Sir - Are the employees of Worcester Cathedral hell-bent on spinning research?

The Bishop of Worcester propagated dodgy statistics about religious belief (Bishop's Diary, April 1). Now the dean, Peter Atkinson (Dean's Diary, April 9), is grossly dismissive of legitimate concerns about church schools.

Waving aside a report from the Department For Children Schools and Families, Mr Atkinson simply states that: "In my experience of a number of Church of England schools in different parts of the country, I have always found that they administer their admissions policies carefully and conscientiously".

What a surprise! Anecdotal evidence from a reverend trumps actual research?

The reason this is controversial is not because church schools are over-subscribed, as the dean tells us. It is the other way around. It is because so many of these schools are abusing the applications process that they end up over-subscribed. If the churches were truly interested in ensuring that education was in no way mixed up with sectarianism, as the dean asserts, then they would remove themselves entirely from the state education system.

Bob Churchill, Worcester.