Proof that poorer pupils do need more grammars
They’re more than twice as likely to go to a failing school
POOR children are twice as likely as those from richer homes to attend an under-performing secondary school because of ‘selection by house price’, a study has found.
It suggests that more than two in ten pupils from the poorest families attend a substandard secondary, compared with one in ten of their richer peers.
Social mobility charity Teach First, which compiled the data, said less privileged youngsters are being priced out of top schools as their parents cannot afford to live in the catchment areas.
The study is likely to be seen as further evidence to support Theresa May’s plans for more grammar schools, which she hopes will stop house prices being a barrier to a good education.
The Prime Minister wants a new wave of selective schools to target bright youngsters in poorer communities in an effort to boost social mobility.
When a school is rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted, more parents compete to buy homes in the catchment area, pushing up prices.
Today’s figures come the day before around half a million families across England learn which primary school their child will attend this September, on what is known as National Offer Day. Teach First chief executive Brett Wigdortz said: ‘These figures show that social mobility remains a serious issue in our country.
‘We know that all families care about giving their children the best possible start in life, but as outstanding schools are unfairly concentrated in richer communities, poorer families are finding themselves priced out.
‘We must challenge the idea that where a child is from, or how rich their parents are, determines whether they get access to an outstanding education.’
The charity’s analysis of official data concludes that 25 per cent of poorer children go to a secondary rated ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’, compared with 10 per cent of richer pupils.
The issue is similar with primaries, as 11 per cent of the poorest youngsters are at a school deemed inadequate or requiring improvement, compared to 6 per cent of the wealthiest. Conversely, around 15 per cent of children from the poorest 30 per cent of families across the country currently attend a primary school rated outstanding, compared with 27 per cent of those from the richest 30 per cent of homes.
Teach First disagrees with the Prime Minister’s plans and believes grammar schools may harm social mobility because they would not help enough children.
A Department for Education spokesman said: ‘There are 1.8mil- lion more children in good or outstanding schools than 2010 and we have created almost 735,000 extra school places since 2010, with 92 per cent of new primary school places built in 2015-16 created in good or outstanding schools.
‘We have set out plans to make more good school places available, including scrapping the ban on new grammar school places, and harnessing the resources and expertise of universities, independent and faith schools.’