Leading state schools are demanding that parents make “donations” of hundreds of pounds to guarantee a place for their children, ministers have said.

Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, said that a “significant minority” of schools — mostly faith schools — were breaching the admissions code, with some expecting financial contributions before taking a child. Parents had been asked to set up standing orders or send cheques, paying hundreds of pounds a term, he said.

Having made clear that selection by academic ability would not be expanded in the state sector and that there would be no new grammar schools, the Government now has faith schools in its sights.

A tough new admissions code, brought in last year to prevent state schools using covert forms of selection to cherry-pick high-performing middle-class pupils, was designed to address the issue. But yesterday it emerged that a number of schools in three authorities, chosen as representative of the country, were abusing the system. The Government would not confirm how many, but accepted that it was “more than a handful”.

The majority of offences were committed by faith schools, which are in charge of their own admissions. Many give preference based on religious observance but must adhere to the stipulations of the admissions code.

Jim Knight, the Schools Minister, has spoken this week to leaders of the Jewish, Anglican and Roman Catholic faiths about the problem.

In making his announcement — and laying blame with local authorities — Mr Balls stood accused of trying to detract attention from secondary school admissions’ figures, which were also published yesterday.

These showed that almost a fifth of children did not get their first choice of secondary school — rising to half in some areas of London — and 4,000 children presently have no place for September.

Nick Gibb, the Shadow Schools Minister, said: “Ed Balls is distracting people from the real issue — that one in five children are being refused their first choice of secondary school. There are too few good schools.”

The research methods were also questioned after Mr Balls admitted that his department’s survey was “unverified desk research”. Local authorities challenged some of its findings. They were furious at being given only one day’s notice of the investigation. Schools were not contacted. Instead, much of the information was gleaned from prospectuses and websites, which may not have been updated to conform with the new admissions code. Sources in the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) suggested that the survey was designed to intimidate schools and local authorities into paying more attention to the admissions code.

There is a perception that certain school admissions authorities felt that they could ignore the system.

The DCSF said that it would not “name and shame” the schools but added that a small number were comprehensives, with admissions controlled by local authorities. The DCSF looked at schools in three randomly selected authorities — Manchester, Northamptonshire and the London Borough of Barnet. Researchers found the code had been flouted by “tens” of the 570 schools in these areas.

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