More than a third of parents support ballots in deciding faith school places, writes TIM ROSS

Parents believe ballots can play a role in allocating places at popular faith schools, a survey suggests. The survey of 2,000 adults for the Sutton Trust found there was some support for these controversial ballots to decide admissions.

The findings follow a row over moves by Brighton and Hove council to allocate places at popular state schools by lottery to stop middle-class families dominating the best secondaries.

Church schools have been criticised in the past for asking parents to demonstrate their level of commitment to the faith before deciding which children should be offered places.

The survey from Ipsos MORI, commissioned by the trust, did find support for the use of lotteries. When given the specific scenario of an over-subscribed faith school, more people taking part in the survey supported ballots than the assessment of parents' beliefs.

The survey found 36 per cent of people thought a ballot would be the fairer way of deciding which pupils get a place.

Only a fifth said they thought judgements about which families are most committed to Christianity was fairer.

Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust, said: "No child's educational future should be left purely to chance. But what this research suggests is that ballots, alongside other criteria and guarantees, have a role to play in deciding which pupils secure places at oversubscribed schools.

"The public survey suggests that when explained clearly and put into context, a high proportion of the UK public think that using random allocation is the fairer 'tiebreaker' when deciding school places."

When asked more general questions, most respondents still thought the fairest system was based on traditional rules favouring families living closest to popular schools.

The method most commonly regarded as unfair was selecting children on the basis of religion or faith. The next system most frequently described as unfair was selecting places purely by ballot. Earlier this year, councillors in Brighton faced a backlash from parents who were angry over plans to introduce a lottery.

The city council decided allocating places at the most popular schools by lottery would stop affluent families dominating the most sought-after secondary schools.

Wealthier families are said to attempt to buy their way into the best state schools by moving house to be within the catchment area.

Ministers recommended lotteries as one way of opening up these schools to working-class families who cannot afford expensive houses.