Riposte to discrimination ruling

THE HEADMASTER of a prominent Catholic secondary school has hit back at a government body’s ruling that  its admissions policy favoured white middle-class pupils, writes Liz Dodd.

David McFadden, headmaster of the London Oratory School in Fulham, west London, rejected the Office of the Schools Adjudicator’s decision last week that 105 aspects of its admission arrangements breached the School Admissions Code.

The school gives priority to pupils who can show evidence of their commitment to Catholicism.

In a letter to parents, Mr McFadden said that the school was representative of the Catholic community in London, noting that the complaint came from the British Humanist Association, which opposed faith schools. “The school does not seek to be simply a neighbourhood school in one of the more privileged areas of west London,” he said.

He said that the school had complied with all previous adjudications about its admissions policy, adding that the governors would take legal advice on the adjudication.