The Yorkshire Post says: Listen to parents who want the best for their children

UNCERTAIN what to say at Prime Minister’s Questions over Brexit, Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn chose to trade statistics about local government funding, and poverty, ahead of the forthcoming town hall elections.
Pressure on school places in urban areas continues to intensify.Pressure on school places in urban areas continues to intensify.
Pressure on school places in urban areas continues to intensify.

Yet this weekly ritual serves little point if it does not lead to any tangible progress on those policies which are fundamental to the day-to-day lives of families.

Not only has another week passed without any hint of the already long-overdue announcement on social care, but statistical semantics do not help those families who are increasingly anxious about securing places at the best school for their children.

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Though Mrs May did, in response to a Tory MP, say changes to the funding formula would benefit smaller schools in rural counties – rather ironic in light of the closures in North Yorkshire – the vagueness of her answer will have done nothing to reassure those parents, living in high demand areas, who simply want their youngsters to receive a world-class education.

As the Education Policy Institute publishes a detailed analysis of the secondary school appeals and waiting lists system, and whether it discriminates against the poor or families from ethnic minority backgrounds, it is probably too much to expect Damian Hinds, the unimpressive Education Secretary, to take the findings seriously when his sole purpose now appears to be touring TV and radio studios to talk about Brexit.