Parents’ responses to the school quasi‐market

Abstract

This article reports the results of a qualitative interview study conducted with the parents of 32 children who were about to move to secondary schools. The sample was drawn from two areas of contrasting socioeconomic status within a single local education authority, and sought to investigate the relationships between socioeconomic status and the families’ activities within the quasi‐market of schools. The results are discussed in terms of the degree to which the families acted strategically in their local markets. It is shown that the relationships are complex and multifaceted, and cannot be reduced to simple groups of similarly acting families. However, strong relationships were found between both socioeconomic status and educational level and the degree to which families ‘played the market’.

Keywords:

• secondary schools
• choice
• quasi‐market
• parents
• class
• selection

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Steven Carroll

Steven Carroll now works in publishing with Elsevier Science

Geoffrey Walford

Geoffrey walford is Lecturer in Educational Studies and Fellow of Green College, University of Oxford