3,000 places at grammar schools to end middle class stranglehold

MORE children will be able to attend grammar schools in the next three years as almost 3,000 new places will be created.

However the £50million fund for new classrooms will focus on schools that prioritise poorer pupils – to stop them becoming too ‘socially exclusive’.

Announcing the extra cash today, schools minister Nick Gibb will say grammars are now ‘returning to their original social mobility agenda’ after decades of being colonised by the middle classes.

It will mean many more bright children from hard-up families will get the chance of a grammar school education, as head teachers ‘level the playing field’ for pupils from all backgrounds.

Schools can only bid for the money if they set out how they will recruit disadvantaged children – through measures such as quotas, or changing the catchment area. It comes after a similar scheme created 2,700 new places last year.

Mr Gibb said: ‘We do think that the children getting into grammar schools should more closely reflect the population that they are serving. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are just as capable of getting into grammar school.

‘But because parents may not be able to afford tutors, or for other reasons, they are not doing as well in entrance tests.

‘ What we want grammar schools to do, is make up for that disadvantage in their application procedures.’

Modern grammar schools came into being after the Second World War, with the aim of giving a rigorous education to bright children whose parents could not afford private schools.

However, many were closed from 1965 onwards, and now only 163 remain – meaning it is fiercely competitive to get in.

Critics such as campaign group Comprehensive Future have complained that middle class children have a huge advantage because their parents can afford to tutor them for the 11-plus entrance exam.

Mr Gibb said part of the problem has been a shortage of places – driving intense competition from applicants. ‘As the population increased, the number of places wasn’t increasing with it in those areas that have selective schools,’ he said.

The number of children in secondary schools is currently growing following a baby boom in the 2000s.

Mr Gibb said the Government is now trying to address this problem by allowing grammars to expand ‘where there is a demonstrable need for more school places’.

‘ If they’re not able to do that, they can end up being more socially exclusive than if you allow those schools to expand,’ he added.

‘We need to make sure that when they do expand, they are addressing this unfairness.’

Mr Gibb, who attended Maidstone Grammar for a year before moving to a comprehensive in Yorkshire, hit out at campaigners who have tried to scupper his plans, saying they are motivated by a Left-wing agenda.

He said: ‘They have their own political viewpoint. Our view is that we want to make sure that every school that is rated good or outstanding [by Ofsted]... is able to allow more pupils to attend. And I don’t think people should turn against one type of school compared to another.’

Grammar schools are popular with parents, with around 15 pupils choosing a selective school as their first preference for every ten places offered.

To meet this demand, Prime Minister Theresa May had wanted to create a new wave of grammars targeted specifically at disadvantaged areas.

However it would have meant overturning a law brought in by New Labour in 1998 banning new grammars, and the scheme was abandoned when Mrs May lost her Commons majority.

Despite this setback, she has pledged to help existing grammars expand, so that more children have a chance of a place.

‘Level the playing field’