Implementation of School Choice Policy: Interpretation and response by parents of students with special educational needs

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Abstract
In England a restructured school system has been functioning throughout the 1990s. An integral aspect of this restructuring is the creation of a more competitive public‐market school system aimed at enhancing parental opportunities for choice amongst publicly‐funded schools. What has been the experience of the restructured system by one particular group of parents with specific needs and preferences, namely parents of students with special educational needs (SEN)? This article is intended to provide empirically‐based insights into the preferences, perceptions and responses of such parents. It draws on analyses of quantitative and qualitative data generated by a large‐scale, more general research study on school choice, funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ref. no. R000234079). The findings reveal the depth and range of problems and difficulties encountered by parents of SEN students as they attempt to exercise choice in a more competitive public‐market environment.

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