Segregation in society can hinder social mobility. For instance, segregated schools can prevent disadvantaged pupils from experiencing high-quality teaching and constructive peer interactions. Segregated neighbourhoods may result in poor access to amenities such as good-quality housing and services.
Segregation is potentially affected by the process of assigning children to schools. If school access is determined solely by residence in a catchment area, higher-performing schools may increase demand for properties in their catchment area. This increase in demand would lead to higher property prices, in turn shaping the socio-economic composition of the neighbourhood as lower-income households are ‘priced out’. This neighbourhood sorting would then be reflected in the composition of the schools: high-income neighbourhoods imply schools with high-income intakes, and vice versa.
Conversely, if households have the option to attend any school regardless of their address, there would be weaker incentives to sort into particular neighbourhoods. In turn, this would weaken the link between school and neighbourhood socio-economic composition.
