the church is to mount a challenge in the High Court against a ruling by the Government’s schools adjudicator on admission policy to oversubscribed Catholic schools.
The Catholic Education Service (CES) had brought in a new system to ensure that the 2,300 Catholic schools in England and Wales follow the same admissions policy. The Certificate of Catholic Practice (CCP) was intended to harmonise a system that varied between dioceses.
That system had been open to abuse, with previously uncommitted parents starting to attend Mass and help out at their church a few months before applying for their child to be accepted at a school. A spokeswoman for CES said: “This academic year, in order to improve the consistency across the country, there has been a move from diocesan priests’ references to a national system of a certificate of Catholic practice. This ensures that the measures used to determine Catholic practice are the same across diocesan boundaries”. But the Office of the Schools Adjudicator said the basis on which priests make such a decision was not transparent. “There is no easy way for any parent to know in advance that they will be able to fulfil the oversubscription criteria under which such priority is afforded,” its ruling said.
