CHOICE WHAT CHOICE COVER HDS:CHOICE WHAT CHOICE COVER HDS 12/12/07 16:04 Page 1 For nearly twenty years parents have been allowed to choose which schools their children attend. Or that is the theory. In practice, hundreds of thousands are denied their first choice and their children remain trapped in inadequate schools. School choice has failed to deliver because there is no market in education within which it can operate. Restrictions on the Choice? What Choice? supply of places in good schools mean that school providers cannot respond to parental preferences as they would do in a normal consumer market. Choice? The supply side of the education market is so constrained by administrative and even physical barriers that few new suppliers manage to surmount them. These barriers are the focus of our What Choice? report – why they occur and, most importantly, how they can be removed. On academies we show sponsors’ unease at the Brown Government’s attitude and we ask why, if freedom is good for some schools it should not be available to all schools? Supply and demand in English education On surplus places and competitions for new schools we show how reforms passed under Tony Blair to provide potential new suppliers with a number of routes to enter the state system are being ignored by local authorities keen on retaining control of and Sam Freedman Eleanor Sturdy the school system. And on planning we show how demographic growth could cause crisis for authorities who have focused on removing surplus places with little regard for competition or flexibility of demand. Eleanor Sturdy and Sam Freedman £10.00 ISBN: 978-1-906097-11-0 Policy Exchange Policy Exchange Clutha House 10 Storey’s Gate London SW1P 3AY www.policyexchange.org.uk CHOICE WHAT CHOICE HDS:CHOICE WHAT CHOICE HDS 11/12/07 16:40 Page 1 Choice? What Choice? Supply and demand in English education Eleanor Sturdy and Sam Freedman Policy Exchange is an independent think tank whose mission is to develop and promote new policy ideas which will foster a free society based on strong communities, personal freedom, limited government, national self-confidence and an enterprise culture. Registered charity no: 1096300. Policy Exchange is committed to an evidence-based approach to policy development. We work in partnership with aca- demics and other experts and commission major studies involving thorough empirical research of alternative policy out- comes. We believe that the policy experience of other countries offers important lessons for government in the UK. We also believe that government has much to learn from business and the voluntary sector. Trustees Charles Moore (Chairman of the Board), Theodore Agnew, Richard Briance, Camilla Cavendish, Richard Ehrman, Robin Edwards, George Robinson, Tim Steel, Alice Thomson, Rachel Whetstone. CHOICE WHAT CHOICE HDS:CHOICE WHAT CHOICE HDS 11/12/07 16:40 Page 2 About the authors Eleanor Sturdy their management and leadership strategy. Eleanor Sturdy read Chemistry at Eleanor was Development Director with Somerville College, Oxford. After graduat- United Learning Trust for two years and is a ing, Eleanor worked in investment banking, Fellow of the RSA and a Trustee of the St before broadening her experience to general Pancras Welfare Trust. management with McKinsey & Co. She has been involved in the education sector for Sam Freedman the past five years, initially covering educa- Sam is Head of the Education Unit at tional philanthropy during the start-up Policy Exchange. He achieved a first class phase with New Philanthropy Capital, degree in History from Magdalen College, where she co-authored Making Sense of SEN Oxford. After completing a Masters degree (2004). This meant developing a general in International History in 2004, Sam knowledge and understanding of the educa- joined the Independent Schools Council as tion system, including the interfaces a researcher. He left three years later as between public, private and voluntary sec- Head of Research, having also completed a tors. She has worked with several education second Masters degree in Public Policy and funding bodies on their grant-making pro- Management at Birkbeck. Sam joined grammes, and also with schools looking at Policy Exchange in September 2007. © Policy Exchange 2007 Published by Policy Exchange, Clutha House, 10 Storey’s Gate, London SW1P 3AY www.policyexchange.org.uk ISBN: 978-1-906097-11-0 Printed by Heron, Dawson and Sawyer Designed by SoapBox, www.soapboxcommunications.co.uk 2 CHOICE WHAT CHOICE HDS:CHOICE WHAT CHOICE HDS 11/12/07 16:40 Page 3 Contents Acknowledgements 4 Foreword by David Willets MP 5 Executive Summary 6 Introduction 8 1. The Academies Programme 13 2. Demand and Supply in English Education 23 3. A Fair Competition? 