THE need to improve educational standards in Bradford and the North is a pressing one.

That’s why Sir Nick Weller, who leads the Dixons Academy Trust which runs seven schools in Bradford, was appointed by then Chancellor George Osborne in March to examine what can be done.

Sir Nick’s report, the Northern Powerhouse Schools Strategy, has now been published and it contains many sensible suggestions, such as setting up a Teach North scheme to attract talented teachers to disadvantaged schools; attracting dynamic leaders to drive up standards at poorly performing schools by raising the status of careers in those areas, as well as commissioning research to see if the problems are, in fact, rooted in how children are being taught from an early age.

But Sir Nick has also suggested something altogether more controversial. To encourage greater diversity in school rolls he has called for admission policies to be reviewed to the point that schools with the highest concentrations of mono-cultures should consider randomised selection from a city-wide or whole-town catchment. So pupils would not necessarily attend their nearest school but could be allocated ones where it is felt a cultural rebalance is needed.

But it has been tried before and Bradford’s so-called ‘bussing’ policy was scrapped as a failure more than 30 years ago. It’s a worthy aim and the need for a better mix of faith, creeds and cultures in every school is undeniable to build better understanding and opportunities for the future. But such crude social engineering is doomed to failure. A subtler, less proscriptive route to the same goal must surely be found.