The Economist cites our Poor Grammar research.

THERESA MAY clearly wants to be remembered for more than overseeing Brexit. On September 9th the new prime minister set out plans to build a “truly meritocratic Britain” that stretched “the most academically able, regardless of their background.” The details, presented in Parliament three days later, included some minor fiddles, such as opening more religious schools and getting universities and private schools more involved in state education. But the centrepiece was a big policy shift that delighted some within her Conservative Party and appalled others: away from comprehensive education and towards academic selection.

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As for England’s 163 remaining grammar schools, a review by the Sutton Trust, a charity, found that they improved the results of the children they taught, but not by much, since their able, well-off pupils would also have done well in comprehensives. For poor children the boost was more marked—but few of them get in (see chart). Other analyses suggest that, overall, a smaller share of poor children get high grades in areas with lots of grammar schools than elsewhere.

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