Theresa May to approve plans to open new grammar schools, leaked memo reveals
Proposals to push ahead with the plans were inadvertently revealed by an unnamed official in Downing Street
THE Government is planning to open new grammar schools, a minister has inadvertently revealed.
The paper, signed by the Department for Education's most senior civil servant, said Education Secretary Justine Greening planned to launch a consultation into opening new grammars.
Her "clear position" is that they should only be approved once ministers have worked with existing selective schools to show that pupils who do not make the grade are not disadvantaged.
The document, which was photographed being carried into No 10 Downing Street by an unnamed official is signed by DfE permanent secretary Jonathan Slater, states: "The con doc (consultation document) says we will open new grammars, albeit that they would have to follow various conditions.
"The SoS's (Secretary of State's) clear position is that this should be presented in the con doc as an option, and only to be pursued once we have worked with existing grammars to show how they can be expanded and reformed in ways which avoid disadvantaging those who don't get in.
"I simply don't know what the PM thinks of this, but it sounds reasonable to me, and I simply can't see any way of persuading the Lords to vote for selection on any other basis."
Photographer Steve Back, who took the picture and runs the Political Pictures Twitter account, said he has lost count of the amount of times he has told people going into Number 10 Downing Street to get folders.
He tweeted:
The Government refused to comment on the document but did not deny its contents.
A spokeswoman said: "The Prime Minister has been clear that we need to build a country that works for everyone, not just the privileged few.
"We are looking at a range of options to allow more children to access a school that lets them rise as far as their talents will take them.
"Policies on education will be set out in due course and it would be inappropriate to comment further on internal government documents."
But Sir Michael Wilshaw, the Government's outgoing chief inspector of schools, has dismissed the selective model - long favoured by many Conservatives - and said it would fail the poorest children.
Speaking at the London Councils education conference yesterday, Sir Michael said London pupils' attainment success - despite the lack of grammar schools in the capital - questioned claims that selective schooling would boost social mobility and help children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
He said: "If grammar schools are the great answer, why aren't there more of them in London?
"If they are such a good thing for poor children, then why are poor children here in the capital doing so much better than their counterparts in those parts of the country that operate selection?
"I appreciate that many grammar schools do a fine job in equipping their students with an excellent education.
“But we all know that their record of admitting children from non-middle-class backgrounds is pretty woeful."
According to latest figures from the National Grammar Schools Association, England has 164 state-funded fully selective schools, while Northern Ireland has 69.
The creation of new grammar schools was outlawed by the Tony Blair administration.
But reports last month suggested the Prime Minister was considering sanctioning around 20 institutions in mainly working class areas in an effort to improve social mobility.
The plans have been backed by several Conservative-linked pressure groups and think tanks.
Sir Michael, who is due to leave his post after five years this autumn, said: "The notion that the poor stand to benefit from the return of grammar schools strikes me as quite palpable tosh and nonsense - and is very clearly refuted by the London experience."