31 4. Planning for the Future 36 Conclusion 43 www.policyexchange.org.uk • 3 CHOICE WHAT CHOICE HDS:CHOICE WHAT CHOICE HDS 11/12/07 16:40 Page 4 Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank James Lord Harris of Peckham, Harris Foundation O’Shaughnessy for managing this project Lucy Heller, ARK Education for most of its life; Charlotte Leslie for her initial research and David Willetts for his Gervas Huxley, Bristol University advice and encouragement. We would also Peter Jenkins, Ernst and Young like to thank Simon Horner and Ben Deborah Knight, The Haberdashers’ Ullman for their valuable contributions. Company Finally, we would like to thank Philippa Ingram for her expert proof reading. Cheryl Lim, Policy Exchange We are also grateful to the following Mark Logan, Edison Schools people for agreeing to be interviewed for Michael Marchant, The Mercers’ Company this project, and to several others who wished to remain anonymous. Neil McIntosh, CfBT Cllr Sir Simon Milton, Westminster Council Devon Allison, Secondary Schools Campaign Thomas Moran, CBI in Lambeth and Brixton parent Richard Morris, The Society of Merchant Gideon Amos, Town and Country Planning Venturers Association Dr Dan Moynihan, Harris Foundation Carol Bates, former Principal, Harris CTC Alistair Muriel, Institute of Fiscal Studies Adrian Beecroft, Apax Partners John Nash, Sovereign Capital David Betton, KPMG Dr Mark Pennington, Queen Mary, University Andrew Billington, Petchey Foundation of London Neil Carberry, Confederation of British Tom Peryer, London Diocesan Board of Industry Schools Paul Carter, Education Excellence Oliver Piggott, Ernst and Young Martyn Coles, City of London Academy Annemarie Shillito, Experian Group Limited Chris Cook Rynd Smith, Royal Town Planning Institute Steve Chalke, Oasis Trust Tony Smith, Cambridge Education David Clark, Building Development Amanda Spielman, ARK Education Partnerships Dr Tessa Stone, Sutton Trust Chris Davies, Policy Exchange Patrick Watson, Montrose Communications Stephen Dengate, VT Education and Skills Richard Williams, New Model School Peter Evans, Prospects Company Anthony Fine, White & Case Alan Wood, Hackney Learning Trust Cllr Mike Freer, Barnet Council Inigo Woolf, London Diocesan Board of Christine Ginty, Bryanstone Square Schools Richard Hardie, UBS Robert Whelan, Civitas Sir Ewan Harper, United Learning Trust Stuart Whitfield, Bevan Brittan LLP 4 CHOICE WHAT CHOICE HDS:CHOICE WHAT CHOICE HDS 11/12/07 16:40 Page 5 Foreword By David Willetts MP Shadow Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills For years, politicians of all hues have to respond to competitive pressures as well focussed on methods of reforming the as showing how great the prize of real demand side of the public services, with reform can be. policy suggestions like tax relief for person- I first encouraged Eleanor Sturdy to al payments and choice mechanisms. undertake this research because of the But we have not given equal attention to importance of tackling the barriers which the challenge of making these choices real. get in the way of the creation and expan- They cannot be exercised without reform sion of new schools. Tackling issues such on the supply side – making it easier, for as planning law, VAT, surplus place rules example, for good schools to expand or and capital allocation are important if we new schools to be created. are to deliver real reform in education. As I said in a speech earlier this year “It For too long, the debate has been about is as if we were lovingly focusing on the how we can divide a limited number of details of exactly what free railway tickets places in adequate schools. We need to we should hand out to people without think about breaking the strictures which tackling the problem that the trains people prevent real dynamism in British educa- want to take are full to bursting already, tion and the creation of more good school health and safety regulations make it very places. hard to add extra carriages and planning The next great battle over British educa- rules obstruct the building of new track.” tional reforms will not be about central Britain has fallen behind other western control and direction, but how we free countries as they have pushed ahead with schools to respond to local demands. such an agenda which we have ignored, Supply-side reform of the public services thereby depriving generations of school- will be one of the great political issues in children of important opportunities. The years to come and I am delighted that work of Professor Caroline Hoxby, one of Policy Exchange has produced this excel- the leading experts on school choice, has lent pamphlet as one of the first serious emphasised the need for schools to be free contributions to this debate. www.policyexchange.org.uk • 5 CHOICE WHAT CHOICE HDS:CHOICE WHAT CHOICE HDS 11/12/07 16:40 Page 6 Executive Summary For nearly twenty years parents have been Act 2006) provide potential new suppliers allowed to choose which schools their chil- with a number of routes to enter the state dren attend. Or that is the theory. In prac- system.