Grammar schools will be allowed to expand under reforms designed to give more pupils access to the best education, the Government has signalled. 
Nick Gibb, the Schools Minister, praised the “world class” education offered by many grammar schools.
12:01AM BST 23 Jun 2011
Nick Gibb, the Schools Minister, said state grammars would be able to take advantage of new rules to admit extra students without seeking the permission of local authorities.
In a speech to head teachers, he praised the “world class” education provided by England’s 164 academically selective schools and suggested they were a powerful driver of social mobility.
He also called on them to strike up partnerships with local comprehensives to promote the teaching of tough academic subjects.
It comes as an independent review of Sats tests for 11-year-olds – being published on Thursday – is also expected to underline the Government’s commitment to raising standards in the three-Rs by retaining separate exams in English and maths at the end of primary school.
Currently, some 158,000 pupils attend state-funded grammars – almost five per cent of the school roll – but it is thought the number will grow significantly within just five years.
Related Articles
-
Grammar schools ‘create failure’
04 Nov 2008
-
Grammar school places in demand
19 Sep 2008
-
Surge in grammar school pupils
14 May 2010
-
Grammar school applications rise
03 Oct 2009
-
Tutors in demand in race for grammar schools
27 Feb 2009
-
County seeks to open new grammar school
12 Apr 2008
Figures show as many as 10 children already apply for each selective place at the most popular schools. In recent years, the number of pupils sitting the 11-plus entrance exam in areas such as Kent, Birmingham, Buckinghamshire and Lincolnshire, which have the most grammar schools, has also grown.
Ministers are keen to avoid a repeat of the internal revolt over grammar schools that rocked the Conservative Party in 2007 by stating that no more schools will be able to academically select pupils.
But addressing the Grammar School Heads Association in London on Wednesday, Mr Gibb said existing selective schools “would be able to take advantage of crucial freedoms” on admissions.
This includes making it easier for popular schools to expand and scrapping rules requiring schools to consult the local community on admissions rules every five years. More grammars should also convert into independent academies, he added, giving them additional powers over the curriculum, staff pay and the academic year.
Mr Gibb said: “Let me thank the 164 grammar school heads and their staff for the wonderful work they are doing, and have done. Their results over the past year have been incredibly strong. But more importantly, the quality and standard of education is world class.”
He quoted figures showing more than 1,000 grammar school pupil were studying at Oxford or Cambridge after taking A-levels in 2008 and practically every teenager gains five decent GCSEs.
Mr Gibb also told how deprived pupils educated in grammar schools performed almost as well as their more affluent classmates in GCSEs last year, even though a huge gap between rich and poor exists elsewhere in the state system.
“The question of course, is how you achieve that objective?” he said. “And if you look to the example of grammar schools, you see the answer comes from a combination of high standards and ambition.
“Essentially, it boils down to the old grammar school ethos of placing ‘no limit on achievement’.
“Quite clearly there’s a very serious lesson to be taken from this and applied more widely. And that’s why the ‘no limit on achievement’ ethos is one that’s now critical to the Government’s own blueprint for education reform.”
The comments contrast sharply with those made by Ed Balls, the former Labour education secretary, who attacked grammar schools while in power, accusing them of condemning many children to “failure”.
Shaun Fenton, head of Pate’s Grammar School, Cheltenham, said schools would use new-style freedoms to “strengthen our ability to enable social mobility”.
“Children get one main chance of an education, they deserve one that creates life chances,” he said. “All children deserve that; we can’t afford to wait or be less ambitious, for the sake of the nation’s children and all of our futures.”
Tags: Gibb, Grammar Schools
If you’re in the market to try a new place downtown, East Bay Meeting Place could be right up your alley. Located in the French Quarter on East Bay St. just south of Queen St., this quaint little restaurant has both Charleston and European charm. It has a great selection of sandwiches for lunch, hot and cold coffee drinks, and many scrumptious desserts, which can almost be detrimental for all of us choco- and sweetaholics. The best thing, in my opinion at least, is their happy hour specials from 4-7:00 p.m. that range from $2 to $4.50.