The Catholic Education Service (CES) produced figures this past week which
it says demonstrate that Catholic schools serve more disadvantaged
pupils than other faith or state-run ones.
The CES 2013 census for England shows that 18.4 per cent of pupils in
Catholic primary schools are from some of the most deprived areas,
compared to only 13.8 per cent nationally.
In maintained Catholic
secondary schools 17.3 per cent of pupils are from the most socially
deprived areas compared with a national figure of 12.2 per cent.
The CES has also found that Catholic schools in England take more
children from ethnic minority backgrounds – some 34.5 per cent of pupils
in Catholic primary schools and 30.2 per cent in secondaries.
Paul Barber, Director of the CES said: “The makeup of Catholic
schools reflects the growing diversity of our communities and these
figures demonstrate the vital role that Catholic schools play in working
towards a common good for the whole society and carrying out the
Church’s mission to the poor.”
However the Fair Admissions Campaign (FAC) which opposes pupil
selection by state schools on the basis of religion, claimed the CES
figures are “fundamentally flawed”.
“It could well be that the pupils at Catholic schools are from the
wealthier families within the deprived areas,” said the FAC in a
statement.
Using the criteria of eligibility for free school meals the FAC found
that fewer pupils at Catholic schools are disadvantaged than the
national average.
A spokeswoman for the CES said the percentage of pupils having free
school meals in Catholic secondary schools is 13.1 per cent compared
with the national figure of 15.1 per cent, which was “not statistically
significant”.
According to the separate CES 2013 census for Wales the number of
pupils eligible and taking up free school meals is slightly below the
national average standing at 17.7 per cent for Catholic primaries
compared with a national average of 18.9 per cent.
In secondaries it is
14.9 per cent compared with a national average of 16.2 per cent.
The census in Wales also reveals that overall, the proportion of
Catholic pupils attending Catholic schools stands at just over half
(57.9 per cent) – a drop from two-thirds in 2007.
The average percentage of Catholic pupils in Catholic schools in England remained relatively static at 70 per cent.