Parents protest over school admissions policies

Parent Amina Ismail said she thought the issue was a thing of the past

A group of parents have protested outside a council office amid claims secondary schools' admissions policies are discriminatory.

The group has accused Liverpool City Council of failing to ensure children from different faiths - and none - have access to the best schools.

This year more than 500 children were allocated a place at a school not on their shortlist of five.

The council said admission policies were set by individual schools and it had limited powers.

Parents unhappy with the school place their child has been given can appeal.

Hanan Yafaye joined the protest because she has been through the appeals process herself and said it was incredibly stressful.

She likened it to going to court.

“That’s how it felt. I had to have papers ready for four different schools, for four different appeals on four different dates.

"I had to practise in front of the mirror. I didn’t tell my son about it because I didn’t want to stress him out. I felt judged by the panel."

She said she did not understand why academies could admit children from outside Liverpool when so many children in the city were unable to get places.

A council representative said it was increasing the number of school places to try and expand parental choice.

Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson said she had written to Schools Minister Nick Gibb regarding the matter.

In her letter she said: “There would appear to be latent discrimination in how the schools admissions code plays out and urge that this be reviewed."

Hanan Yafaye said the appeal process was "incredibly stressful"

The Department for Education has been approached by the BBC for comment.

Liverpool has a large number of faith schools and academies which set their own admissions criteria.

Banners and placards with "remove the barriers for our kids" and "we are the future, invest in us" were held up by parents and children outside the Cunard Building.

Amina Ismail, who has a son, said the situation had not improved since she was a school child.

“It’s broken. I didn’t get my first choice of school when I was young, and now however many years later the same has happened to my son.”

She said the council needed to make the application process easier for parents but also that schools should expand their criteria to make postcode a priority.

Ms Ismail said: “We have some of the best schools in the city in my area, but they only offer limited places to Muslim families.

"How can schools be situated geographically in our area but not allow children to access those schools?

"It’s telling our children they’re not good enough."