Didn’t get into any choices, placed into Catholic School - help

@morozova89 I am really glad you are going to see the allocated school and have got some assurance and information from this thread

IANAL so bow to prh, but I like reading this stuff 😀

The Office of the Schools Adjudicator raised the points in 2014 about the London Oratory’s admissions code being out of line with Diocesian guidelines in some respects. My understanding is that some deviation is allowed from those guidelines if it’s still fair under the Schools Admissions Code.

A judicial review (2015, sought by LO, as prh says) found that the OSA had overstated its case in some places (my interpretation on skimming the judgement), but that the LO still needed to make changes to their policies.

AFAIK no specific discrimination case was brought against the LO under the Equality Act or similar.

I can well believe that any other school that hadn’t already ditched such policies quietly changed them after the publicity around the OSA report or - at the latest - after the judicial review.

@prh47bridge It was actually the school that took the Schools Adjudicator to court with the British Humanist Association (which is now Humanists UK) joining as an interested party. The National Secular Society weren't involved at all.

Thank you for clarifying the details.

I don't know how far back you are going when you refer to the "old system", but that kind of thing has not been allowed for at least 20 years, if not more. I'm not sure it was ever allowed

I meant before the London Oratory was defeated.
This happened 10 years ago, not 20.

After it happened

The British Humanist Association (BHA) and the Fair Admissions Campaign (FAC) said their efforts had forced all schools to drop such criteria from admissions policies
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/mar/01/faith-schools-admissions-church-flower-arranging-eradicated-england

So these associations implied that the London Oratory was not the only school with such an abomination of a policy. However, I do not have details on how many other schools

Late to the party but just to confirm that, as others have said, not wanting a Catholic school is unlikely to win an appeal. It doesn't matter what faith you are, there is no right for your child to be educated in a school of your chosen faith nor for your child to avoid being educated in a school of another faith. You do, however, have the right to withdraw your child from religious education and attendance at assemblies.

I note that you are going to see the school. That is good. Many faith schools aren't very religious at all. Indeed, some faith schools are less religious than some community schools (which in theory are not aligned to any faith). It is highly unlikely they will turn your child into a Catholic. Indeed, judging from posts on here from people who have been to Catholic schools, they are more likely to turn your child against Catholicism!

I don't know how far back you are going when you refer to the "old system", but that kind of thing has not been allowed for at least 20 years, if not more. I'm not sure it was ever allowed.

The London Oratory was unusual amongst faith schools in trying to give priority based on grounds that were clearly prohibited by the Admissions Code. They got away with it for as long as they did simply because no-one referred them to the Schools Adjudicator. Once they did, the Adjudicator ruled against them.

And @ParentOfOne is wrong about the court case. It wasn't the National Secular Society and Humanists UK taking the school to court. It was actually the school that took the Schools Adjudicator to court with the British Humanist Association (which is now Humanists UK) joining as an interested party. The National Secular Society weren't involved at all. The school span the outcome as a win, but the reality is that they lost on all substantive points.

In my DS catholic secondary school I would say less than half are catholic. I'm atheist and so is DS (told him to be open and think for himself so as not to be influenced by me or school). The reason I wanted him to go to that school is it's outstanding reputation for good behaviour and results. DS is happy and has learnt about all religions not just catholicism. @morozova89 look into the school before you dismiss it

My eldest is going to a catholic school, he definitely doesn't bleeive in God. He knows that when they do prayers, he bows his head and keeps quiet. He doesn't have to pray. He does have to be respectful. I'd expect the same if he went to a Jewish school etc.

Their ethos and culture is about being a good person. There's nothing in their daily life at school where they'll be trying to turn him into a bad person or someone with a abhorrent cultural norm.

Keep appealing and go and visit but I would try not to stress about what sort of child they will want your child to br

@Spirallingdownwards that faith schools tend to be more socially selective is not a generalisation but a conclusion backed by tons of research, as I had said and linked.

If you disagree, maybe you could challenge that research and explain why believing that a priest turns a wafer into the body of a deity would make the students "better"?

As for the London Oratory, I do not know how representative its case was. But I do know that the old system allowed that kind of blatant discrimination (donate to the church and get priority) and I know that it took a legal fight to defeat that abomination. Tell me, which of these well-documented facts do you disagree with?

That may well be your experience in London but isn't in other parts of the country. So perhaps don't generalise yourself.

Here is the oversubscription criteria - random allocation, which would explain why your neighbour got a place but your son didn't (if both were considered under criteria v)

http://www.mvpa.mossbourne.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Admissions-Arrangements-2026-2027.pdf

Ah, that 'only 42 places for Riverside across all bands, including siblings, LAC, staff kids etc' makes it much more tricky to figure out.

I had a look at the CP website - it looks very strong academically and the Ofsted is good.

The religious content looks quite intense. I am an atheist but know I have 'Christian values' in terms of ethics if not faith, and I wouldn't think Catholic values (much talked on on the website) would be very different.

@morozova89
I agree - this!

FWIW - My DDs are both at a Catholic Secondary. Despite being baptised Catholics they are both now firmly atheist (as is my DH). They love their school, religion is not rammed down their throats and RE is their favourite subject - as it challenges the way they think and gives them the opportunity for lots of debate. Yes, they do get invited to mass but none of it is compulsory.

1. I would ask them to check whether he was put in the Riverside category for Band A
2. Visit CP and see what you think
3. Look through the Hackney schools and put him on the waiting list for any additional schools you would consider over and above CP
4. Look at any schools in neighbouring boroughs that are within reach that you would prefer over CP and get on their waiting lists
5. Make sure you accept the CP place - it won't disadvantage you on any waiting lists or appeals to accept , and you don't want to end up with no school!
6. Keep your fingers crossed - the population of London is v mobile and waiting lists move fast.

I don't really understand the Haggerston table - they have a PAN of 180 and have offered 146 places of which 4 were offered on 'no preference; - which I presume means people who didn't list it and it is therefore undersubscribed?

I also don't understand their distances.

No - cut off was that IF the child doesn’t attend Riverside. Yours does and so should be in the category above distance.

I agree - if he's Band A, and attends riverside (and you put than in his application) then it looks like an error has been made, as they admitted all children in Band A who go to Riverside and then moved on to distance.

“I know friendships aren’t a ground for appeal.”

You can appeal on any grounds you feel are relevant to your child. Don’t limit yourself.

I also think there has been an error and you have been put in the distance category of Band A instead of the “attends riverside” category.

If the error has been made by Hackney, you should get a place without appeal (or more or less automatically if they do make you appeal)

You need to check that he was considered as attending Mossbourne Riverside, if you had indicated this on the application form then it looks like there's been an error