Financial Times’ correspondent Helen Warrell quotes our Chairman, Sir Peter Lampl on the education Green Paper

Government plans to bring back grammar schools in England have met with fierce criticism from some Conservative MPs, underlining the challenge Theresa May faces in bringing the proposals through parliament.

Setting out details of the reform programme to MPs, Justine Greening, education secretary, said they would create a “truly meritocratic” education system that did not only benefit families who could afford to buy houses in the catchment areas of good schools.

Ms Greening also told the House of Commons that selective state schools benefited pupils who attended them, especially the most disadvantaged, and made clear that new grammars would have to reserve a proportion of their places for children from less wealthy backgrounds.

***

Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust, a social mobility charity, said the government should ensure that the existing 163 grammar schools were improving their selection procedures before opening more. “We also need to ensure that highly able young people in comprehensives get the support they need to succeed,” he added.

Read the full article here. (£)