Mr. BlunketTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her Department's circular 6/96, annex A, paragraphs 22 to 24, if an oversubscribed school may withhold the offer of a place on the ground that the applicant's parents are unwilling to sign a home-school contract. [35454]
§ Mrs. GillanThe circular emphasises that school admission authorities should have the maximum flexibility to decide how places will be allocated in the event of oversubscription. Annex A gives advice on the law as it relates to admissions procedures. It does not say that places can be withheld where parents are unwilling to sign a home-school contract, rather that admission authorities may decide that parents willing to sign should be afforded higher priority when there are more applicants than places.