Faith schools should be stripped of their power to choose pupils, according to research that suggests that some secondary schools are flouting new rules designed to prevent middle-class pupils dominating the best comprehensives.

While the Catholic Church across Ireland is promoting its own schools this week, integrated education campaigners in the North are working to build community schooling that crosses religious and other divides.

Runnymede Trust, a respected multi-ethnic research body, has said that schools backed by religious bodies can play a valuable part in the education mix, but only if they are prepared for radical reform.