An increasing number of parents are in favour of a ballot system when it comes to determining which children can sign up to a particular school, a new survey has found.

The Sutton Trust found that 47 per cent of mums and dads are in favour of this randomised approach to school admissions, which would supersede and even replace where you live as a key factor.   

According to the thinktank, the current process needs to be overhauled to be fairer. In particular, it is urging independent schools, grammar schools and comprehensives to evaluate their admission policies.

Dr Lee Elliot Major, director of policy and development at the Sutton Trust, said that all three political parties need to make social mobility a central feature of their election campaign agenda.

"Fairer admissions and fairer access must be at the heart of any programme to improve social mobility," he explained.

"Our poll shows a public appetite for change in oversubscribed comprehensives and academies. We need changes too to ensure fair access to grammar schools, independent schools and elite universities."

Dr Major added that action needs to be taken at all stages of the journey through education, right from primary school to further and higher education.

A randomised approach is seen as one way of readdressing the gap in attainment levels in children from affluent backgrounds and those from disadvantaged ones.

The findings of the poll have been published at the same time as the Sutton Trust launches its new Mobility Manifesto, at the heart of which is a desire to see more schools adopt a ballot process.

Interestingly, it is not calling for a universal adoption – it suggests that in line with routine admission policies, this would be one aspect in how school places are determined.

Responding to the news of this report, Nansi Ellis, assistant general secretary at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said that a move towards fairness in school admissions is vital and topical – as school types diversify, it is becoming harder to ensure that this happens.

"While allocating places by ballot may seem fairer, it will make admissions to oversubscribed schools even more complex and is likely to lead to parents who are unsuccessful feeling their child is attending a 'second best' school," she cautioned.

"ATL believes that ballots and banding would be more successful in closing the attainment gap if they are carried out across a local authority area rather than for individual schools. We would urge closer investigation of both forms of allocation on a local area basis, and consideration of how best to ensure that all schools admit a broad range of children across a range of educational and financial situations."