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Added: Monday, 6 July, 2009, 10:08 GMT 11:08 UK

If we did away with league tables none of this would happen. Also, if more kids simply went to their local school it would keep more cars off the road.

Oh, and the teachers could just get on and teach...

Dream on, I hear you all say.

Glyn Evans, Wivenhoe, United Kingdom

Added: Monday, 6 July, 2009, 09:56 GMT 10:56 UK

Yes, there is something seriously wrong with the whole state school system in the UK.

In Sweden half the municipalities [counties] do NOT have private schools because the state schools are so good! That fact speaks for itself.

Steve, London

Added: Monday, 6 July, 2009, 09:56 GMT 10:56 UK

I went to the closest school which wasn't the best but wasn't the worst either. I still passed my GCSE's fine with the aid and support of my parents. This is the key, you can send your kids anywhere you like but if the support isn't there at home it's useless. Still I feel that parents should be allowed to send their children where they wish, it's a total sham that if you happen to live in an area where the only schools available to you are below par you have to make do.

Rebecca Myatt, Liverpool, United Kingdom

Added: Monday, 6 July, 2009, 09:29 GMT 10:29 UK

The real question is, why are there so few good schools?

[stress_bunny], Gloucester, United Kingdom

Added: Monday, 6 July, 2009, 09:19 GMT 10:19 UK

Yes, it should be changed. Most importantly, discrimination on the grounds of religion should be illegal. Schools are for education, not for indoctrination. And schools paid for by taxpayers should be open to ALL taxpayers, not just those who fund the right church. (The self-serving entry criteria for most taxpayer-funded religious schools has to be read to be believed.) If religions were as keen on equality as they are on discrimination the world would be a MUCH better place.

Keith Charters, East Kilbride

Added: Monday, 6 July, 2009, 09:08 GMT 10:08 UK

The overwhelming opinion on HYS is to reintroduce Grammar schools. There's also a lot of belief in a merit system of class gradings, with improvement being rewarded and misbehaviour being penalised. Despite our schooling we have an incredible level of illiteracy and innumeracy. So I would go further, however draconian you might think this is: school should be a privilege, not a right, and those who are disruptive should be made to understand this. Borstal is a good alternative.

Ali Bally-Bee, Mama's Knee, United Kingdom

Added: Monday, 6 July, 2009, 09:07 GMT 10:07 UK

All children should go to a local primary school close to their home with standards being consistently high. As they develop at different rates they should then be streamed based on their progress as they are ALL different. The next schools they attend should be based on ability with routes to transfer if they excel at a lower level school. And so on with the more academic going on to University. Accept it, that is society and life. How will you choose when all have dumbed down GCSEs or degrees?

[PaulPieman]

Added: Monday, 6 July, 2009, 09:02 GMT 10:02 UK

Obviously it must be a good school! Ministers’ kids can go where the minister wants, as our employees, surely we have the same rights? Of course not.

The “select” can have choice, selection and even exclusion, the people who pay for it cannot.

It is simple, if you live there you go there, if you cheat and are caught then your kid is sent to the appropriate school. Schools with spare capacity advertise. No exceptions Mr Blair et al.

Confusus Theytry, WALES, United Kingdom

Added: Monday, 6 July, 2009, 09:01 GMT 10:01 UK

Talk about making life complicated and stressful. I went to the school nearest to where I lived; my parents had no choice, they didn’t want choice. No one felt upset by the lack of choice and no one worried. What is more my education was excellent.

The Wardster, Ipswich, United Kingdom

Added: Monday, 6 July, 2009, 08:53 GMT 09:53 UK

i moved house to get my child into the best school. i made sure she had the best of what was available to her and as a wonderfully intelligent toddler why should she have to got to school with all the other swearing, violent and knife carrying kids? far too many parents dump their kids in the nearest available school and don't care so long as they aren't at home under their feet! if i was prevented from getting her a good education i would home school her. simple as that.

sarah tickhill, newcastle under lyme, United Kingdom

Added: Monday, 6 July, 2009, 08:48 GMT 09:48 UK

If all the brightest kids go to the best schools, then all the dumb kids will go to the worst schools, which means they will never have the chance to better themselves, and vice versa.

europhile, Northampton

Added: Monday, 6 July, 2009, 08:47 GMT 09:47 UK

Parents panic about getting their children into the best schools because under Labour so many are so bad.

harry bristol, portsmouth

Added: Monday, 6 July, 2009, 08:45 GMT 09:45 UK

Why don't they just go back to the old system where you had to go to your nearest school unless your parents could afford a private education? I never understood why they felt the need to change it in the first place.

Lisa, Chester

Added: Monday, 6 July, 2009, 08:41 GMT 09:41 UK

Bring back selection. The best children to the best schools so that we have the best possible future for our country as a whole.

ZORBA EISENHOWER, Seldom, Wilts

Added: Monday, 6 July, 2009, 08:25 GMT 09:25 UK

We need to look first as to why parents feel the need to lie. The problem is not rocket science. For years now the calibre of teachers being sent into our schools has dropped dramatically. English and Mathematics are not taught to a high enough standard. Physical Education has taken a back seat and discipline is poor. Respect for teachers and fellow pupils has all but disappeared. So........if by some miracle a parent finds a school that works...they lie to get them in.

carol collier, kenton