§ Mr. Wallerasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the first year's experience of the school admission and appeal provisions of the Education Act 1980.
§ Sir Keith JosephInquiries of local education authorities by the Department indicate that in general the new arrangements for admission to schools, parental appeals and the publication of information about schools introduced under the 1980 Education Act have worked well. The role of parents and their rights in relation to school admissions have been enhanced. Some 9,000 parents dissatisfied with school admission decisions for the autumn of 1982 had recourse to the new local appeal committees where some 3,000, about one in three, were successful. There has also been a significant extension in the quality and range of information made available to parents about schools and about local authority policies and arrangements for education in their areas. In the light of their experience last year local education authorities will, I believe, be in a position further to improve the operation of their arrangements in the interests of parents.