'Tough job' for choice advisers

School choice advisers are finding it hard to reach the poor parents they were supposed to help win places at popular English schools, a study says.

The service was set up to target parents, who find it hard to engage with schools, to exercise "choice".

A government-funded study of six councils suggests they struggled to balance doing this with handling calls from "self-referrals".

However, most parents were very positive about the help they received.

The study, by a team from Sheffield Hallam University, looked at pilot areas at a very early stage.

It said: "The role of choice adviser is designed to make the school admissions process for secondary school clearer, fairer and more equitable by supporting those families most in need of help."

'Disengaged parents'

It was expected that the services would target parents and carers who found it difficult to engage with their current primary schools, who had language or literacy problems, those in deprived areas as well as those who asked for help, it added.

All six case study areas had a phone enquiry line and ran events for parents in local primary and secondary schools.

However, the publicity that they used generally attracted "self referring information seeking parents and fewer parents from their target groups", the study said.

There was evidence that those advisory services which had links with local services and community organisations tended to reach parents from different groups of parents.

Reaching "disengaged parents" was still the most challenging element for all advisers, the study said.

Some advisers said they were "subtly turning away" time-consuming enquiries from non-target group parents.

But others said they felt parents from "non-target" groups had real difficulties and needed support too.

And some advisers felt strongly that the use of the term "choice" was problematic in relation to the service they offered and "unrealistically raised parents' expectations".

But most parents were overwhelmingly positive about the service they had received, describing the advisers as very helpful and supportive.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families said: "It's wrong that some parents know the ropes of the admission system and some parents don't know where to start - that's why we set this up.

"We know local authorities have done a huge amount of work to strengthen the service and their targeting of disadvantaged families - so that by the time it is rolled out in every area this September, parents can get the help and advice they need."

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