The government has failed to make a convincing case for opening a new wave of grammar schools in England, say MPs.
The education select committee has cast doubt on claims that they can help social mobility. There is also scepticism about whether an entrance test for grammars can be made “tutor proof”.
Neil Carmichael, the committee’s chair, says the focus on expanding grammars has become an “unnecessary distraction” from improving the school system.
The Department for Education has argued that removing the ban on opening new grammars will be a way of making “more good school places available, to more parents, in more parts of the country”.
The cross-party committee of MPs, responding to the evidence gathered about plans to increase selective education, said ministers still needed to demonstrate how this would improve social mobility and close the gap between rich and poor pupils. Read more