MONDAY 03 APRIL
Documentary
The Schools Lottery
7:00pm - 8:00pm
BBC2 London & South East
VIDEO Plus+: 2932
Subtitled, Widescreen
2/2
Wouldn't it be marvellous if parents could
confidently send their little treasures off to the nearest state school and that was that? So much for the gist of this timely film, which catalogues in often painful detail how, instead, schools admissions are a mad scramble to jump through selection hoops, move house, pass admissions exams, find religion, or do whatever else is necessary to shoehorn your child into a half-decent establishment. Throwing your hands up in despair, as the film keeps doing, isn't very constructive, but parents who have been through all this may be glad someone feels their pain. The trouble is, by using celebrities as its way in to the story, the film can't quite resist the implication that with luck and good teaching today's very best kids could end up being as eminent as, say, Nick Ross or Sandie Shaw. Could we aim even higher?
RT reviewer: David Butcher
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