Parents may be asked to prove their child is Catholic if they want to get them into schools across East Renfrewshire.

Under the proposals, if a Catholic primary or secondary school in the area is over-subscribed, parents will be required to produce a “baptismal certificate” to prove their child’s Catholicism.

St Ninian’s High School in Giffnock is among the country’s top-performing state secondary schools.

The council, which said the school is oversubscribed by pupils from its catchment area for the new S1 intake in 2016/17, will meet on Thursday to discuss the plans.

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Councillors on the education committee are being asked to approve to holding a consultation on the proposed changes to entrance criteria at denominational schools in the area.

A report for the meeting stated: “Whilst evidence shows that there are still spaces available in St. Ninian’s to meet ‘catchment demand’ over the medium term, the growth now seen in its associated primary schools from ‘catchment pupils’ will impact on future intakes to St. Ninian’s High School as well as exert pressure on primary accommodation under current arranged provision should the pattern over the last few years continue.

“Despite investment to increase the number of Roman Catholic places in primary and secondary schools, and a change in admissions arrangements for St. Ninian’s High School, the demand for places continues as more East Renfrewshire families are choosing a denominational (Roman Catholic) education for their child(ren).

“The current numbers of available places and/or the admissions arrangements require to change to ensure sufficient pupil places, offer a denominational education to Roman Catholic families and satisfy local demand. Any change must take account of relevant legislation and effective and efficient management of resources.”

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The council report stated St Ninian’s is oversubscribed for 2016/17, as “there is no longer the physical space to accommodate another intake class” made up of 320 pupils.

In the report, the council also noted it faces an anticipated capital cost of £750,000 in 2012-22 to provide temporary accommodation at the secondary to “honour commitments to pupils currently entitled under existing arrangements for admissions and P7-S1 transfer.”

The report before the council stated: “East Renfrewshire Council adopted a policy in October 2001 to manage pupil places, especially at the point of transition from primary to secondary schools and specifically to manage the numbers of pupils, mainly in the east of the authority, for those seeking to move from the non-denominational primary sector to St Ninian’s High School.

“Although this policy has on the whole allowed the department to manage pupil places it has for a number of years had an impact on pupil places in the Roman Catholic primary sector.”

It proposes the new criteria would come into place from January next year.

In 2015, St Ninain’s had the second-highest rate of pupils achieving five Highers or more with 73%, after Jordanhill School in Glasgow’s west end had a rate of 75%.

Council Leader, Jim Fletcher, said the council has a “reputation as Scotland’s leading local authority for the provision of consistently high quality education”.

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He added: “Because of this success there is a high demand for places in our schools and in recent years this has increased significantly – particularly so in our Roman Catholic schools.

“We are very proactive in ensuring that our residents can get into the schools of their choice wherever possible and have already taken a range of steps to increase capacity. However demand for Roman Catholic school places is continuing to grow at a rate that requires us to now take further measures to ensure we can meet demand from our resident population.

“The education committee will consider the proposal to consult on these proposed new arrangements later this week. It must be stressed that the council is always in listening mode and takes on board all views to ensure that we arrive at decisions which provide the best possible services and standards for our residents.”