The job of education in the 21st century is to maximise opportunity for the maximum number of children whatever their background.
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“He said it would be a “profoundly retrograde step that would actually lead to overall standards sliding back not improving”.
Pupils in non-selective schools should also be able to join grammars for specific subjects or specialisms.
Mrs May sought to allay concerns that middle-class parents will ensure their children seize the lion’s share of places in selective schools by paying for tutoring, insisting that new-style smart tests will be able to assess the “true potential” of each pupil.
The Christian ethos education charity Oasis, which runs 47 academies, including 17 secondaries, immediately ruled out the possibility of any of their schools selecting students by ability or faith.
“We help no one – not least those who can’t afford to move house or pay for a private education – by saying to parents who want a selective education for their child that we won’t let them have it”.
Wirral still has six grammar schools, including West Kirby and Wirral Grammars.
She said: “It just beggars belief that the Prime Minister thinks new grammar schools are the answer to the challenges now facing the education sector”.
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: ” If the Conservatives care about our children’s education they should reverse their cuts to school budgets.
What is the evidence base on which you’re making the argument for new selective schools?
And the Prime Minister’s plan involves telling grammar schools to reserve places for children from lower-income homes. In a selective education system, more children will generally fail the test than pass it; now there are three or four times as many children who fail the test than who pass it.
The debate over lifting the law preventing more grammar schools from opening has been rumbling on for years, with some people fearing that the change would see schools return to a binary system or become a system that is unfair for families on a lower income.
Theresa May has unveiled plans for sweeping education reform in England including the news that she intends to lift the restrictions on grammar school expansion.
In responding to an urgent question on the issue in parliament today, the Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening, said: “We do think selection can play a role”.
While Patsy Kane, executive head teacher of two Manchester academies – Levenshulme High School and Whalley Range High School, said the schools were similarly committed to inclusive comprehensive education.
The Government has not yet formally announced plans to open more grammar schools but the Department for Education’s most senior civil servant was photographed carrying a document into No 10 which appeared to set out the proposals.
If the Prime Minister is serious about improving social mobility, she would do well to listen to her predecessor who warned his backbenches nearly a decade ago that their obsession with grammar schools was “splashing around in the shallow end of the educational debate”.
But Ms Rayner shot back: “At a time when our schools are facing a crisis in teacher recruitment and retention, with thousands taught in super-sized classes and schools facing real-terms cuts to their budget for the first time in almost two decades, pushing ahead with grammar schools shows a risky misunderstanding of the real issues facing our schools”.
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He added: “The PM said she was fighting for the most vulnerable”. Moreover, those who fail to get into grammars do worse than in non-selective areas.
