A groundbreaking contribution to the debate on the role of choice and market economics in education, this book will be essential reading for anyone involved in determining or implementing education policy at all levels.

Choice and selection are now cornerstones of education policies wherever these have been shaped by market economics. Now, as never before, schools can face uncertain futures, because their survival is determined by external factors such as admission policies and parental preferences. Because of the link between schooling, and housing and other public sector services, the implications of increasing choice extends well beyond education. Schools, Markets and Choice Policies brings together the findings of the most comprehensive research ever conducted into choice in secondary education, and provides in-depth context, analysis and discussion. In assessing the impact of choice policies not only upon the education system itself, but also upon wider society, it provides valuable insights into economic and social segregation. A groundbreaking contribution to the debate on the role of choice and market economies in education, this book is essential reading for anyone involved in determining or implementing education policy at all levels.

'This will be a very important book because it reports on the largest and most scientific study of the vast experiment in school choice underway now for years in England and Wales. This is a hugely controversial subject internationally among policy makers, educators, and the parents ... The authors are well known and highly regarded in international scholarly circles. Their scientific methodology is sophisticated and well-informed.' - William Boyd, Pennsylvania State University'This is a very important book on the subject of choice policies and school segregation. This issue is hotly debated, and extremely ideological. The value of this book is its disciplined combination of quantitative and qualitative methods in anwering questions about the effects of choice policies, an issue with broad international implications.' - William A. Firestone, Rutgers, State University of New Jersey 'This book provides a thoroughly documented warning against expecting too much ... from national policies ... [and] includes a firmly evidence-based defence of 'unmodernized' comprehensive schools.' - The Welsh Journal of Education 'There is something in this book for every serious student or scholar of education in both the detail and the more general analyses ... Impressive in both scope and quality, this book is a must read for anyone with a serious interest in schooling in contemporary Britain.' - Ken Green, Educational Review