Hundreds of the best-performing comprehensive schools appear to be covertly selecting pupils from more affluent backgrounds and blocking those from more deprived families, it is revealed today.
Research commissioned by the Sutton Trust paints a picture of a secondary education system deeply socially segregated and in which large numbers of schools attempt to skew their intake.
The study's early findings have been seen by the Observer in advance of national offer day tomorrow, when hundreds of thousands of parents will receive letters telling them at which secondary school their children have been allocated a place. More than one in six are likely to miss their first choice.
The research will reignite the debate about admissions procedures. Brighton and Hove city council caused controversy in 2007 as the first authority to allocate places by random lottery. The government allows schools or councils to set their own criteria for admissions to oversubscribed schools, but it is illegal for state schools to select on the basis of academic ability or social status.
Also see Educational Gap between Rich and Poor Students is increasing in UK