Schools expansion equivalent to seven new grammars

THE equivalent of seven new grammar schools will be created if expansion plans are approved, figures show.

About 35 grammar schools are preparing bids for the Government’s £50 million Selective School Expansion Fund, which, if approved, would create thousands of new places.

If all are approved, it will represent a 23per cent increase in selective places in these schools, according to the campaign group Comprehensive Future.

The expanding schools propose creating 1,089 additional places, which is equivalent to 7.7 new 140-place grammar schools being built, the group added.

The money is available to existing grammars on the condition that they can prove they will take in more children from lower-income backgrounds.

Melissa Benn, chair of Comprehensive Future, said: “The Government should fund good schools that work for everyone, not schools that create problems for the majority of pupils.”