How Do Parents Choose a School for Their Child? An Example of the Exercise of Parental Choice.

Summary Increased provision for parents to exercise choice in the education of their children is one of the central objectives of recent government education policy in the UK. The establishment of new ‘planned integrated schools’ in Northern Ireland has provided a group of parents with a new opportunity to make choices. This research investigates the motives of parents who have decided to send their children to integrated schools. Five main sets of determinants of choice and the possibility of conflict arising from differences in motivation, between groups of parents, in a number of areas are identified. This paper also suggests a wider underlying tension between the short‐term and essentially personal objectives which direct the decisions of individual parents and the need for long‐term planning of educational policy.