Increasing school choice has been an active objective of policy in England but not in Scotland. Whereas in England all families are expected to list a rank ordering of schools, in Scotland the vast majority of children attend their catchment school by default. This article reviews the differences in approach, family experience and outcomes between…

This paper examines the link between the clustering of long-term disadvantaged students within schools, and the attainment gap at age 11 between these disadvantaged students and the rest. The data comes from the National Pupil Database for England from 2006 to 2019. The analysis focuses on students who would go on to be officially recognised as…