Call to favour foreigners ‘in care’ in race for school places

SCHOOLS should prioritise foreign children who grew up in care over British youngsters, a minister has said.

Nick Gibb, the schools minister, has said that he intends to change the law so that children from outside England who have previously been in care are given “highest priority” for places, where a school is oversubscribed.

Under the current School Admissions Code, children are put in the “highest priority” category if they are in care, or have previously been in care, in England.

In a letter sent out to all local authorities and academies, Mr Gibb explained why he intends to update statutory guidance so that youngsters from overseas who have been in care are also given preferential treatment to their peers.

“We are doing this because these children are also vulnerable and may have experienced abuse and neglect prior to being placed in care,” he said.

“We therefore feel it is right that these children should be on an equal footing for the purpose of admission to school as those children looked after and previously looked after by a local authority in England.”

Mr Gibb said that his proposed changes to the School Admissions Code will need to be “subject to a consultation and the will of parliament” before they can be written into law.

Chris Mcgovern, a former Government adviser and chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said that the move is “well intended”, but warned that it could be “divisive”.

“Youngsters from England who are deserving cases but not in care may feel that they are getting overlooked for school places,” he said.

He said that such changes to the code could be “open to corruption” as it will “set up an incentive for children from other countries to claim they are in care”. He added: “The definition of ‘in care’ differs from country to country. It will create a sense of unfairness.”