Commenting on the Sutton Trust research showing the top 500 secondary schools are shutting out local disadvantaged pupils with SEND, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said;
“It is clear from this research that the poorest students with greatest need are being deprived of the opportunity to access the top 500 schools. This is unjust.
“The use of the line by some schools of 'the school down the road can meet your child's needs better than us' has been an issue for years.
“This issue has been exacerbated by academisation. The government should give local authorities control of admissions to all schools in their area to put an end to this. All schools need the resources to make inclusion possible - the recently announced Inclusion Grant is a good idea, but it is far too small to have an impact.
“Giving Ofsted responsibility to inspect schools for how inclusive they are, will not solve the issue of lack of resourcing and it will not remove the pressures of league table performance which is locking poorer children and children with SEND out of access to their local school”