Listed: All the faith schools in Wales that discriminate against children in care

The Welsh Education Minister, Lynne Neagle MS, has told the Senedd that the Welsh Government is ‘not aware of any evidence’ that children in care (formally known as ‘looked after children’) ‘are being treated unfairly’ in faith school admissions. But last year Wales Humanists published a report showing that nearly half of Catholic schools in Wales actively discriminate against children who are or were in care in their admissions. In response to the Minister’s comments, it has decided to name all the schools that it found to discriminate in this way.

Ms Neagle made the statement in response to a question by Labour Senedd Member Jenny Rathbone, who asked ‘what oversight … the Welsh Government [has over] the compliance of schools, including faith schools, to prioritise places for looked-after children in their admissions criteria?’

The School Admissions Code requires all schools in Wales to prioritise ‘looked after’ and ‘previously looked after’ children, otherwise known as ‘care-experienced’ children. These are some of the most vulnerable children in society and they often have complex and poorly met needs, including educational needs. However, loopholes in the Code mean that faith schools are exempted from the broad duties of care to these children that apply to other schools. They can prioritise all children deemed to be ‘of the faith’ over care-experienced children who are ‘not of the faith’. 

In Careless or Uncaring? How faith schools in Wales turn away care-experienced children, Wales Humanists published the results of a survey of all the admissions policies for religious schools in Wales. It found that 43% of Catholic schools and 1% of Church in Wales schools discriminate in this way.

These policies put vulnerable children to the back of the queue for school places simply for being of the ‘wrong’ or of no religion. In areas where faith schools dominate over other schools, these children may not gain admission to any local school.

Faith schools that discriminate against care-experienced children who are ‘not of the faith’

Name	Local authority	Religious character
St Mary’s Roman Catholic	Blaenau Gwent	Roman Catholic
St Mary’s R C Primary School	Bridgend	Roman Catholic
St. Mary’s & St. Patrick’s	Bridgend	Roman Catholic
St. Robert’s RC Primary	Bridgend	Roman Catholic
St Cuthbert’s RC Primary	Cardiff	Roman Catholic
St. Peter’s Primary School	Cardiff	Roman Catholic
Christ The King Primary School	Cardiff	Roman Catholic
St Philip Evans Primary School	Cardiff	Roman Catholic
St Alban’s RC Primary School	Cardiff	Roman Catholic
St. Mary’s RC Primary School	Cardiff	Roman Catholic
St Patrick’s RC School	Cardiff	Roman Catholic
St Bernadette’s Primary School	Cardiff	Roman Catholic
St. Francis RC Primary School	Cardiff	Roman Catholic
Pentip V.A. C.I.W. Primary School*	Carmarthenshire	Church in Wales
Ysgol San Sior*	Conwy	Church in Wales
St Winefrides	Flintshire	Roman Catholic
St David’s Catholic Primary School	Flintshire	Roman Catholic
St Mary’s	Flintshire	Roman Catholic
Venerable Edward Morgan RC	Flintshire	Roman Catholic
Ysgol Santes Helen	Gwynedd	Roman Catholic
Ysgol Ein Harglwyddes	Gwynedd	Roman Catholic
Our Lady & St Michael’s RC	Monmouthshire	Roman Catholic
St. Davids Primary	Newport	Roman Catholic
St Joseph’s RC Junior and Infants	Newport	Roman Catholic
St Mary’s Primary School	Newport	Roman Catholic
St Michael’s RC Primary School	Newport	Roman Catholic
St Patrick’s RC Primary	Newport	Roman Catholic
St. Gabriel’s RC	Newport	Roman Catholic
Our Lady’s RC	Rhondda Cynon Taf	Roman Catholic
St. Margaret’s Catholic Primary School	Rhondda Cynon Taf	Roman Catholic
St. Joseph’s RC Primary School	The Vale of Glamorgan	Roman Catholic
St Helen’s Catholic Primary School	The Vale of Glamorgan	Roman Catholic
St. David’s RC School, Cwmbran*	Torfaen	Roman Catholic
Padre Pio RC Primary School	Torfaen	Roman Catholic

Secondary schools

Name	Local authority	Religious character
Archbishop McGrath Catholic High School	Bridgend	Roman Catholic
St. Joseph’s RC High School	Newport	Roman Catholic

* Schools that discriminate in ways that breach the Code.

While most faith school admissions policies surveyed were clearly unfair but technically lawful due to loopholes in the Code, some went beyond what the law permits. For example, St David’s Roman Catholic Primary School, Cwmbran gives ‘highest priority’ to care-experienced children within each admissions category, rather than overall. Since these categories place not only baptised Catholic children, but also children of other Christian denominations and other faith backgrounds ahead of the non-religious, care-experienced children in lower-priority categories can end up behind non-care-experienced children of faiths other than that of the school. This directly violates the Code, which requires schools to ‘give a higher priority to looked after children and previously looked after children not of the faith than other children not of that faith’.

Humanists UK Education Policy Researcher Dr Ruth Wareham commented:

‘Our research clearly demonstrates that many faith schools in Wales are placing religious adherence above the needs of some of the most vulnerable children in our society. In doing so, they are exploiting loopholes in the School Admissions Code and undermining the principle that all children, regardless of background or belief, deserve equal access to education. The Welsh Government must take immediate action to close these loopholes and ensure that no child is denied a place at their local school simply because they are not of the “right” faith – or of any faith at all.’