The Minister of State for School Standards, Nick Gibb MP, has responded to the petition I presented on the floor of the House of Commons on 29 January 2018, regarding the the National Admissions Policy For Faith Schools.
In response to 155 Telford constituents, the Schools Minister wrote:
'The Government remain committed to its long standing partnership with faith schools, which make up a third of all state-funded schools.
Church and other faith schools make a hugely positive contribution to our education system as consistently high-performing and popular schools. Many faith schools also work hard to promote and support integration and community cohesion. We want to make sure all children learn the values that underpin our society, which is why education was at the heart of the Integrated Communities Strategy.
Every child deserves access to a good school place and we want parents to have greater choice when it comes to their child’s school.
We have made it clear that we want to create more good school places and that includes Church and other faith schools. Where there is parental demand and where there is a need for places, we want to support the creation of those new schools.
We will set out our response to the “Schools that work for everyone” consultation in due course'
You can read the contents of the original petition, and the Schools Minister's response, via the below Word document.