New grammar school ban to be lifted

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who has described the decline in selective education as “a real tragedy for this country”, has said they are “a great mobiliser and liberator”, helping the “brightest children from poor homes”.

Her comments come after her rumoured intentions were confirmed when an official was photographed carrying a document signed by the Department for Education’s most senior civil servant revealing proposals for a consultation on opening new grammars.

Sir Michael Wilshaw, the Government’s outgoing chief inspector of schools, said on Monday that a return to the selective model would be “profoundly retrograde” and warned the claim that poor children benefit from grammars was “tosh and nonsense”.

And Ms Morgan – who was sacked from the education brief in July – warned that increased selection by ability would be “at best a distraction from crucial reforms to raise standards and narrow the attainment gap and at worst risk actively undermining six years of progressive education reform”.

At a press conference at the end of last week, May made it clear that she did not intend to build a system to accommodate a return to the much maligned 11-plus and secondary modern school.

Will there be a grammar school in every town in England?

For Mrs May, a Remain supporter who now leads a party full of Brexiteers, this is an issue where she can align herself with the instincts of the Tory grassroots, and differentiate herself from the distrusted modernisers who preceded her.

So why the sudden change?

As we reported, the policy has been introduced by the King Edward VI Foundation, which runs five grammar schools in Birmingham – King Edward VI Aston, King Edward VI Handsworth Girls, King Edward VI Camp Hill Boys, King Edward VI Camp Hill Girls and King Edward VI Five Ways. For decades, British children were tested at age 11.

Labour pledged to fight the plans “every step of the way”, while Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron predicted they would be defeated in the Lords.

New-style “smart” exams would identify pupils with “true potential”, rather than allowing middle-class parents to ensure their children a grammar school place through expensive tutoring, she said. “And we believe that selection should be part of the debate”, she said. “That is simply unfair”, the prime minister said.

“Hundreds of our children go outside the borough to attend a number of grammar schools every day”.

She said schools should be able to select on the basis of ability, adding that many already selected on the basis of disciplines like music and sport.

This will include relaxing the restrictions on new or expanding selective schools – as well as allowing existing non-selective schools to become selective in some circumstances. By taking into account all of these factors, Cook was able to assess how pupils from performed in their GCSEs at selective and non-selective schools in relation to the socioeconomic status.

She also said: “People get lost in the argument about whether the grammar schools of the 1950s and 60s improved social mobility or not”.

Additionally, think tanks and advocacy organisations in the education sector have sounded notes of caution about the plans, commending May’s commitment to equality, but questioning her means. Current government policy prevents new grammars being set up.

Tory unease about grammar schools was laid bare today as ministers challenged Justine Greening over her education plans.