14th May 2014 9:00
By Blue Tutors
Grammar schools are proposing to address the middle-class hold on selective school places by changing their admissions systems to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds gain access. More than half of England’s grammar schools have said that they are prepared to make sweeping changes to their admissions policies which would allow them to discriminate in favour of students from poorer backgrounds. The proposals have come after research by the Sutton Trust showed that only 2.7% of grammar school places went to children who were eligible for free school meals. The report triggered widespread complaints of bias in the selective school system, and calls for key changes in admissions.
Under the proposals, schools would be able to give priority to students who were eligible for free school meals or the pupil premium where their scores were similar to students from wealthier backgrounds. Selective schools use 11+ examinations in order to determine which applicants are awarded places, a system which widely discriminates against disadvantaged students. Recently schools have discussed making exams ‘tutor-proof’ in order to prevent wealthier parents paying for exam prep, but critics have said the changes need to be more comprehensive. Many of the schools who have registered their interest in the new proposals have said that they hope to recruit at least 20% of their students from applicants who are eligible for free school meals.
In a statement, the Grammar Schools Heads Association said that they were not planning on changing educational standards but trying to find a way to support able students from disadvantaged backgrounds. They said that grammar schools had been working with organisations such as the Sutton Trust to find a number of ways to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds gain access, including widening recruitment activities and revising entrance exams. Some schools have pledged to go further than using student’s backgrounds as a tie-breaker, promising to reserve a number of places for disadvantaged students. This would mean that they may have to accept students with lower exam scores than other applicants, a plan which would need to be approved by the Department for Education.