Thousands of schoolchildren are having their education decided by a 'roll of the dice' as councils use a controversial selection practice in a bid to ensure the best schools are more comprehensive in make-up.
The practice of fair banding - in which a percentage of lower ability children are chosen for the better schools - or even a straight lotterysystem are being used by schools in more than a third of councils.
The news comes as parents prepare for 'admissions day' on Tuesday, when more than half a million children in England will find out which secondary school they will attend in September.
Competition for school places is fierce in some urban areas with the William Hulme Grammar Academy in Manchester sifting through 433 applicants for just 120 places.
The number of schools using 'fair banding' or lotteries has risen from one in four in 2009, to one in three in the latest survey, carried out in the fifth year that the options have been available to schools.
Education Secretary Michael Gove has pushed the 'fair banding' admissions policy but it has been criticised by education bodies as 'social engineering'.
Families have attacked the policy because they say it penalises middle class families for the sake of political correctness and lowers property values close to good schools if residents aren't guaranteed entry to those local schools.
According to a survey conducted by the Daily Telegraph one in nine children are expected to miss out on their preferred school - around 60,000 pupils - while in some areas the figure rises as high as 40 per cent.
In the survey of 110 councils in England with responsibility for education, 27 used lotteries to decide pupil places, while 21 used 'fair banding'.
Some schools used both policies, meaning that the practices were used in 38 of the 110 schools - more than a third.
Schools which use fair banding, such as the William Hulme Grammar Academy, defend the practice, saying it ensures 'a completely comprehensiveintake with children of all abilities and from all ethnic backgrounds.'
(Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)
(Agencies)
为了确保最好的学校在学生构成方面更有包容性，英国一些地方行政区采取了一个极具争议性的选拔方式--通过"掷骰子"来决定学生能否被录取。 英国超过三分之一的地方行政区内的学校采用"公平分班"甚至摇号的方式录取学生，前者使得一部分能力较低的学生进入好学校。 这则新闻发布的时候，家长们正在为周二的"录取日"做准备，在这天英国超过五十万的孩子将获知他们9月份将就读于哪所初中。 在一些市区，入学竞争异常激烈，例如曼彻斯特市威廉休姆语法学校收到了433份入学申请，而学校招生计划仅为120人。 最新的调查显示，通过"公平分班"或者摇号来录取学生的学校的比例已经从2009年的四分之一升到现在的三分之一。今年是学校施行上述两种选拔方式的第五年。 教育大臣迈克尔•戈夫促进了"公平分班"招生政策的推广，但是各教育团体批评这项政策是一项"社会工程"。 家长们攻击这项政策的原因是他们认为该政策为了政治正确性而牺牲了中产阶级家庭的利益，同时，该政策还拉低了靠近好学校的"学区房"的房产价值，鉴于"学区房"也并不能保证孩子能就读附近的好学校。 《每日电讯报》进行的一项调查显示，平均九分之一的学生--约6万名学生--将无法进入首选初中，有些地方这一比例高达40%。 共有110个负责教育的地方行政区参与了调查，其中，选择摇号招生的行政区为27个，选择"公平分班"的为21个。 一些学校同时采用以上两种方式，这说明110个学校里有38个采用这两种招生方式，超过了三分之一。 采用"公平分班"录取方式的学校（比如威廉休姆语法学校）辩解说，这种招生方式"能确保不同种族背景、不同能力的孩子都能被录取，使学校更具包容性。"
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