School choice works, says Reform Britain

School choice enables children to attend better schools, raises standards in existing state schools, creates new schools and provides educational opportunity for all, says a pamphlet from think tank Reform Britain.

The pamphlet says:

• Evaluations of existing school choice programmes show that children's achievements rise after they have been able to choose a different school.

• Evidence shows that the more state schools are exposed to competition from independent schools, the more they improve. The higher the proportion of students moving to independent schools, the greater the improvement in grades in state schools.

• School choice has enabled new educational provision and this has delivered higher standards.

• At present, choice is available in Great Britain only for those able to afford to buy independent education or to move near to a good school. School places are allocated according to postcode rather than choice, and property prices are much higher in areas surrounding good schools. School choice should put the opportunities currently available only to the better-off into the hands of every parent.

The Reform UK pamphlet is online as a PDF document

A pamphlet by another British think tank, Policy Exchange, Hands up for school choice, looks at "lessons from school voucher schemes" and is also online as a PDF document.