts to public services are being made elsewhere."

Under the coalition's plans, free schools will be able to prioritise poorer children in their admissions - and they will have the pupil premium, currently £430 per child, as an incentive.

But as the Institute for Fiscal Studies noted (pdf) before the election, the pupil premium would need to be "very high" to overcome the disadvantages for schools of recruiting poorer pupils.

The British Social Attitudes survey was carried out last summer. The economic climate has grown more wintry since then.

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