Rejecting Schools: Towards a fuller understanding of the process of parental choice

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Abstract
In analysing the relationship between the response of secondary schools to the educational marketplace and how and why parents choose schools, this paper focuses on the crucially important but largely unexplored issue of the reasons parents have for not choosing particular schools. In essence it investigates why certain schools are rejected as opposed to selected by parents. The findings broaden the understanding of the choice process - negative reasoning playing a significant role in deciding not only which schools are ultimately chosen but which ones are even considered by parents. In particular, the findings reinforce the fact that the process of school choice is both complex and highly localised and as such has marked implications for school managers seeking to respond in a competitive educational marketplace.