Grammar schools ‘help pupils from low incomes’

A GRAMMAR school education significantly increases the chance of disadvantaged pupils getting into highly-selective universities like Oxbridge.

According to a paper published by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), grammar schools increase the likelihood of progression for pupils from the bottom two quintiles of social disadvantage, and Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) pupils.

The report also suggests that almost half (45 per cent) of students at grammar schools come from households with below median income. Other data indicates that more than a third (39 per cent) of pupils in selective school areas progress from state schools to highly-selective universities, compared to just 23 per cent in comprehensive areas.

A state school pupil from the most disadvantaged quintile is more than twice as likely to progress to Oxbridge if they live in a selective area than a non-selective area. The paper describes how most previous research has focused on eligibility for free school meals as a measure of disadvantage. It says this obscures large differences within the remaining 85 per cent of the population. Instead the report looks at the impact of selection across the advantage or disadvantage spectrum, focusing on students from families on less than median income, the first in their family to go to university and BME pupils.

Iain Mansfield, a former senior civil servant and the author of the report, said: “Opponents of grammar schools portray them as just for the rich, but 45 per cent of their pupils come from below median income households.”

Mr Mansfield makes a number other recommendations, including calling for detailed research on the impact of selective schooling on the social mobility of children from households below the median income.