Grammar schools: why they still trump free schools
What is it with Grammar Schools? It doesn’t matter how much the nay sayers want to be rid of them they stay around -their durability is incredible. They sustain the economic life of a number of rural towns. As you may have guessed I am an old “Grammar Bug”. I get all the arguments in favour of a different approach to education, we seem to get a new spin on that from virtually every Education Minister, but notwithstanding that Grammar Schools are still incredibly popular – perhaps it is the continuity they represent? Anyway this article tells us
By the mid-Sixties, government guidelines had been distributed to local authorities, reflecting the left-leaning educational philosophy of the day, that ordered them to start disbanding the tripartite structure in favour of the all-ability comprehensive school. The death of the grammar was brutal. From a post-war high of 1,207, numbers almost halved to 675 by the mid-Seventies and reached a low of 150 in the Eighties. However, a small number of local authorities – principally Conservative shire counties – resisted Whitehall pressure and retained, to some extent, a selective system.
Today, 164 grammar schools quirkily remain, with the highest concentrations in areas such as Kent, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, Essex, Gloucestershire, Slough, Trafford and Lincolnshire. And, to the horror of opponents, they remain very popular among parents. Figures published in 2011 suggest that almost half the children who pass the eleven-plus – the traditional grammar school entrance exam – fail to get a place.
At some schools, the rejection rate is far higher, with figures compiled by the Telegraph showing Herschel Grammar, Slough, had 14 applications for every place; neighbouring Langley Grammar had 13. At least six more had more than 10 applications for every place.