A Jewish state primary school in North London yesterday admitted that it had charged pupils’ parents a £50 “admission fee” in breach of the schools admissions code. Hasmonean school, an Orthodox Jewish voluntary aided school, said it asked parents of pupils applying for a place for a £50 cheque as a deposit towards voluntary contributions for extracurricular Jewish studies.
The admission comes after claims this week from Ed Balls, the Children, Schools and Families Secretary, that “significant” numbers of schools were flouting the admissions rules, with some charging parents hundreds of pounds to secure places for their children and requesting details about marital status and parental income and profession.
Mr Balls claimed that the breaches were found disproportionately in faith schools and others that controlled their own admissions, although he was unable to name any of the schools involved.
His research covered three randomly selected authorities, Manchester, Northamptonshire and the borough of Barnet in London, although his department said the work had not yet been “verified”.
Barnet council yesterday said that Hasmonean primary was one of 38 schools in its area under investigation.
In a statement to the BBC, Hasmonean school said that “historically, but incorrectly” the £50 donation had been shown on the application form as an admission fee.
“The cheque is not usually banked and is returned if a child is not successful in gaining a place and is offset from the first term’s voluntary contribution to the Jewish studies. The deposit has no bearing on consideration of acceptance to the school,” it said.
Both Manchester and Northamptonshire have denied that any of their schools have charged parents, and said that any breaches of the admissions code were minor technical ones.
But Mike Griffiths, head of Northampton School for Boys, said that Mr Balls had unfairly slighted the integrity of all head teachers in the authority.
In a separate move yesterday, church leaders promised to clamp down on schools that demanded “donations” from parents to ensure a place for their child.
Giving evidence to a Commons select committee inquiry into faith schools, Peter Irvine of the Catholic Education Service was sceptical about claims that Catholic schools actively sought to exclude poor and less able pupils by using covert social selection.
“I would deplore it if Catholic schools discriminated in any way against poor students. I’m not convinced, nationally, that it does,” he said.
It is understood that two other Jewish state primary schools also asked for donations from parents at the admissions stage.
Traditionally this money has been asked for to cover extra security costs and the provision of additional Jewish studies.
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