It follows new education secretary Kit Malthouse’s confirmation that the Prime Minister has commissioned him to look at areas of England that would like to open new grammar schools, as well as those that want to expand existing grammars. Speaking to the Yorkshire Post during a visit to the college this week, Malthouse said: “The Prime Minister made it clear during the leadership contest that she wanted to see work in secondary schools, basically because there is a desire from parents in some parts of let the country have them. “We are talking about parental choice, everyone should be able to make a choice for their children. So we’re looking at that policy seriously and looking at areas that want to have it or high schools that want to expand.” Liz Truss, who sent her daughters to the grammar school, will however face widespread opposition, including from other modernizers in her party who unveiled an earlier attempt to revive grammar schools more widely in 2016, when Theresa May was prime minister. Only 163 grammar schools remain in England and there has been a ban on opening new ones since 1998. Any lifting of this ban, which was introduced by the Labor government, would require primary legislation. Although the government has a large majority in the Commons, it will face strong opposition in the House of Lords. Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Tory Backbench Committee and a long-time supporter of grammar schools, is reported to be planning to table an amendment to the government’s recent schools bill to try to lift the ban. David Johnston, the Conservative MP for Wantage and former chairman of the Foundation for Social Mobility, warned that bringing back grammar schools would be deeply divisive for the country and the Conservative party. Writing in the Spectator, he said: “I know grammar schools are popular with members and my view will not be. But bringing them back would be a serious mistake for education policy. They distract from what we need to do, they serve the rich and not the poor – and they don’t work.” Steve Mastin, a former head of history at a state secondary school and vice-chairman of the Conservative Education Society, said he would speak out against secondary schools at the Conservative party conference. “High schools reduce parental choice. The school chooses, not the parents. And 80% of students in the country will be rejected from going to high school.” Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said grammar schools were “a distraction tactic” by a government running out of ideas. “Grammars make up a small minority of schools, they don’t improve educational outcomes and parents don’t want them – they want the education secretary to raise standards in all our schools.” Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman Munira Wilson said it was “a desperate attempt” by the Tories to hide their own failings. “Instead of supporting children who work hard to make up for lost learning, the Conservatives would rather impose top-down rules on the kinds of schools that can be built in communities.” Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, warned that introducing new grammar schools without strong measures to ensure access for children from all backgrounds would create “an exclusive strain of middle-class schools, certainly not in any way engines of social mobility at all”. Jon Andrews, head of analysis at the Education Policy Institute, said it was an “age-old debate” that took away from the real problems facing schools. “Whether it’s reducing educational inequities, combating teacher shortages or even supporting schools to meet dramatically increased operating costs, high schools are not the answer.” Dr Nuala Burgess, chair of the campaign group Comprehensive Future, said: “It is deeply worrying that a new, unwarranted government can choose to throw aside all logic and the weight of evidence which shows the very limited value of grammar schools for a small minority of children. “Ask any parent what they want for their child’s education and it’s definitely not ‘more high schools.’ Parents want well-funded, well-resourced schools.” Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the expansion of grammar schools was “purely ideological”. He said the major issues facing the education sector remain funding and teacher shortages. “Tackling these issues would make the biggest difference to improving outcomes for all students, which should certainly be a priority for any government.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
The case studies
Sally Weale, Education Correspondent As the Government draws up plans for more secondary schools in England, a new website has been launched to give a voice to parents, pupils and teachers who have first-hand experience of the 11-plus test and its impact. Around 100,000 children currently sit the 11-plus each year to win a place at one of the 163 surviving schools. Here are some of the comments from the 11+ Anonymous website, set up by campaign group Comprehensive Future. On test anxiety, one father in Kent, where the grammar system still operates, said: “A few nights before the test, I looked at my daughter’s tablet search history. The last search was “How to Cope When You’re Panicking About Something.” A 10-year-old!” On fees, a Sevenoaks mother said: “We spent £2,000 on fees last year. Everyone I know does this. I envy friends who live in areas where there are simply well-rounded ones. No stress for the 10-year-old, no sense of failure, just the quality free education they deserve.” An 11-plus teacher in Trafford, Greater Manchester, where there are grammars, said: “I’ve seen a lot of very bright children fail exams because of nerves and less able children get lucky on the day and pass. For many children of generally similar ability, the test becomes more of a lottery of luck than a test of ability.’ A mother in Trafford said she knew many children who fell ill under the weight of expectation. “Kids who don’t pass often suffer significant, sometimes lifelong, damage to their self-esteem. No child should have to go through this to get a good education and no child should be marked as a failure at 10 or 11 years old.” On the long-term impact of the 11+, a 63-year-old grandmother said: “The 11+ test had such a negative impact on me and created self-esteem issues that persist to this day. I’m not an idiot. But I’ve had low self-esteem issues about my intelligence and my worth ever since I ‘failed’ that terrible test in 1969.”
