Press release from Comprehensive Future
Embargo Tuesday March 7 2006 00.01am

Comprehensive Future will hold a parliamentary seminar Fair admissions – what does it mean? today (Tuesday 7 March from 6.00 to 7.30 pm in the Boothroyd Room, Portcullis House, Westminster) .

Comprehensive Future is the campaign for fair admissions. Its original focus was within the Labour party. This event is to mark its development as an all party campaign. The speakers, apart from our Chair, David Chaytor MP are not speaking in support of our campaign but to give us their views on what fair admissions mean.

David Chaytor MP says –
For the first time ever, we have a political consensus on the importance of fair admissions or do we?
This briefing session will explore the extent of current selection in state schools and enable each of our three main political parties to spell out exactly what their policies are.   Will next weeks new Education Bill really deliver the non-selective admissions system promised for so long?

Speakers are

  •  Jacqui Smith MP Minister for Schools
  •  Nick Gibb MP member of the Conservative education team
  •  Edward Davey MP Liberal Democrat education spokesperson
  •  Professor Anne West LSE who has researched admissions, her latest research on school admission practices in  London schools was published recently
  • Steve Sinnott, General Secretary NUT