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How much choice is enough? Parental satisfaction with secondary school choice in England and Scotland

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  • Bhattacharya, Aveek

Abstract

Governments around the world have sought to promote school choice, not just in order to improve educational outcomes, but also because such choice is believed to be intrinsically valuable: parents are believed to want to choice and to feel empowered by it. This article empirically evaluates the intrinsic value of school choice, comparing the attitudes and experiences of parents in England (where expanding choice is an explicit policy goal) and Scotland (where policymakers tend to play down choice), combining an online survey with in-depth interviews. While the overwhelming majority of parents in both countries express a desire for some school choice, only a minority want choice primarily for intrinsic reasons. Rather, most believe it is necessary to avoid negative outcomes for their children. Moreover, while parents in England tend to say they have more choice than their Scottish counterparts, they are no more satisfied with the level of choice that they have. Indeed, they tend to be more cynical, fatalistic and disempowered. Based on the British experience, school choice policies have not been successful in promoting intrinsic value.

Suggested Citation

  • Bhattacharya, Aveek, 2021. "How much choice is enough? Parental satisfaction with secondary school choice in England and Scotland," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 113868, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
  • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:113868
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/113868/
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pauline Musset, 2012. "School Choice and Equity: Current Policies in OECD Countries and a Literature Review," OECD Education Working Papers 66, OECD Publishing.
    2. Rebecca Allen, 2007. "Allocating Pupils to Their Nearest Secondary School: The Consequences for Social and Ability Stratification," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(4), pages 751-770, April.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    autonomy; intrinsic value; quasi-markets; school choice;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N0 - Economic History - - General

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